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

I like the Redline MTL. It is an 80-90 full synthetic and unlike the old gear oil has an additive for the syncros.

You see gear oil is just that and made for differentials. The ZF is a trans axle.

A full synthetic gear oil would be too slippery for the syncros to work right.

The MTL fixes that problem. Gary Hall recommended this stuff to me 15 years ago and I like everyone else, was stubborn as Hell.

Gary was right. The stuff works.

Also ,it doesn't hurt to drive the car a bit to get some heat in the trans just before you drain the oil .It will drain much faster and you will get more of the old oil out. BTW: I use Penzoil gear oil.


Ron

...FWIW. I use 'Valvoline 80-90 Gear Oil'. Smooth, Easy Gear Shifts even when first Fired-Up and Cold!...

Welcome Ta Paul. Not sure if you've found Panteraplace.com, but it is a wealth of information. Here is a link specifically on what you are doing.

http://www.panteraplace.com/page10.htm

The ZF takes approximately 3 ½ (qts)...I used Lucas Heavy Duty 80/90 Weight Gear Oil, (or equivalent as others have posted). Fill until it comes out the side fill plug. Per Roy Butfoy, "any 80/90 Weight gear oil works well, BUT Valvoline". Note the Napa people said Valvoline makes their Napa Brand gear oil, so I went with the Lucas…a bit more expensive but good quality. Interesting Marlin is having good luck with Vavoline gear oil. Roy Butfoy is the guru of ZF's...you will see his name everywhere when the subject of ZF's comes up.

Congrats on your purchase.

Castrol 80 - 90W Hypoy C is what Roy told me to use. Tried others, noticeable difference. Your ZF does care what oil you run.

The Castrol Hypoy 80W-90 is what I have traditionally used in the ZF, the Hypoy does not have an LSD additive and there are various opinions on whether one is needed. Personaly I do not use one.

I believe Redline and SWEPCO 201 are also highly regarded gear oils.

I switched to Redline in my Porsche transaxle.

Julian

quote:

Originally posted by Joules5:
The Castrol Hypoy 80W-90 is what I have traditionally used in the ZF, the Hypoy does not have an LSD additive and there are various opinions on whether one is needed. Personaly I do not use one.



Julian

It is Castrol Hypoy C SAE 80W-90 Limited Slip gear oil. The container is marked "Limited Slip".

Mike

Thanks for all the great feedback guys...very helpful...just hope I get it right

Anyway, stay tuned for more exciting questions from us...same cat channel, same cat time... or something like that?!?!?