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Don't. Posted by John Fitzgerald [Email] (#77) [Profile/Gallery] (more from John Fitzgerald) on Fri, 17 Aug 2012 11:00:15 In Reply to: Would you switch to synthetic tranny oil?, mysaab, Fri, 17 Aug 2012 08:06:01 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
Tried to 'improve' a slightly whining fifth gear synchro with Saab synth manual trans fluid in a 9k about fourteen years ago. Didn't make it a mile down the road before the stick began to pop out of gear, stiff to engage, etc.
Turned around and went straight back to the garage, jacked up the front end, and put good old Castrol GTX 10w-40 back in. Had to flush/drive/drain it twice more before it went back to normal, the entire time feeling a general 'why did I mess with this' sense of self-induced expensive repairs.
Fortunately, it recovered and was still running fine several years later when I sold it. Have always stuck with Castrol dino oil since for all 9000 transmissions. Never an issue; once replicated the symptoms on our 97 Aero after a new clutch installed by our indy and they used a semi-synth [Amsoil, I think] until I had them drain and refill with Castrol.
Some speculated, years ago, that the friction in the synchros needed to be more than the synth oil permitted, ie, it's a bit too 'good' or slippery for the operation of the trans. Whatever the reason, stick with conventional oil.
Now, IF you were asking about a 99 or 900 trans, then, yes, Redline MTL is the way to go [ok, some vote for Amsoil], but a synthetic can make a difference in smoothness and cold temp shifting while the engine warms up the trans below it.
best of luck,
John
Burlington, Wisc
'73 96 RHD sold after four years in Middle Barton, Oxfordshire, UK
'80 99 sold after 20 years/192,000mi
'86 9kT sold after 12 years/approx 121,000 mi
'87 9kT sold after 9 years/approx 174,000 mi
'97 CSE given to my son after 8 years/, he sold it at 254k mi
'97 Aero 227,xxx mi
and a couple of 'non-Saabs':
'01 Suburban 136,xxx mi
'03 BMW 330 Cic 48,xxx mi
_______________________________________ John Burlington, Wisc '73 96 RHD sold after four years in Middle Barton, Oxfordshire, UK '80 99 bought new, sold after 20 years/192,000mi '86 9kT picked up at Trollhatten, sold after 12 years/approx 121,000 mi '87 9kT sold after 9 years/approx 174,000 mi '94 CSE given to my son after 8 years @ 245k; he sold it at 254k mi '95 Aero 146,xxx mi sold '98 CSE 248,xxx mi gave it away '97 Aero 317,xxx mi my daughter’s school car … gave away [we put 300k mi on it] still driving: '97 CSE 170xxx mi 'project car' for myself and my daughters to drive '07 9-3 2.0T 240xxx '08 9-5 191xxx mi my wife's daily driver and a couple of 'non-Saabs': '01 Suburban 201,xxx mi '03 BMW 330 Cic 84,xxx mi '14 Mercedes E350 103,xxx mi
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