what kind of fluid do you put in a manual 5 speed tranny?
and how do you flush the old oil out? i looked threw my haynes manual and it says SAE 5w-30 or dexron II ATF oil.
i never heard of dexron II ATF oil before.
and im assuming SAE is standard motor oil?

im just painting and flushing out the oil and putting new seals on. doing a general overhaul on the fiero.

info would be great! thanks

I use Penzoil Synchromesh.

GM Syncromesh, Royal purple Syncromesh, GM changed the requirements for oil for their manual tranny's from motor oil to syncromesh oil.

Joe Sokol

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85 SE Daily driver with a 3.4 DOHC OBD II
88 Formula/GT 4.9 Allante Intake (My Baby)

Yep they are correct, I get mine from autozone i think its 7-8 a quart

any kind of oil i should be looking for? like which brand is better? would 10w-30 work?
i never done tranmission work before so im not to sure how to drain all the oil out. in my book it says to take the speedmetor out and it has an oil meter on it so i know that where you fill it up. i just dont see a drain plug. my book doesnt say.

quote Originally posted by joshh44: any kind of oil i should be looking for? like which brand is better? would 10w-30 work? i never done tranmission work before so im not to sure how to drain all the oil out. in my book it says to take the speedmetor out and it has an oil meter on it so i know that where you fill it up. i just dont see a drain plug. my book doesnt say.

Did you not read the posts to this thread? Use SYNCROMESH FLUID, not motor oil.

There is a drain plug on the side, near the bottom. And when you fill it, fill though the VSS hole. Be careful taking the VSS out -- If you're not careful, the plastic gear could come off and drop into your transmission. The VSS will be on the top of the area where the axles are connected. There will be a wire connected to it.
If you can't find synchromesh fluid, you can order synthetic synchromesh online from here.

Motor oil is fine. GM didn't change to synchromesh until the 88 model year. Synchromesh is better if you want to spend the extra money. For just oil use a 5w30.

Never use ATF or "gear" oil in any GM manual!
You can wreck the transmission.
See cave, stick.

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Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
(Jurassic Park)

The Ogre's Fiero Cave (It's also at the top of every forum page...)

[This message has been edited by theogre (edited 10-05-2009).]

Synchromesh..

Makes a world of difference. Search the archives for details. At places like Autozone it costs about the same as regular oil as well.

Isn't synchomesh 'thinner' though. If you've got any tendency to leak, sm will make it worse. Good stuff though, I had it in my 5 speed, just using 5/30 now in the 4 speed, seems fine!

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Dave

www.ltlfrari.com

Redline MTL is another choice.

Why cant you fill the trans through the dipstick hole?

quote Originally posted by White88Formula: Why cant you fill the trans through the dipstick hole?

Probably isn't one.

My Getrag has one just assumed others did lol

quote Originally posted by White88Formula: My Getrag has one just assumed others did lol

Some do, some don't, and some folks have added one to the ones that don't. Maybe one of them will tell how.

I use Mobil 1 5W30 (same as crankcase) and have done so for 12 years without issues.

quote Originally posted by jconnor34: I use Mobil 1 5W30 (same as crankcase) and have done so for 12 years without issues.

I did that too. Then I switched to GM Synchromesh - much better. Even Honda Mazda guys are switching to this stuff.

The GM parts counter guys also recommended adding a 4oz bottle of AC Delco Limited Slip Axle Additive - never had any problems!



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World of Wheels Winners
My 3.4L S/C 87 GT
& Super Duty 4 Indy

[This message has been edited by fierosound (edited 10-18-2009).]

Getrag, 86 GT, with dipstick. It has about 190,000 miles on it now. Over 21 years of ownership on this car, and I drive it like a rental.

I ran regular Havoline 5W-30 motor oil for 15 years, then tried full synthetic Mobil 1 5W-30 for the next 5 years. Switched to Pennzoil's Synchromesh last year. Couldn't tell any difference between the three.

I have an 88 Getrag are they all limited slip? because mine seems to feel more like an open diff

quote Originally posted by White88Formula: I have an 88 Getrag are they all limited slip? because mine seems to feel more like an open diff

Getrags are not limited slip. You can get a LSD add-on, but I have no experience with it.

quote Originally posted by White88Formula: I have an 88 Getrag are they all limited slip? because mine seems to feel more like an open diff

All stock Fiero transmissions have an open differential. I think the LSD oil additive was recommended because it breaks up sludge deposits.

thanks for the info guys
im just going to use 5w30 synthetic oil. with a well known quality brand.
anyone know how much oil a manual tranny holds?

There is a post somewhere around here, with the GM TSB on this. It advised switching to synchromesh when servicing or maintaining. That being said, I've always used 5W30, and have never broken a trans.

well the 5 speed is only mated to the duke. im only replacing the seals on the tranmission. so i dont think i have to worry about the tranmission exploding from to much TQ.

IIRC they hold somewhere just shy of 3 quarts.

EDIT: Oh. And Synchromesh is also a 5w30 for those who were wondering. I just has addatives to help keep everything cleaner.

[This message has been edited by Fieroseverywhere (edited 10-12-2009).]

quote Originally posted by theogre: Never use ATF or "gear" oil in any GM manual! You can wreck the transmission. See cave, stick.

Hey Ogre,

I read up on your site with the stick stuff, and wanted to pick your brain a bit. From your article you seemed to indicate that gear oil is not only bad for GM manual transmissions, but all manual transmissions. I had found an article on another site talking about how to improve the strength and longevity of the NSX transmission, and one of the big things they recommended for ANY manual transmission was Redline's heavy shockproof oil 75w90. (they called it 250, from reading on Redlines site it seems they were referring to the 75w90).

here's the article I'm referencing - http://www.motoiq.com/Magaz...ets-of-the-Pros.aspx

If there's other specific reasons not to use this, I'd really like to know. I know that any of the manuals (so far) seem to be time bombs behind a 350, but anything that might buy me a little time I'm looking to do, and this seemed like a good way to go. So if there is danger of this stuff damaging the transmission (instead of just robbing some HP), please let me know so I can make sure to order the synchromesh! ('86 4 speed for what it's worth as far as specifics)

Thanks!