Hedgehodge
Passed Driver's Ed
VW says their factory-fill MT fluid is lifetime. In my mind, lifetime = warranty + 1 day. The Haynes manual says 60K for a change. I figure every 50K is a good round measure, maybe a little early, but what the heck? I want/need this car to last 250K miles like my last VW.
The old fluid was brown, still fairly clear, probably good for another 30K miles, but Redline MTL has been so good in my previous vehicles, I wanted to get it in there now. I had a syncro go up at 105K miles on my '99 TDI Beetle with factory MT fluid, and after that $800 repair, I had the car for another 150,000 miles using MTL with no subsequent transmission repairs. I am hoping early, regular changes with MTL will avoid any and all transmission repair in this GTI.
Redline MTL is a 70W80 GL4 oil and the web site says it satisfies the gear oil viscosity requirements of 70W, 75W, 80W, and motor oil viscosities of SAE 30, 10W30, and 5W30.
In comparison to OEM MT Fluid, the viscosity index is as follows:
at 40*C, OEM is 31 cSt and MTL is 56.2
at 100*C, OEM is 6.2 cSt and MTL is 10.6
So it's a little more viscous than OEM, but not enough to be detrimental to shifting in Maryland temperatures. I can definitely tell the difference that it makes. Smooth as silk. Click in, click out.
In comparison to OEM MT Fluid, the viscosity index is as follows:
at 40*C, OEM is 31 cSt and MTL is 56.2
at 100*C, OEM is 6.2 cSt and MTL is 10.6
at 40*C, OEM is 31 cSt and MTL-LV is 29.8
at 100*C, OEM is 6.2 cSt and MTL-LV is 6.5
Is MTL-LV better than oem and MTL, I know.lv is just lower viscosity