86BRATMAN Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 Do some more reading on Scotty's cocktail, many people are saying not to use it because it causes premature wear on the synchros. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stelcom66 Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 Just want to say it's encouraging to hear you have a '95 Subaru Legacy with 255k miles. My son bought a '95 Legacy S 2 years ago, with about 176k miles and it runs great. There's been some maintenance lately, several items due to rust such as the fuel tank filler neck and radiator which is to be expected, well worth the money. I'll make note of information in this thread about gear oil for my manual transmission Forester. Good to hear there's no more grinding, and again good information shared on this site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicholi2789 Posted August 25, 2014 Author Share Posted August 25, 2014 Just want to say it's encouraging to hear you have a '95 Subaru Legacy with 255k miles. My son bought a '95 Legacy S 2 years ago, with about 176k miles and it runs great. There's been some maintenance lately, several items due to rust such as the fuel tank filler neck and radiator which is to be expected, well worth the money. I'll make note of information in this thread about gear oil for my manual transmission Forester. Good to hear there's no more grinding, and again good information shared on this site. Yeah I love mine. I bought it with a ton of miles on it already though so I don't really know how it was treated. I am assuming it was treated okay since it runs so good. And to follow up on my previous posts and this thread in general. Switching out my transmission fluid to regular Castrol GL5-80/90 seemed to stop the gear grinding for a little while. After a couple of weeks though it was back with a vengeance. The only grinding i ever experience is in second and third gear. And only when I'm shifting UP to them, 1st to 2nd, and 2nd to 3rd. Not downshifting. And the weird thing is, the car doesn't do it at all for the first 20 minutes to half hour of driving. It shifts smooth as can be. It's like the fluid heats up and doesn't maintain the viscosity the synchros need at higher temperatures. Cause once I've been driving for half an hour or so It's pretty darn noticable, and it bothers the crap out of me. Not to mention makes me worry a lot. So after thinking about it for a few weeks, I decided to try Scotty's cocktail that someone else posted on this thread earlier. I did it two days ago and preliminary results seem to be really good. The drive from my house to work is about 20 minutes one way. Enough time for the fluid to warm up. Usually by the time I get to work the gears are just starting to grind. I've made the trip 4 times now and have yet to notice any grinding at all whatsoever. I'll post again after I have been running it for a while, but results seem good. Much better than regular 80/90. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
14D Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Grrr, wish I'd seen this thread before I changed out my trans fluid a couple weeks ago. I'm running Valvoline durablend 80w-90 (synthetic blend,"limited slip") and experience some grinding on upshifts but only when its really hot out (like 105). If I shift slow its ok, so I'll probably leave it in for the winter and change it before next summer. And I thought I was being nice to my car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicholi2789 Posted August 25, 2014 Author Share Posted August 25, 2014 Grrr, wish I'd seen this thread before I changed out my trans fluid a couple weeks ago. I'm running Valvoline durablend 80w-90 (synthetic blend,"limited slip") and experience some grinding on upshifts but only when its really hot out (like 105). If I shift slow its ok, so I'll probably leave it in for the winter and change it before next summer. And I thought I was being nice to my car. What gears do. You notice it in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
14D Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 What gears do. You notice it in? Mostly 1-2 and 3-4, but downshifts are a lot rougher as well and they will all grind if i shift too fast. Only when its hot and city driving (stop and go) though. Seems to do fine on the highway or in stop and go as long as it not over 100 out. Maybe shifts a little rougher overall but its hard to tell as its always been a little rough if I shift too fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicholi2789 Posted August 25, 2014 Author Share Posted August 25, 2014 (edited) Mostly 1-2 and 3-4, but downshifts are a lot rougher as well and they will all grind if i shift too fast. Only when its hot and city driving (stop and go) though. Seems to do fine on the highway or in stop and go as long as it not over 100 out. Maybe shifts a little rougher overall but its hard to tell as its always been a little rough if I shift too fast.Yeah me too except not in 4th gear at all. And it happens constantly. What year is your soob? What year and how many miles? I didn't want to waste the almost brand new gear oil I had in my tranny either but I'm too paranoid about my car. I was worried about causing extra wear and tear with that grinding. Plus I work in a lube shop so gear oil is easily attainable. We carry Castrol 80/90 in 35 gallon drums. It's just like synchros in the tranny need a very specific lubricant at high temperatures to be properly lubed. I almost would be inclined to try 2 qts 80/90 and the rest heavy shockproof. But this cocktail seems to work good. I'll keep it in. Edited August 25, 2014 by nicholi2789 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
14D Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 (edited) 93, 276k 3-4 has ground since i had it. Only If I shift fast though. If I shift slow, no problems. Never found anything concerning on the drain plug during fluid changes so I'm not worried about it. More bummed about spending $40 instead of $12, being the broke cheap-rump roast that I am. Edited August 25, 2014 by 14D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibreakstuff Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 If you can find it, Subaru Extra-S really is the best fluid for your transmission. Your local stealership might even sell it to you right out of their barrel. Afaik its a mineral and synthetic oil blend and is what FHI ships in the gearbox from the factory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicholi2789 Posted August 26, 2014 Author Share Posted August 26, 2014 Yeah the closest Subaru dealership to me is like 3 hours. I can order the fluid off Amazon, but this cocktail is going good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 it's available in liters now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicholi2789 Posted August 26, 2014 Author Share Posted August 26, 2014 I actually called the closest dealership today and they said that Subaru no longer makes the super s fluid and and changed to a new one. Can't remember the name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibreakstuff Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 I actually called the closest dealership today and they said that Subaru no longer makes the super s fluid and and changed to a new one. Can't remember the name. Weird, apparently Subaru finally started packaging it for retail, labeled "Certified High Performance Gear Oil"? I'm surprised they didn't do it sooner, aftermarket companies have been re-bottling the extra-s for retail for years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicholi2789 Posted August 26, 2014 Author Share Posted August 26, 2014 Yeah the guy told me they sold it by the quart and that Subaru said officially that it was the replacement for super s. He said it was like 14$ a quart. Ouch. That means like almost 50$ to do my transmission again. It's cool this cocktail is working great and my shifting is only getting smoother the longer it's in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 (edited) Really? are you sure? That seems like too easy of a fix. Lol. So it doesn't like synthetic gear oil? Is this a pretty well documented problem? Must have extra-s. Not because synthetic, but because of the "s" I have been there with mine, and i work in an oil shop. The gl-5 spec is for the front diff in the trans, helical pinion gear, but the 's' properties are necessary for the synchros. My sticky trans freed up after 100 mi of driving once i realized this. I would imagine the honda specific MT fluids would work, assuming the viscosity is correct, and minus the gl-5 rating. I had to go to the dealer to get extra s about 10 bucks a qt after the first dealer had no idea what i was asking for (and uses bulk gear oil in the service bay!) Edited August 26, 2014 by MilesFox Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicholi2789 Posted August 26, 2014 Author Share Posted August 26, 2014 Yeah I actually thought about using Redline MTL or MT-90 which are actually GL4-75/80 and GL4-75/90. But then I found out about the cocktail. The Redline 75/90NS is made specifically for Subaru 5 speeds too. I have easy access to all those fluids too since I am a PIC at a lube shop and we stock all those Redline fluids. Eh, if I try anything else it will be the Super S fluid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibreakstuff Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 (edited) Must have extra-s. Not because synthetic, but because of the "s" I have been there with mine, and i work in an oil shop. The gl-5 spec is for the front diff in the trans, helical pinion gear, but the 's' properties are necessary for the synchros. My sticky trans freed up after 100 mi of driving once i realized this. I would imagine the honda specific MT fluids would work, assuming the viscosity is correct, and minus the gl-5 rating. I had to go to the dealer to get extra s about 10 bucks a qt after the first dealer had no idea what i was asking for (and uses bulk gear oil in the service bay!) +1 That "S" isn't for synthetic, because it's not a true synthetic. I had an article saved on my old computer, but I can't find it now... It explained how a good % of Extra-S is mineral oil. I have been tempted to try more gear oils, pretty much in this order: Amsoil Severe Gear 75w90 Motul Gear300 75w90 Redline 75w90ns (not a redline fan, I literally gave their swag away when I won a few cases of oil at a race) But I really have no reason to, the Extra-S works great and its cheap(er) if you buy it by the 5 gallon barrel. Like ~6-7/quart.. Edit: K0322AA093 still seems avail, with my discount it's $133 for the 20L barrel. I'm going to buy another soon, in case they are going to discontinue for the more expensive quarts. Edited August 26, 2014 by Ibreakstuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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