After much researching and reading many forums, I finially figured out what oil is in the manual transmission for our cars. It appears that Esso has the exclusive contract to provide Nissan/Infiniti with ALL lubrication needs to a NIssan spec.

At a local Nissan dealer I was fortunate enough to actually see and write down what oil they use on our transmissions.

Esso Gear Oil GX
75W85 GI-5 API
58196 02890

So a quick look at ImperialOil.ca website and there it is. It is a blend of the GX gear oil family 75W80 & 75W90. One quick call and the cost of a Timmy's lunch, I found that Nissan spec on these gear oil has less additives than Esso's spec for GX oils. With out getting into details, it was enough to say my contact recommend not using the Nissan 75W85 oil and use a mixture of 1/2 75W80 & 1/2 75W90 gear oil to get a better quality blend with better additives. The biggest spec is the on viscosity @ 40C. The higher the number the better the gear oil. The next important spec is how corrosive this oil is to "yellow metals". Nissan spec'd oil has less of the desired qualitys than the normal Esso branded oils. Even though I couldn't get the Copper corrosion test results out of the contact. Hmmmmmm [img]/w3timages/icons/frown.gif[/img]

However I took it one step further and wanted to find a "synthetic blend" lubricant that I could use in the transmission.

As luck would have it, I found a perfect synthetic blended gear oil that has excellent specs. Viscosity @ 40 C 122 and a Copper corrosion test that passed and made it suitable for "yellow metals" <font color=yellow>Shell's Spirax S 75W90 100% synthetic heavy duty automotive gear oil.

<font color=black>So I bought me some and changed the oil. It took almost 4 litres of the gear oil and the oil that came out wasn't too bad. Only a few metal particles were present.

The changes in driveability were reasonable apparent, but I suspect some bias in my view. What I have noticed is NO more 1'st to 2'nd, high RPM quick shift syncro crunch and it does appear to shift more smoothly.

<font color=red>(disclaimer)

<font color=purple>I freely admit to being biased to Shell products, as I am employed by them. But in my defense I know a lot more about the specs (including prioritary information) of any Shell product and I get one heck of good price on the product. [img]/w3timages/icons/smile.gif[/img]
<font color=black>




2003 G35 6MT DP Willow
Mods:
Aluminum pedals - Sirius radio
Rogue short shifter/titanium shifter
Z-tube/K&N filter

 

Synthetic is usually better. What kind of additives or features are you looking for so that the lube is copper-friendly?
Story: My brother had the rear-end replaced on one of his heavy duty work trucks. They would guaranty the work for 100,000 miles if he used regular dino lube, but they would guaranty the work for 200,000 if he used Mobil1 or Amzoil (what they had on hand).

'04 6MT coupe

 

Excellent work AltaLad!

The manual transmission fluid is the one thing I have been adamant of sticking with the OEM. However, I also felt it was not quite up to the task. With your research ... I'm now able to find a *synthetic* alternative that is compatible.

Will I be able to find this Shell Spirax S 75W90 at any local auto parts store? Where can I get them cheaply? ... please don't tell me at the local Shell gas station :P



Clint (THX723)

 

Its good to hear that the Spirax is suitable for yellow metal. I had a bad experience using mobil 1 synthetic gear oil.

Although I didn't have a good experience. As soon as I put the tranny oil in, all my gears felt really hard to engage. The gears would make a loud clunk noise and required alot more force to engage so I switched it back to Nissan oil. Although it might not contain all the additives the GL5 has, the difference between the mobil 1 and nissan oil was a night and day difference. So then I e-mailed mobil and they also didn't recommend any GL5 oil to use in our tranny, but your case might be different.

I think our tranny is quite picky on what oil it takes and rejects.

04 G35C 6mt/aero kit/nav/premium

 

Since you can get it for a good price, how about hooking up G35driver forum folks?

 

Ok I was expecting to receive some feedback and maybe some flames but I'm impressed with the questions, thus far. So I'll answer them one at a time.

<font color=red>But I should let everyone know that this information and product is based on a Shell Canada spec.I have no idea what Shell USA offers or provides to it's customers. The two companies are seperate and do not follow each others policies. Sorry guys. only in Canada "eh"

<font color=green><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>

Synthetic is usually better. What kind of additives or features are you looking for so that the lube is copper-friendly?


<hr></blockquote>
<font color=black> I look for the results of a Copper Corrosion test ASTM method D130. What that is basically, is putting a measured quantity in a stainless metal tube with a cleaned pure copper strip and heating it to 100 C and leaving it for 3 hours. Afterwards, the color of the copper strip is measured and that determines how the product reacts to copper. I looked for a reading of 1A or 1B which is basically pure and clean. The Shell web page says it passes but my inquiry told me what it passed at.
<font color=blue> http://www.shell.ca/code/products/co...eader/1-28.pdf

<font color=green><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>

Will I be able to find this Shell Spirax S 75W90 at any local auto parts store? Where can I get them cheaply? ... please don't tell me at the local Shell gas station :P

<hr></blockquote>

<font color=black> I picked mine up at my local bulk lube oil station. These are the ones that provide fuel card services and lubrication products to truckers and commercial businesses. I don't believe the local corner store will even know what this stuff is or carry it.





2003 G35 6MT DP Willow
Mods:
Aluminum pedals - Sirius radio
Rogue short shifter/titanium shifter
Z-tube/K&N filter




<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small"><EM>Edited by AltaLad on 09/17/04 07:15 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>

<font color=green>Its good to hear that the Spirax is suitable for yellow metal. I had a bad experience using mobil 1 synthetic gear oil.

Although I didn't have a good experience. As soon as I put the tranny oil in, all my gears felt really hard to engage. The gears would make a loud clunk noise and required alot more force to engage so I switched it back to Nissan oil. Although it might not contain all the additives the GL5 has, the difference between the mobil 1 and nissan oil was a night and day difference. So then I e-mailed mobil and they also didn't recommend any GL5 oil to use in our tranny, but your case might be different.

I think our tranny is quite picky on what oil it takes and rejects.
[\quote]

<font color=black>I wanted to answer yours specifically because I had the same questions and this is what I found out. I pondered over the GL-4 and GL-5 spec question as well. I know the service manual says GL-4 spec and 2.9 litres.(actually closer to 4 litres) Where as the local dealer is using the Esso branded, Nissan spec, GX gear oil and it is a GL-5 spec. So I asked the technical engineers with Shell about that GL spec and other things.[img]/w3timages/icons/smile.gif[/img] Basically there is no real difference between GL-4 and GL-5 specs. The real key is looking at the Viscosity @ 40 C with the higher number the better. It roughly gives a indication how "slippery" the oil is at 40 C.

Not that I want to knock Mobile products, as I believe they make excellent products for their customers. But in my opinion their oils were not up to the task for the Nissan transmission. For example:
Mobil 1 synthetic gear lubricant 75W90 has a statement that says "sulphur-phosphorous additive system." In my opinion, again, that's something I wouldn't want around my transmission. Strangely enough, the spec sheet doesn't show whether it passed the copper corrosion test and my contact refused to discuss it! It was none of my business. (unquote) Plus comparing the viscosity @40 C, Spirax had a better number than Mobil's. So, once again, my opinion was Shell Spirax was a better product. (remember, I'm also biased toward Shell Canada products)

<font color=green><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>

I think our tranny is quite picky on what oil it takes and rejects.

<hr></blockquote>

<font color=black> Not to mention of possible problems with warrenty issues and whether or not any oil brand change would cause problems later. I've read of issues on other forums with people using other oils besides factory fills and requesting warrenty work. If I have any issues with the transmission and need any warrenty work done, I will be changing the oil back to Esso gear oil 75W85, just to cover my scrawny little a**. Time will tell and so far I am impressed with the performance of Shell's Spirax S 75W90 product.

[b]Now here is the real kicker, that made me happy. This gear lube is compatible with rear end differentials as well. SO that means I can use one gear lube product to use in my diffs in the 4X4, G35, diff and trans. Can you say buy in bulk [img]/w3timages/icons/smile.gif[/img][img]/w3timages/icons/smile.gif[/img][img]/w3timages/icons/smile.gif[/img]


2003 G35 6MT DP Willow
Mods:
Aluminum pedals - Sirius radio
Rogue short shifter/titanium shifter
Z-tube/K&N filter

 

How's the viscosity at cold temperatures? I remember it was pretty tough to shift at -10degC to 0degC with the OEM gear oil.

Drew
2003 G35 Sedan 6MT / Black / Graphite / Prem / Aero

 

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>

<font color=green>How's the viscosity at cold temperatures? I remember it was pretty tough to shift at -10degC to 0degC with the OEM gear oil.

<hr></blockquote>
<font color=black>
I know the pour point is -45 C and I don't drive my G35 in the winter, so I have no idea. I guess time will tell.

2003 G35 6MT DP Willow
Mods:
Aluminum pedals - Sirius radio
Rogue short shifter/titanium shifter
Z-tube/K&N filter

 

Many people , includeing mayself use Royal Purple Max Synthetic. It passes all the afore mentioedn test and comes highly recommended.

 

FYI , this is one of many places you cna buy RP oil online.

http://rpmoil.com/

 

Has anyone here tried Redline MTL?

I've read that some people changed to Redline MTL and didn't feel any difference. Others say the shifting is smoother and there is no more 1st-2nd grind.

In my personal experience, switching from factory fluid to synthetic usually results in smoother shifting. But there seems to be conflicting reports on the G35.

It sounds like that Spiramax stuff works good, except it's hard to find in the US. Royal Purple looks good on paper as well, but what about some accounts of real life use?

 

My RP experience.
a) 1st to 2nd high RPM speed shifting is improved. No high RPM grinds as of yet.
I could grind with OEM fluid with my Rogue Short shifter under high RPM and very hard shifts.
b) idle , clutch out, grear noise is noticeably less.
c) can't speak for low temp operation, I live in sunny Ca.

Redline is comparable to RP. Track users of both swear by them.

 

How hard is it to change the gear oil, Clint? I wanna do this b4 Oct 2nd.

2 G or not 2 G, there's no question!

 

About as easy as changing engine oil. You'll need a fluid transfer pump, which only costs about 10 bux.


Clint (THX723)