Supra LSD gear oil recommendation

Just bought a 1984 Supra with a Limited Slip Differential. The owners manual indicates that the gear oil should be API Service GL-5 lubricant for limited slip differentials. I went around to the local auto supply shops and none of the gear oil containers stated suitable for limited slip differentials including the synthetic and semi-synthetic. The fellows at the shop didn't know what the difference would be or if it was OK to use in the LSD. I bought the semi-synthetic API Service GL-5 lubricant . Is this OK for my differential? I checked some of the oil supplier websites (i.e. Castrol) and there didn't appear to be a specific oil for LSD. Just their regular gear oils said suitable for LSD.

Reply to
DB
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Yes there is specific oil for LSD's and it should be easily available. Any GL-5 rated oil is good for topping-up and it may say this on the can but use the proper stuff when changing oil or you will have a very noisy and stiff diff. The noise will likely be a 'graunching' type when hot and turning tight. It does the clutch plates no good at all.

Huw

Reply to
Huw

Castrol gear oil, or Castrol synthetic should work well. If you're paraniod (like I am) then go to your local Ford dealer and get a jar of Hypoid Gear Oil additive. It was $8 the last time I bought one 4 years ago. You add about 2-3 oz. per GALLON, so I still have 1/2 the tube still sitting on the shelf.

BTW, I have an '85 Celica GTS; basically the same car, but you get a heavier front suspension, a different interior (slightly), the front facia and rear deck, and, of course, the 5M-GE.

I also have an '88 Supra. They are definitely cool cars! Enjoy! (Actually, YOUR Supra is probably more fun than mine! Mine is a heavy car and isn't as 'flickable' as the '85 Celica...)

Reply to
Hachiroku

Do NOT use regular gear oil. Look harder for the LSD-compatible oil that you need.

Reply to
dizzy

Took you a while. Where the hell you been?

Reply to
Hachiroku

I think the problem comes with people not knowing which LSD type they have. Some are clutch types and some are worm-gear types, wont go into too much detail as im not sure what yours is. But the worm types (torsens) generally dont need LSD oil, whereas the clutch-type ones do?

J
Reply to
Coyoteboy

A LSD is invariably a clutch type. All others are known by other names as illustrated by you in brackets. If it says in the bible that it needs LSD oil then it does. If it doesn't then it don't.

Huw

Reply to
Huw

:) Agreed. I wasnt contradicting the advice, i was just pointing out the differences.

The supra is a close relative of the celica. My GT4's (alltrac) LSD is torsen, thats the only connection i was making.

Reply to
Coyoteboy

Then you have emphatically not got a limited slip differential. What you

*have* got is a Torsen worm gear 'torque proportioning differential'. Your use of 'LSD' to describe your differential is incorrect. There is nothing in a Torsen that slips, even in a limited way.

Huw

Reply to
Huw

Taking a break from the stupidity in here.

Reply to
dizzy

That's not what "limited slip" means, moron.

Reply to
dizzy

Yes, but I'm sure that a '84 Supra does not have a Torsen. (My '98 Supra does, though...)

Reply to
dizzy

The center differential in the All Trac Celicas that used to be sold in the U.S. had a viscous coupling for a center differential. The viscous coupling uses a silicone fluid that is completely different and incompatible with normal gear oil or LSD oil.

Reply to
Ray O

Oh but it is shit-for-brains. It is the limiting of power transfer to the wheel with least torque demand by the use of clutch discs which slip in a limited way. It is a description of the differential, not of its end result in traction.

Huw

Reply to
Huw

I wasnt talking about the centre diff which is indeed a viscous link. I'm talking about the rear diff, of which the limited edition and some UK versions had torsen LSDs.

J
Reply to
Coyoteboy

This isnt what every other source of info I've ever found on LSD's has said, and indeed the toyota manual that states "Torque Sensing (torsen) Limited Slip Differential", however having visited a few manufacturer sites I can concur that non who produce non-clutch type systems call them LSDs - they call them torque sensing traction differentials. however we are only arguing over semantics.

J
Reply to
Coyoteboy

Ditzy ... shut up.

Reply to
Philip

And just when we have a welcome low in stupid participants, you come back to fill the void.

Reply to
Philip

Now look, a Torsen diff is not a LSD. Is that too much to comprehend? A proof that this is so is that a very similar clutch pack diff arrangement but which has a piston arrangement to clamp the discs together and completely eliminate the slip in the clutch pack is certainly not called a LSD. It is called a 'hydraulically actuated diff-lock'. This proves that the term describes the diff and nothing else. I have defined the Torsen elsewhere.

Now you may continue to call your Torsen [with a capital 't'] a LSD but that is not a correct use of the term and just because you have used it without challenge for a period of time will not make it so.

It is a similar mistake to calling a 'pump/injector' or 'unit/injector' fuel system a 'common rail'. This may appear pedantic to you but the correct use of terms is important otherwise some will soon call a 'chair' a 'table' and before you know it confusion will reign and the Earth will be consumed by Hellfire. Well not quite, but you get the drift I'm sure.

Huw

Huw

Reply to
Huw

Then the technical illiterates an the manual writers [probably not employed by Toyota directly] are as wrong as you.

however having visited a few

The actual differential manufacturers are of course correct and agree with me. If 'semantics' be the correct use of terms, then yes, we are arguing over semantics. It is important in some small way.

Huw

Reply to
Huw

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