I was told by a friend he took his t5 out and noticed that the fluid in it looked thin like auto fluid.he then called GM and they told him that this is what they use because all it needs is some fluid to keep it cool..which i think this is bulls#!^ on there part if it is true ..so he put gear oil in it and said could tell a whole lot of differance in shifting...anyone heard of this...im going to check my t5 this weekend

 

The world-class T5 takes ATF, not gear oil.

 

how is that possible ...it is the same principale as a rear end..with the gears being in contact with each other...doesnt it need more lube than some atf...just wondering man i was shocked to hear that

 

ATF does just fine lubricating the gears in an automatic, why shouldn't it in a manual?

 

i dont know im not a trans man...i just thought since the fluid didnt flow thru a cooling device like the radiator on an auto it would break down and loose viscosity with the heat and make the trans succeptable(however you spell that hehe)to excess wear...not being a jerk just making conversation

 

Does a non-WC T5 use gear oil?

 

Excess heat in an automatic comes from the slippage in the torque converter, which the manual doesn't have.

 

Yes

 

My Old T-5 out of my 85 was ATF.

 

Tell your friend he can kiss the syncros good-bye if he runs gear oil too long.

I've got the details saved on my home computer somewhere, but in a nutshell —_gear oil attacks the linings on the syncros. If you run gear oil too long, you will have trouble downshifting the trans.

Then there's the possibility the lubrication passages are so small on some components that gear oil will not flow readily and lubricate properly. It was designed to use ATF, so stick with ATF.

I have some first hand experince with this. I almost bought a used WC-T5 for my GTA. A reliable mechanic inspected it for me and told me it had gear oil in it, instead of ATF. He felt it would be okay and recommended dumping the gear oil and refilling with ATF.

Well, another friend informed me of the potential fiasco the trans might have, so I passed on the deal. Another friend bought the trans and sure enough, he complained he couldn't downshift the trans at all while driving. He had to pull it back out.

 

well gm built it to take atf so i will stick to it..my theory is to not fix something if its not broken...my friend sold his T/A so he wont care now...we put a 400 pontiac in it.i could kill him for not giving me first dibs on it and he is still kicking himself for selling it to a kid that destroyed it....Thanks for the info guys