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Tranmission Oil for a 4 Speed Rabbit -- 85W-90?

Hi everybody, Quick question. I need to change the transmission oil in my rabbit. I've only owned the car for about half a year, and so know nothing regarding when the last change was. The only GL-4 oil I can find around town is Stalube 85W-90 at my Napa. The manual calls for

80W-90. Is it OK to put in this 85W-90, or will the viscosity be too high during warmup? I'd plan to only use this 85W-90 for a few 1000 miles or so and then drain and replace with something like Amsoil or Redline, so it would be out of my tranny before winter. Will the 85W-90 be OK?

Thanks, Bryan

Reply to
Bryan K. Walton
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Bryan:

Why don't you put AMSOIL 75W-90 in it now? It is fill for life in a manual transmission and there are no low temp issues to worry about. I put 300,000 miles on my 81 Rabbit Diesel LS with 5 speed on that gear lube with no issues. Even though it is GL5 rated, the gear lube never goes over 250 degrees F so there will be no problems with the extra anti-wear additives corroding yellow metal bushings in the transmission. In fact, you benefit from the GL5 spec with a longer life transmission. I did the same thing in my 85 Jetta Turbodiesel 5 speed. It also went 300,000 miles. The body was rusting out so I stripped the car for parts to rebuild an 88 Jetta Carat gasser with front end damage. Even with all those miles, I saved the engine and transmission for another project car. Any one know where I can get a decent rust free 91-92 Jetta diesel body?

Reply to
Corrado Daddy

The main reason is that I'm wanting to Auto-RX the transmission before I put the Amsoil in. I went ahead and picked up the 85W-90 GL-4 from Napa this morning. I'll probably go ahead and put that in today unless somebody on the list has some strong feelings against the

85W-90.

Thanks, Bryan

Reply to
Bryan K. Walton

Well, I did the tranny fluid swap. Glad I went ahead and did it. It was low. I'm not sure how much, but definitely low. And like I said in my first post, no telling how old. After changing the fluid, I took the car on a 16 mile round trip and everything worked great -- so I think the 85W-90 will work fine. Like I said, it will only be in there a few thousand miles at most. (I'll probably have the Amosoil or Redline in there before October.)

Thanks! Bryan

Reply to
Bryan K. Walton

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