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As some of you know, I am changing the oil in my transaxle. I drained it today and collected the oil to inspect it. I found about 1/2 thimbleful of metal. The metal is magnetic and was stuck to the magnet that is part of the drain plug. These are very fine particles with one exception. There was one piece about the size of a pencil point. I have no idea if the transaxle has ever been drained before. It is a 1969 model. The engine, was really dirty (inside) when I got it and that was one of the reasons that I rebuilt it. I suspect that the prior owner did not do much in the way of normal fluid maintenance. I have no idea of the mileage on the engine/transaxle the odometer says 14K miles.
There is no unusual noise from the transaxle and it shifts well. A little (only on fast downshifts) clunky downshifting into 2nd which I attributed to a worn 2nd gear synchronizer.Question: Is a 1/2 thimbleful including one pencilpoint size piece of magnetic particles a lot? Do I need to be concerned or is Alfred E’s mantra “what me worry?” appropriate?I’d use your second approach, with one caveat…
Use synthetic gearoil….The metallic particles in a tranny are not nearly as “dangerous or concerning” as magnetic particles in the engine oil. This much heavier gear oil is not being pumped, pressurized and continuously cycled through the engine, causing ever more wear…If you could deal with your second gear synchronizer before changing the oil, and seeing the metal, then you should be able to deal with it now. Put the synthetic oil in there, and carry on until you’re required to do something more…My 2 cents. YMMV…KentT2013-03-15 00:23:42
Early FF TDr on 69 VW pan
Slowly coming back from the ashes...Kent, thanks for responding. I have overhauled quite a few engines, but only one transmission and that was some 45 years ago. Am really looking for some help here.
I read somewhere (I don’t remember where) that synthetic gear oil would not allow the synchronizers to work because it was so slick. Do you have any experience with that?I was going to put regular dino oil in today and call myself done for another 40 or so years, but can wait until I get the proper stuff.I remember the TV news doing a story like 30 years ago about transmission shops that offered a cheap fluid change. After draining the fluid they’d bring the dregs to the customer: “Uh oh. You’ve got metal filings in your fluid. That’s bad. We can replace the transmission for $1,300 or we can rebuild it; cost maybe $1,000, depending on what we find. I’d just replace it.”
The kicker, of course, was that there are always little bits of metal in the bottom of every transmission case.
This post is to complete this thread. After all the research that Ed did and the informative posts that he dredged up, I was convinced that GL5 has been improved and is no longer a threat to our bronze syncronizers. So, I took back the GL4 and got GL5. I decided to go with the synthetic, at least to try it out. Bought Valvoline Durablend 80W90 GL5 MT1.
I didn’t really expect this but, my grinding upon downshifting into 2nd is all gone. Even speedshifting, like I might when trying to beat Bill in the Carlisle AutoX, I couldn’t get it to balk. A Hollywood ending to the transaxle fluid change. Thanks Ed and Kent.Thanks to that testament I think I will give that a try to cure my first gear occasionally popping out of gear.
Roy, this is one of the first things I was going to do on my recent purchase since I have no idea how many miles is on the ’69 chassis. How many pints/quarts does it take to change the transaxle fliud?
SamSam, the book says 2 1/2 qts. Mine took every bit of that and only an oz less than 3 full qts. (Assuming that each qt contained 32 oz.)
Got mine done. Inlaws coming over for Easter. Saturday I managed to track down the proper 17mm allen key. On Sunday a.m. about 9 I figured I’d just see if I could loosen the plugs.
Got ’em loose in about five minutes so I figured, what the hey? I still got an hour before I need to get ready for company, so why not drain it & get the new stuff in?
Drain drain drain drain… Had the thimble full of sludgy metallic stuff at the magnet too.
To get the new stuff in I decided to be smart and employ an angled funnel I’d made years ago to maneuver trans fluid into the tilt motor under the boat’s outboard. As with most of my “smart” thoughts, this was a mistake. An hour later I had about a quarter of the first quart of gear oil running down the sides of my clever little device and onto the cardboard under the car. Most of the rest was still in the bottle.
Managed to get back to it last night, using more conventional pouring methods.
Minus what I spilled, three quarts were enough.
Sorry Ed, I meant to remind you that this 80W90 stuff doesn’t funnel well. I used a pump and manufactured a new blister on my right hand.
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