Manual transmission oil Q

[IvanHoe]

I was checking the tranny oil in my 88 camry and the odd thing is that there's gear oil in it and NOT ATF, which is what Toyota and Chiltons says is suppossed to be in there. The V6 manual transmission uses gear oil and the 91 and up uses gear oil, but mine is suppossed to have ATF.
Does this seem odd to anyone else?
Also when I pulled the filler plug off, I expected only a trickle to ooze out....if that, but instead it flowed out a little too fast. I got nervous and quickly plugged it back up so as not to lose too much. I guess this might have occured cause I did it while the car was still warm from a recent drive, who knows .

Has anybody out there ever replaced there manual tranny oil?
And if so, has anybody tried the Redline stuff (MT-90 is suppossed to be good for Toyotas)
Seeing as my manual tranny has Gear oil in it for some odd reason, I dont wont to downgrade the viscosity to ATF at this point.
My mechanic has said that it never needs to be replaced, but Ive heard conflicting reports on this.

[Doctor J]

According to some sources, 80W90 oil in the gearbox causes wear on the differential thrust washers.During the cold weather operation, thicker oil in the manual gearboxes could drop the fuel economy.The most common reason the thicker oil is put into the gearbox is to hide the noise from worn synchronyzers.

[IvanHoe]

Originally Posted by Doctor J

According to some sources, 80W90 oil in the gearbox causes wear on the differential thrust washers.During the cold weather operation, thicker oil in the manual gearboxes could drop the fuel economy.The most common reason the thicker oil is put into the gearbox is to hide the noise from worn synchronyzers.

mmmm, interesting. Im not sure if this is what happenned with my car though. The Tranny works flawlessly with no syncro issues. I bought it form the original owner and he never had any work done to the tranny or replaced the gear oil.....as far as I know. It couldve been changed to the wrong stuff at one point, but who's to know. The car is 18 years old and even if I asked the original owner, i dont think he would remember.......the guy is in his 70's

[Doctor J]

If the transmission works fine, I would probably leave it as is.if you have gear oil in the box, just add some ligh viscosity gear oil, if level goes low. Flashing, refilling and then waiting for failures to surface later is absolutely unnecessary.

[IvanHoe]

Originally Posted by Doctor J

If the transmission works fine, I would probably leave it as is.if you have gear oil in the box, just add some ligh viscosity gear oil, if level goes low. Flashing, refilling and then waiting for failures to surface later is absolutely unnecessary.

TY

[fredk]

when i first got my blue car there was 90w in my s53 5 speed, it was kinda hard to shift cold on cold days, then i read it was supposed to have dex3 in it, i changed it and now its easy to shift hot or cold but 3rd gear is still trashed

[IvanHoe]

Originally Posted by fredk

when i first got my blue car there was 90w in my s53 5 speed, it was kinda hard to shift cold on cold days, then i read it was supposed to have dex3 in it, i changed it and now its easy to shift hot or cold but 3rd gear is still trashed

\
Just like Doctor J said, why rock the boat?
Ill just keep an eye on thimgs and add when needed, but I wont be changing, flushing, or anything for that matter!

[marc780]

The gear oil level is meant to be level with the bottom of the filler hole, whatever is used in there. Park the car on a level surface and remove the plug and do let the excess drain out.

[IvanHoe]

Originally Posted by marc780

The gear oil level is meant to be level with the bottom of the filler hole, whatever is used in there. Park the car on a level surface and remove the plug and do let the excess drain out.

Agreed, but I have no leaks anywhere that would would arise from the tranny being over-filled.