Team-BHP - How often should we change gear oil?

Q: How often should we change gear oil ?
A: Change it at intervals specified in your car manual - manufacturer knows best.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

in my Baleno i remember we changed the gear oil at 60K Kms (Not sure what is recommended, will need to check when i return).

For Baleno it is replacement at 20000kms or 2 years - same as Alto and other Suzukis.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lancer_rit

Transmission oil can be different from gear/clutch oil!

In my Baleno manual, both are used interchangeably and refer to the same thing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jinojohnt

My regular MASS says that transmission oil for automatics last 2 lakh kms, but I would still like to change it earlier for my Automatic, just because my experience with Automatics is limted.

Dont go by MASS, look up the manual. For your A*-AT, it is 1.65lakh kms or 11years IIRC. While it is good to be pro-active, sometimes it is better not to fix what ain't broken.

Quote:

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno (Post 2648379)

Q: How often should we change gear oil ?
A: Change it at intervals specified in your car manual - manufacturer knows best.

^^The best closure to the query of this thread.

Remember- any oil change before an ideal mileage is still good (albeit at a higher maintenance cost), whereas the converse- changing oil well after a recommended mileage is detrimental and not advised.

To illustrate: an Indicab in my company's transport fleet, runs incredibly smoothly(for its vintage) without having had an engine rebuild of any sort - 1.6 lakh kms on the odo notwitshstanding. Why? because its owner religiously leaves the cab at a Tata A.S.S for oil changes - gear and engine oil, at the recommended intervals.

Quote:

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno (Post 2648379)

In my Baleno manual, both are used interchangeably and refer to the same thing.

As I posted (correction) after being pointed out by gaurav, clutch and brake fluids are the same (DOT4plus for my car) while transmission/gear oil is different and is referred by SPI GL grades. So, atleast for the Lancer, the two are _different_ and also the replacement intervals are different (40k km for clutch fluid vs 100k km for gear oil)! I believe this is true for most vehicles as gear oil needs higher viscosity than clutch fluid.

@theMAG, you're spot on. I changed my car's gear oil @64k (together with clutch fluid/bleeding) since I was getting a low speed judder while partially pressing the clutch in 2nd/3rd gear. So changing it early maybe done if there is a specific symptom that might benefit. It has no harm other than $$$ spent. Doing the replacement later can be bad for the gears though!

Is this just a coincidence or this is actually the same company that also manufactures writing instruments like pens?

Also, it has been quite a few days since the oil was changed in your car. What are your comments on the oil?

Quote:

Originally Posted by rakesh_r (Post 2629408)

Recently changed my swift vdi's gear box oil to a less but a reputed brand called schaeffer.The company claims no need to change the oil for the entire lifetime of the gearbox,unless you open it for some reason.

@blackfire_9, the pen brand would be Sheaffer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lancer_rit

So, the Lancer has brake fluid, clutch fluid and gear oil to be changed. I dont see a clutch-fluid in my Baleno manual. Does that mean my car does not have it or the gear oil also lubricates the clutch ? What about other cars ? Or this is something to do with wet-clutch vs dry-clutch ?

First of all, thanks for letting me know about the pen company.

Secondly, I am not too sure but if a car takes in clutch fluid, then it could possibly mean a hydraulic clutch. My car, an Alto, does not have such a requirement & the clutch operates via a wire (clutch wire/cable).

Quote:

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno (Post 2649014)

@blackfire_9, the pen brand would be Sheaffer.

So, the Lancer has brake fluid, clutch fluid and gear oil to be changed. I dont see a clutch-fluid in my Baleno manual. Does that mean my car does not have it or the gear oil also lubricates the clutch ? What about other cars ? Or this is something to do with wet-clutch vs dry-clutch ?

What a huge variation in recommended gear oil change and what some of you have seen by experience.Wonder why would manufacturers say to change it every 20,000kms,when it can go on for thrice that time.

My car has already done 17,000km and in the manual it says 20,000 gear oil should be replaced.However my maruti service provider says no need before 40,000kms.Wonder who to trust now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by avishar (Post 2649378)

My car has already done 17,000km and in the manual it says 20,000 gear oil should be replaced.However my maruti service provider says no need before 40,000kms.Wonder who to trust now.

Same thing happened to me.

i10 owner manual recommends transaxle fluid to be replaced at 15k. But when I went for 15k service, the service advisor recommends the same at 30k.

Whom to believe ? :Frustrati

Rohan

Trust the text, because tomorrow it is the only thing you have & not the adviser's words of wisdom.

Quote:

Originally Posted by avishar (Post 2649378)

Quote:

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr (Post 2649392)

Quote:

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno (Post 2649014)

Good question, I don't know specifics for the Baleno. I know Honda also has clutch/brake fluid separate from gear/transmission oil.
One guess is that since brake fluid and clutch fluid are the same (on most cars), they change both when they say change brake fluid. Probably, you can check with MASS next service ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackfire_9 (Post 2648599)

Schaeffer Oil | Synthetic Motor Oils, Engine Oils, Diesel Fuel Additives, Industrial Lubricants Manufacturer
Both are different.Initially for the first 100km the gear shift was quite stiff,but as the kms passed on the shifts became quite smooth.Already done 4000km on the gear oil,never loved shifting gears so much:uncontrol.Even my dad(who suffers from arthritis) is of the same opinion.One crazy thing i noticed during the demo(was given by the distributor) is normally when two gears in mesh turn,the oil is normally thrown away due to the centrifugal force,but what i noticed in schaeffers is the oil is sucked inside,cant explain how.

I too was faced by a dilemma similar to the one often expressed in this thread- when to change the Gear oil.
The Esteem manual recommends a change after every 20k Kms.
Now, I'm a retired guy and hence don't drive around much these days.
My kilometerage per year would be 3 to 4000.
Would that mean that I change the Gear oil after every 5 yrs? Did'nt seem right.
So, I called up Castrol & also my MASS, who's a friend, too.
They both said, " 20k kms OR 2years, whichever occurs earlier.
Reason being that the oil starts degrading even if you don't use the car much.
As regards the brand of oil, I have been using Castrol's Engine as well as Gear oil in all my cars & it has served me well; all my engines have been in tip top condition.
It only costs a bit more which isn't such a huge issue with me, considering how important good quality oils & regular , timely change is to the life of the engine/transmission.
I might delay washing/tuning but never an oil change.

Why is it that gear oil change interval is mentioned only in terms of kms and not (additionally) in terms of months/years ?

For example - engine oil change interval is mentioned as 10k kms or 1 year, whichever comes earlier.

Why no such time duration is mentioned for gear oil ?

Rohan