Reply to "Changing the oil???"

Advertising executives, whose salaries depend on product sales, want you to believe THEIR brand is the best.

Your ZF could care less what brand is used.

It just wants to get correct, quality gear oil.

IMHO, your Penrite brand will be fine.

Do bear in mind the ZF will retain some old oil unless it is free of the car and is twisted and turned to allow full drainage. Some of the sections are connected by small passages, so when refilling, heating the oil (pan of hot water) will help facilitate the filling process. Allow time for full filling, and then after your first drive, check the level again.

Others will chime in with their favorite brands, some will sing the praises of synthetics, but this is just personal preference.

Your small leak is another matter. Many have slight seepage. You cannot replace the bottom cover gasket without removing the ZF from the chassis. Synthetic oil will likely leak more easily. Yamabond has been praised by quite a few as an excellent sealant. See this post:

http://tinyurl.com/ybt7ag7

FYI. At the top of subject pages on this forum you will see words in yellow, Click the 'find' link and you get to a search engine function for this forum. This is a link to all the past threads, and is a great tool to solve problems.

Of course, asking us is another great tool. Just might take longer.

Larry