I have a 2007 V8 Vantage and I want to change the gearbox oil to help with the shifting.

I have seen in a few posts that the proper gearbox oil is Castrol syngear 75W90, along with the kendall additive. I cannot seem to find this particular Castrol oil anywhere. Is the actual name of the gearbox oil Castrol Syntrax Limited slip 75W90.

Like shown at the bottom of this page.

http://www.castrol.com/castrol/secti...tentId=7081145

 

I have the same questions. I look at the ferrari.chat since they 360/430 uses the same transmission. They Ferrari owners seem to be divided between using Royal Purple and Redline MT-90 as the orginal spec oil is not available in the US in quarts vice barrels. I am still looking for a more definative answer.

 

Gearbox oil is not all that fussy, its not like engine oil. Just make sure you get some with diff modifier additive in it or your rear end will squeal in the parking lot.

 

I know that there are a lot of them out there but I just want the one that the dealer puts in to make the shifting a little better like I have read about in many posts. without going to the dealer and paying $400.00 for it that is.

 

Actually, not true. Using the wrong kind of gearbox oil can lead to catastrophic results. Case in point: There are only a couple of approved gearbox oils for the Esprit transaxle. Even though it costs about $90US per liter and uses almost 4 liters, you will rarely find an Esprit owner who would dare use an alternative when a new gearbox costs $16,000.

 

I've had good luck with Royal Purple and Redline in my race car, my DB9 is a manual gearbox car also I would be interested in knowing about what to pu int the rear transaxle as well. It was very cold today and I drove it into work just to see how it shifted and drove in the very cold weather. Went well in the morning, no issues or fuss. The car has been bullett proof consistantly although I did get a warning from the TPMS to check tire pressures, looks like the bitter cold 18 deg F is not allowing any heat into the tires at all.

 

I have to disagree, sorry. Oil has specs. As long as you put the same specification oil in the unit as the factory says to use you're fine. BMW was one of the first makers to say "use only our oil or suffer the consequences!" It was marked up 4x the price of the rebranded Castrol it was made from. It didn't take long for the BMW enthusiasts to figure that out many years ago and none of those BMWs blew up, and there are hundreds of thousands of them.

But, having said that - do what YOU are comfortable with.

I just changed the rear diff oil in my new BMW K1600 motorcycle and didn't use the $50 a quart BMW oil, but the $8 a quart Amsoil which actually has higher performance specs than the factory . And that's a $2000 rear diff on that bike. If I had the least doubt, I'd not have used the Amsoil.

 

There's a lot more to oil than just the viscosity specification on the bottle. To again use the Esprit as an example, you cannot simply choose a viscosity on a label that matches and go. The reason is that certain oils contain sulfur compounds that are corrosive to copper alloys. The Esprit uses a transaxle in which the gearbox and the differential share the same oil. It is critical that an oil is chosen that has chemical characteristics that are friendly to both because it uses brass synchros that are vulnerable to sulfurized oils so you need long-term anti-corrosive properties but also need extreme pressure/ anti-wear additives that are necessary for the differential.

Using the empirical evidence of others who say "I used brand-X and it worked for me" doesn't factor in the long-term effects that some of these oils may have on some of the metals in the particular application. It may shift smoother in the short term, but you may be doing damage to the gearbox in the long-term. Bottom line: as you said "do what YOU are comfortable with".

Cheers.

 

On other difference to consider is: For those gear oils that has friction modifiers, how much? Too little or none and the differential will grab too much and syncros will not work as effectively. That is why I looked at the folks a ferrrari chat (there are a lot more of them) and almost all found the readline MT-90NS worked only one or two had to use additional friction modifier.

 

The factory oil in the V8V gearbox is Castrol BOT270A, you cannot get this oil in N.A, the suffix "BOT" is a UK term. An equal is Castrol SynGear 75W90, we buy it locally by the bucket
http://www.castrol.com/liveassets/bp...CANTS_3750.pdf

 

So is it not availiable in anything smaller than a 35 lb pail?

 

We buy it by the pail..to costly for a dealer to buy the bottles to use in service cars, we used to get it by the barrel but we need those vrac lines for something more in demand.

It's nothing special, just match the oil from that data sheet to ones avail in your area..you can even shoot for Royal Purple or other high end lubes if you wish..just long as it meets or exceeds the spec on the sheet...don't go thicker for I've replaced a few transaxles due to thick gear lube in cold area's, syncro's bend and ASM's aren't programmed for a notchy bent syncro..so new trans it would be (I'm talking 80W140 being thick)

 

This is the issue I have run into, Castrol SynGear 75W90 in not available by the quart. Which only led me to the MTL or Royal Purple question?

 

So what would you recommend other than the Castrol. You said Royal Purple, do you mean the Royal Purple Max gear 75W90. If so should I also add the Kendall friction modifier to that as well.

Also how much of the kendall friction modifier do I need to add, depending on what kind of oil I end up using?

My main reason for changing it is to improve the cold shifting, plus it is at the 4 year mark and due for a change.

 

Royal Purple is a great oil, yes the Max Gear 75W90. Use it in my own personal cars and truck...RP already has the LSD friction additive mixed in there gear oil..so you do not add the Kendall additive for LSD..just fill with the Max Gear oil and your good to go!!