[T2] trans oil (manual)

[Robert Mann]

Q. a few weeks ago:
>what male hex fits in those drain & filler screw-plugs :-[ please?

	These female hex are 17mm across.  You can buy a male 
'socket' with half-inch drive, or more cheaply you can use the head 
of a bolt with a couple nuts locked on.  Alternatively, you may find 
a tube spanner (probably 15mm) the outside of which will fit in these 
17mm hollows.
	A practical point: before you drain the trans oil, confirm 
that your tool can unscrew the filler/level plug.  I know that sounds 
so extremely obvious that you couldn't have missed it, but I needed a 
rtd mechanic to point it out to me.
	To insert 3.5 litre of new oil into the filler, you can push 
uphill batches from a plastic squeeze-bottle.  Easier perhaps is to 
run a couple m of flexible hose out the L side of the body and up to 
a funnel jammed into the hose.
	The issue of additives, GL4 as distinct from GL5 etc, for our 
purposes (as opposed to racing), is less important than it used to 
seem, in the opinion of a v experienced trans rebuilder recommended 
by John Anderson.  He has taken a close interest in oils, and now 
says:

>  Changing oil every 1 or 2 years , depending on usage, makes more 
>difference than what oil is used.
	This expert is summarising a welcome simplification, for the 
restricted categories 'not racing ; no "yellow metal" i.e  no bronze 
or brass in the trans'.

	I found a 4 L flagon of re-refined EP90 GL5, which I 
confidently used instead of the new Castrol 'axle' EP 80W-90 GL5.  It 
may seem implausible, but my gearshift is immediately better in every 
way, and the musical notes in 2nd gear are gone (not  missed).
	The Castrol tag '80W-90' implies multigrade.  This may be 
beneficial for those in cold climates, but for the rest of us is I 
suspect a waste of money; and those additives to make it multigrade 
are not such good lubricants as plain 90 oil.

	Can we generate an up-to-date Library-type bull on T2 
manual-trans oils?  I feel one coming on  ...

--
Robt Mann
Whangaparaoa, New Zealand
'73 VW 1600dp Devon camper
'53 Meteor V8
various Jawa-CZ and Jawa-NZ strokers