Early 944 gearchange quality

[jwindwood]

Guys

My 1985 square dash 944 has had quite a notchy/baulky and loose gear change since I have had it. I replaced the gear lever and bush with very little effect so concluded that I would need to replace the rear shift linkage at some point.

Anyway, it has only been used for short journeys up to now, but yesterday I took it on a 220 mile round trip on the motorway. To my surprise, when hot, the gear change was transformed! Yes, the stick is still loose, but the notchiness and baulking was gone. This has me thinking that maybe it's to do with gear oil-does this sound reasonable?

If this might be the case (And I have very little history) it must be worth me changing it. Can someone please advise on the best gearbox oil to use and how much I will need for a complete change? Also, would an additive be good? If so, which one?
Many thanks.

 

[zcacogp]

John,

Various people go nuts over very exotic gearbox oils - swepco being the best known one. I am sure they are good, but are also very expensive.

As with all lubricants, I prefer to spend a little less and change it more often. I use bog-standard synthetic gearbox oil of the required type (Hypoid 80, I think) for around £3 a litre, and change it every couple of years. It does improve the quality of the gear shift after every change, and is a worthwhile bit of expenditure.

(An aside - if you are planning to do the job yourself then make sure you can remove the 'fill' plug from the gearbox before you remove the 'drain' plug. The 'fill' plug is often quite a bit tighter than the 'drain' one, which leads to obvious problems ... )


Oli.

 

[Mike_Pollock]

Plus 1 for Oli.

 

[bert gear]

ORIGINAL: zcacogp

John,

Various people go nuts over very exotic gearbox oils - swepco being the best known one. I am sure they are good, but are also very expensive.

As with all lubricants, I prefer to spend a little less and change it more often. I use bog-standard synthetic gearbox oil of the required type (Hypoid 80, I think) for around £3 a litre, and change it every couple of years. It does improve the quality of the gear shift after every change, and is a worthwhile bit of expenditure.

(An aside - if you are planning to do the job yourself then make sure you can remove the 'fill' plug from the gearbox before you remove the 'drain' plug. The 'fill' plug is often quite a bit tighter than the 'drain' one, which leads to obvious problems ... )


Oli.

I always thought the same and still do with engine oils, more changes the better But gear boxes are a bit different. Swepco is so sticky it coats all the internals making moving parts much more easy, and improves gear change

 

[944Turbo]

ORIGINAL: zcacogp

John,

Various people go nuts over very exotic gearbox oils - swepco being the best known one. I am sure they are good, but are also very expensive.

As with all lubricants, I prefer to spend a little less and change it more often. I use bog-standard synthetic gearbox oil of the required type (Hypoid 80, I think) for around £3 a litre, and change it every couple of years. It does improve the quality of the gear shift after every change, and is a worthwhile bit of expenditure.

(An aside - if you are planning to do the job yourself then make sure you can remove the 'fill' plug from the gearbox before you remove the 'drain' plug. The 'fill' plug is often quite a bit tighter than the 'drain' one, which leads to obvious problems ... )


Oli.

so do they feel better after every change because it degrades faster so the new stuff is an improvement or does the more expensive stuff also benefit from changing at the shorter intervals? I guess its tricky to quantify []