LT77 Gearbox oil

[BlueWedgy]

Hi Adam / mrzigazaga,

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread, although interesting as it is.....

It is mentioned late on Castrol Syntrans, would this be "Castrol Syntrans FE 75W fully synthetic"?

I had little to no oil in my gearbox so put in some cheap stuff to primarily use as a flush. Although I had/have no intention of leaving it in, I have no chance of getting out of first gear to second gear until hot.
However, I am due to drain down soon, and with a lot of threads on forums opinion is divided, and due to this becomes somewhat muddied waters, as to best choice.
It also becomes clear that probably the state of the gearbox comes into play, even those that have been freshly rebuilt.
You seem to have tried many options are you currently running with Castrol Syntrans?

Many thanks

Ray

[batman400]

I'm running Syn-trans fully synthetic, I had it in my last (well worn box) and it's ex griff 500 replacement.

No issues with hot or cold shifting or nasty noises.

[BlueWedgy]

Hi Batman400,

Great thanks I may give that a whirl. See if it improves.

Many thanks

[Englishman]

Another resurrection

Neither Difflock Evolution 1 or Castrol Syntrans seem to be available now (or have been renamed perhaps), so what are the current gearbox oil recommendations for the LT77 box?

[BlueWedgy]

Hi In the end I used Mobil 1 synthetic 0w40 with moly slip additive (Half tube), as per Adam Q.
I am not suggesting you go down this route, but my gearbox seems ok with it smooth gear changes, although I am not doing mega miles / year.

[keynsham]

I use what TVR and Rover recommended and it works absolutely fine. I am no lubricant expert and so using anything else is never based on testing or anything but hearsay. That being said it is all oil and will all work whatever you put in!

[Lesliehedley]

This looks a lot like the difflock product:
https://www.johncraddockltd.co.uk/evo1-titan-atf-4...

I haven't tried it myself, just making you aware of this possibility.

[Wedg1e]

I've always stuck with ATF; although I've probably only covered 30k-odd miles in 24 years the previous owners had done 96000 miles and it hasn't broken yet.
It does have a slight dribble from the seal around the selector shaft on the rear face but 'they all do that sir'.

[chj]

EVO1 - worked brilliantly for me. Definitely recommend trying it.

[Englishman]

Lesliehedley said:

This looks a lot like the difflock product:
https://www.johncraddockltd.co.uk/evo1-titan-atf-4...

I haven't tried it myself, just making you aware of this possibility.

Wonder if it the same as this, with a considerable markup! https://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-965-fuchs-titan-atf-4...

[Belle427]

I did hours of research on this and it would seem that it is thought to be rebranded Fuchs ATF, i bought some and it came in a branded Fuchs bottle with a different label.
I used redline MTL in an LT77 in a kit car as that seemed a better choice than ATF which was never supposed to be anywhere near this box.

[keynsham]

When I had my Porsche 911SC, they always recommended Swepco 201. It wasn't cheap but the changes were dramatically improved. They were rubbish to start with though so that wasn't difficult. Maybe it would be OK in an LT77?

https://www.swepcolube.com/products/swepco-201-mul...

[adam quantrill]

I'm still on the Mobil cocktail (see beginnig) and it's doing very well.

[Englishman]

adam quantrill said:

I'm still on the Mobil cocktail (see beginnig) and it's doing very well.

Yes, I saw that Adam.

Funnily enough, I had a very similar issue to you when I arrived a BBWF last weekend, after going through several long traffic jams - I couldn't get reverse in the car park. Left it to cool a while and the gear lever still wouldn't move left. KKson then applied considerable pressure and finally it went into reverse. Reverse loosened up further in the evening and has been fine since. So I can only think something in sticking in the box when really hot.

Just wanted to confirm the Molyslip you used, is it this one? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Holts-GM6RA-Molyslip-Gear...

[BlueWedgy]

Yep that's the Molyslip I used.

[Englishman]

BlueWedgy said:

Yep that's the Molyslip I used.

Thanks, will get some ordered!

[Yatesy350i]

When I first got my 350i. Almost 12 years ago, it was terrible when cold. Crunching from first to second when cold. I went down the Difflock route and it transformed the gear change. Never had an issue with it until it was sold two weeks ago.

Someone did tell me to always go into 5th every time before engaging reverse. Not sure who it was. But worked a treat. No crunching ever.

Sound like your issue could be alignment in the box?

Hope you get it sorted.

[adam quantrill]

Yeah I usually select 1st then reverse, but if you have a problem, it's usually a small amount of clutch drag.

[BlueWedgy]

All this said some of my issue was shot damper rubber bushes that connect the remote to the gearbox. This caused alignment issues, probably what was mentioned above. Pain to replace, but well worth the effort, along with the oil.