Gearbox and diff oil

[MJ]

Castrol have a lubricants advisor on their website, where you choose your car make and model and they list their recommendations.

For manual gearboxes they recommend 10W-40 engine oil, as people have already said. There is a note at the bottom of the page which says "For older RWD models an alternative recommendation of MAGNATEC 10W-40 A3/B3 engine oil was made at the request of Volvo UK who do not wish TQF to be used in these applications, contrary to recommendations in vehicle handbooks"

[shimon340]

hi

I replied to this a few days ago but the post seems to have disappeared

the chap in the shop thought TQF was ATF type F.

Pettaw, how old are the green books that says ATF type A/A? How age are the books on this site? they do indeed also says type A/A whereas the older ones say type F.

The haynes I have says type A/A and was published in 1996.

Ive got some older haynes to refer to see if they recommend something else.

my guess is volvo updated the oil spec from F to A/A

the 10W40 thing is still odd though

I'll post when I find out more on that

S

[shimon340]

bump

[griffo20022]

Just a quick question guys (sorry to hijack the thread) but how and where do you top up the diff oil?? I havent had my haynes manual arrive yet and I was hoping to do it this weekend just until my new gasket comes then I can do it properly but for now I just wanna top it up a bit.

if theres a linky to a guide or anything i'd muchos appreciate it

[Chris_C]

Have a look down the forum, and look up the appropriate green book, those are the proper service manuals, and will tell more than is needed!

[germ]

all this has got me very confused, what needs to go where?

can someone post the agreed/best solution on this page clearly for refrence.

i did mine and well ive got very confused as to how i would do it next time.


Cheers will

[shimon340]

info from Mac!

As far as manual g/box oil - don't get too wrapped up in the issue. Originally the manual box used 10w 40 engine oil in most markets with ATF F used in Nordic markets to give acceptable gearshift qualities. (a 0w 5 engine oil would have been just as good if available in 1980). If you "forget" about the suffix F, A, H, D, A/A etc. and just think ATF you won't go far wrong. The problem was gearshift forces being high and shift quality being c**p especially in cold temperatures. The very first manual cars used engine oil then rapidly were changed to ATF (of the then prevailing common type).

ATF suffixes denote changes to additive packages for varying performance in "coventional" auto boxes and generally have no relevance to use in manual transmissions (in an auto the oil not only lubricates but acts as the primary cooling medium and must also preserve the many seals and 'o' rings in the valve blocks). The oil additives are also used to modify the various hydraulic clutch engagement and slip characteristics.

There never was specific change over points from F to A/A or whathaveyou - ATF was being used as a high quality low viscosity oil. (qualities above that are simply not needed in a manual box).

Of interest type F was formuated for Ford in 1967 as a high friction fluid to speed hydraulc clutch engagement on their specific auto boxes. Type A & A/A were designed as "universal" fluids to be compatible with early Dexron fluid in some GM boxes.

The last "official" spec. in the "Green Books" was to use Type A/A but you will do no harm by using any ATF. If a high mileage box became noisy you could even go back to engine oil if you wished !!

Hope the abve helps,
All the best - Mac.

[djntrap]

So...
I've walked into the shop...
I walk up to the counter...
Hello, I'd like x?x?x? Litres of x?x?x? Oil please...


What should I buy?

[volvodspec]

it's all on the forum mate!

Technical resources > green books > transmission > http://www.volvo300mania.com/forum-uk/v ... =36&t=7262
page 3; specifications

[JFB]

To change M45 (4 gears) to a M47 (5 gears) it's need change only gearbox and transmition?

[mike340]

Since ATF Type A Suffix A may not be easily obtainable, at least in the EU countries, I asked local Volvo dealership to learn what was the factory-default oil that they used. For my 1986 D16 (M47), they provided me with these two part numbers:

- 1 litre: 31437945

- 4 litres: 31437946

Both read ATF Dexron III, however there are different Volvo oils of this type if you search.

[classicswede]

Detron 3 is not suitable in my opinion

[360beast]

Kroon do ATF suffix A, I got mine off of frost. They then ran out of stock so I didn't have enough so I got more off of eBay from Germany. I now have about 5 litres spare haha.

https://www.frost.co.uk/kroon-oil-aft-a ... ns-1l.html

[mike340]

Detron 3 is not suitable in my opinion

As far as I read, Dexron III is said to be backward compatible with ATF Type A suffix A, however it is around 3 times more expensive, compared to Gulf ATF Type A suffix A I had bought. Have you got some opinion on the Gulf oil? What gearbox oil have you used?

Kroon do ATF suffix A, I got mine off of frost. They then ran out of stock so I didn't have enough so I got more off of eBay from Germany. I now have about 5 litres spare haha.

https://www.frost.co.uk/kroon-oil-aft-a ... ns-1l.html

Good to know about this one, thank you.

[classicswede]

Dextron 3 is not designed to lubricate bronze syncros etc.

There is another gearbox I work on a lot with a bronze bush inside it. The life of that bush has been a lot shorter than when used with traditional ATF