202 VH 5spd. Transmission woes..

[Tasmaniak]

Ok, so since I bought this little bugger the tranny has made some pretty kick ass sounds, except for in 4th. It behaves perfectly in 4th...makes sense I guess since it's a straight thru in 4th.

I'm definetly looking at an eventual bearing failure in there, but since I do really have the resources at the moment to yank it out and rebuild the bitch I've often thought about draining it and dropping something thicker in there. But, it has Dexron in there at the moment so I'm not really sure what I should drop back in. Any ideas? Was thinking perhaps some 50 weight motor oil?

[DANNY8]

Isn't Dexron auto trans fluid?

[Tasmaniak]

Yes it is.

[tigervh]

You should be using SAE80-90 gear oil. Dexron will kill it in no time flat.

[Tasmaniak]

The Borg Warner 5spd had Dexron in it from the factory. It even says so in the owners manual...

I guess I need to look for help elsewhere.

[tigervh]

Ok I'm slightly confused you state you have a VH 202 5 speed. This transmission must have been fitted to the vehicle later as 5 speeds were only fitted to 173s in VH's. The gearbox fitted to the VH 173 was the M75 which used dexron fluid. Five speeds were not used behind 202s until the VK. This transmission was the M76 and used 80/90 gear oil.

In answer your origonal question. Using a thicker oil will slightly muffle shagged gears and bearings. Ultimately if the things had it, its had it, thicker oil wont make it last longer.

[Tasmaniak]

Yeah mate, I'm hella confused myself now...I've had the car two weeks right? It's definetly a 202...block is stamped 3.3

Build plate shows engine as 3.3 and transmission as a M76....but she is definetly a VH.

I understand what your saying because I visited a website that had the specs on all the cars and it listed the M76 as being the 5 speed but not available on the 3.3 ?! FIIK what I have now.

Yeah, the idea behind the thicker oil was to shut it up a little bit till I decided what engine and trans combo I wanted to put in.

Here is that website...
http://www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au...ifications.htm

[DANNY8]

Ok I'm slightly confused you state you have a VH 202 5 speed. This transmission must have been fitted to the vehicle later as 5 speeds were only fitted to 173s in VH's. The gearbox fitted to the VH 173 was the M75 which used dexron fluid. Five speeds were not used behind 202s until the VK. This transmission was the M76 and used 80/90 gear oil.

In answer your origonal question. Using a thicker oil will slightly muffle shagged gears and bearings. Ultimately if the things had it, its had it, thicker oil wont make it last longer.

The VH 173's used the M76 as well as the VK 202's. I've never heard of an M75? My VH was a 173 5spd, and the plates matched, can't remember the motor code, but I know for sure the trans was M76.

[Tasmaniak]

Everything just added up....Just went out and looked at the build plate

Engine: LD1 Trans M76 (I was right on that one) Axle: GV4

So basically it's had a motor swap done at some point in time I can handle that. the manual still says though that it takes a DEXRON fluid and I checked the trans and thats definetly whats in there.

[tigervh]

Interesting, the factory manual I have for M76 states 80/90, also the recomomedation on the castrol website is 75/85 for M76.

If you look on the castrol recommendation site For VH it states transmission is M75 and Lubricant is Dexron, if you look up the VK it states the transmission is M76 and the lube should be 75/85. Also have a look at the note on the VH recommendation.

Here's the link. Castrol Australia - NetLube I can't post a direct link because it is an applet.

[Tasmaniak]

cannot get that link to work for me at all...tried several different ways. perhaps it will work a little later or something.

So now what the bloody hell do I do? I guess I could always drain it and refill it with 80w90 and see what happens? I mean it doesn't use the detergents in the DEX just the viscosity. So upping it that far won't do too much damage UNLESS it cannot spin the synchros fast enough in time for a gear change.

[tigervh]

cannot get that link to work for me at all...tried several different ways. perhaps it will work a little later or something.

You have to enter the vehicle details in the drill down field. Your browser will need to be set to allow Java script.

[Tasmaniak]

dunno mate, it's working now. I kept getting a page telling me I wasn't connected to the net. I'm convinced that I'm just going to dump some 80w90 in there and call it quits.

[tigervh]

Doing the bearings isn't as expensive as you might think. If you strip the box and record the numbers on the bearings. Companies like CBC or Bearing traders will supply replacements for a fraction of the price Holden will.

[Tasmaniak]

I know this but it's a case of finding the time plus I'm still waiting for my tool cart to be shipped back over to Australia from the US which is going to take a month if not more.

[commsirac]

I have a box that was rebuilt but the synchro rings wouldnt work when it was cold, the persons rebuilding the box just decided to put the trans fluid in to see if that would fix it. I wasnt too impressed but it fixed it, and they came to the party and doubled the warranty rather than take it apart again to find why it wouldnt work with the specified fluid.
Its done 200 000km+ with no problems so tranny oil in a manual box cant be altogether a bad thing.

I dont think putting engine oil in there is a good thing, tranny oil and gearbox oils are designed with much bigger shear force factors etc(havent checked the numbers but thats what I was told).

Try the gear oil as a way to quieten it down, if it works and the synchros are okay when its cold(or perhaps you dont mind double clutching) then it may be a good thing.

[Tasmaniak]

well, I live in broken hill at the moment and intend to have it rebuilt by the end of summer so cold boxes won't really be an issue

[commsirac]

cold as in below operating temperature.