cAN I USE

[cbclotus]

Hi all i have a friend that uses shell trans axle gear box oil for his Ferrari is it 440 cant rember ,can i use this oil in my s3 gearbox as he had to buy it in a large quantity thanks mike s3,it must be g5 spec

[Bibs]

Lotus only recommend TAF-X as it has the right high temperature resiliant properties coupled with good performance in the high pressure environment of our transaxle.

[dodgy]

TafX is the recomended oil for the renault gearboxs, i have read (thought it was on lew but not) that the oil for the citroen box's is castrol universal syntax.

As long as the oil is not below api gl5 should be ok for normal driving.

the oe spec for our boxes is sae 80, so the taf-x and universal are actually thinner both 75w90.

i use valvoline fully syn 75w90 gl4/5, and change it everytime i change the engine oil.(if its jacked up i figure i might as well do both at once)

dodgy

[USAndretti42]

the oe spec for our boxes is sae 80, so the taf-x and universal are actually thinner both 75w90.

i use valvoline fully syn 75w90 gl4/5, and change it everytime i change the engine oil.(if its jacked up i figure i might as well do both at once)

dodgy

To be pedantic, the 75W/90 oil is both thinner and thicker than straight 80 oil. At low temperatures, the 72W rating is relevant meaning it's thinner than 80 weight oil. At 100 degrees the 90 rating is relevant making it thicker than 80 oil. So it should be better than the straight 80 oil.

Changing the gearbox oil everytime you change the engine oil is a good idea as you will find debris earlier in the failure rather once it's had thousands of miles to get worse.

[Kato]

Lubicant info is here:

http://www.lotusespritworld.com/EGuides/ETechnical/oil.html

We wouldn't advise anything but what Lotus have tried and tested.

[Guest Troy Halliday]

Changing gearbox oil at the same time as engine oil is an excellent practice and one that has been reccomended by several gearbox mechanics. It is the biggest reason for gearbox failuer. If you think about it logically the gears are turning all the time your car is in motion. You would not leave it 2-3 years before changing your engine oil would you.

[dodgy]

Hi kato, all the info on the oil for the transmission talks about the ren box, have you changed the info recently on that page?

i was looking recently at the castrol universal because of the recomendation i found (cannot find the reference now ). i would not have bothered looking if i hadnot seen it on a cosha site.

the capacity stated on the LEW page is for the ren box , the cit box is 2.25 ltrs.

See you soon, 48 days to go