Hi
I have a 10 year old Ford Escort with 92,000 miles on the clock. It's served me well but I need to get another 12 months/15,000 miles out of it before I replace it. Over the last 10,000 miles the gearbox has started to whine, nothing major but the frequency is particularly annoying, especially at motorway speeds. Is there any additive that would make an improvement or have I got to live with it? A friend suggested "molyslip", anyone tried this? Thanks Mark
Worth a try but don't expect too much.
mrcheerful
I have the same problem with the gearbox in my wife's Citroen ZX which we want to keep another year at most.
The box should use EP 75/80 gearbox oil. As the noise wasn't present on a cold morning when the oil was thicker, I decided to change the oil to EP 90 and I used Molyslip though I had received varying comments about it (the worst being it could wreck the quality of the gearchange.) I decided if it was too bad I would drain the oil and replace with new 75/80.
I did this two weeks ago and the change is slightly more notchy, but I think this has more to do with the thicker oil. The whining is much quieter (and still getting better) and the vibration at 60mph + has gone completely. Can't say how much is due to Molyslip and how much due to thicker oil.
The whole job cost me less than £15, is dead easy on a ZX, and has been well worth it.
I would take the gearbox out and try to find why it is whining. If it has shed a tooth on one of the gear wheels, putting in additives will not do much good and you run the risk of losing some or all of the gears if things get worse.
Colin Bignell
You could try oil. Have you actually _checked_ the levels on the gearbox oil ? Apologies if you already have, but you'd be a rarity if you did so.
Molyslip wouldn't hurt and is easy enough to do. It'll help with tooth wear, but does nothing if the ballraces have started to crumble.
Make sure it's got oil at all. Many of these transmissions have no easy way of determining the oil level, with the oil not even mentioned on the service schedule, and can often go months or even years largely dry.
Christian.
The old cure used to be Duckhams 20/50.
I checked this and managed to get 150ml more oil in before the stuff started dribbling out the filler hole. Not sufficiently low to cause a problem I wouldn't imagine. The problem on this model is that there is no drain plug so I can't easily replace the oil, only top it up. There is the reverse gear detent plug that looks like it would drain the oil once removed but I've been advised not to attempt this in case I lose the spring and ball bearing in the gearbox.
Is it the gearbox or the final drive? Final drives *may* be noisy but go on for years. Not so gearboxes, IMHO. On a motorway, you'd be in top which is usually - on a modern car - direct. So the noise would be a bearing rather than a gear.
Try a heavier oil in the box
OK, so how do I get the old oil out? There's no drain plug on this model???
Rubbish - a nylon stocking was the cure :-)
Buy a new g/box sump gasket and remove sump to change oil. Use heavier gear oil.
From new, the gear oil should be dropped after 2K miles and replaced with Mobil 1 fully synthetic gear oil. Replace every 2nd service, that is approx every 2 years in most cars. After approx 25k miles add Slick 50 gearbox treatment at each g/box oil change. The transmission will remain like new for nearly all the life of the car.
From new use Mobil 1, or similar, fully synthetic engine oil, and change as per makers recommendations. The oil can go longer, so it gives you leeway on service intervals. No one has a service 9K miles on the dot. No need to use the likes of Slick 50 in the engine if fully synthetic oil is used from new.
Using the above your engine and transmission will remain smooth, and new sounding and feeling, for all its life. The only noises will be from the water pump, alternator, power steering pump and a/c compressor and any worn belts
Slick 50 do an excellent power steering pump fluid. This is proper fluid not an additive. This is also well worth using after about 50K miles.
Tropical fish shops, do a siphon thing for cleaning out tanks. It's a Fiat designed gearbox, what do you expect ;-(
If this is the case, do Slick supply a warranty?
This is, of course, a *huge* pile of crap.
Yup. Mobile are the makers of a well regarded premium oil, and adding crap like Slick 50 or whatever is likely to damage its performance rather than improve it. If an additive such as this was needed, the maker would already incorporate it.
And the life of a manual box depends to some extent on how it's driven - slamming it through the gears will result in worn synchro clutches sooner rather than later.
Snake oil, snake oil. Next you'll be claiming that 'Cat-O-clean' works.....
There is no need to use any additives or oil's other than what the engine maker specifies, rather than pay extra for 'additives' just change the oil and filter at half makers recommendations (both in terms of mileage and age).
Of course it will, it would do so if you put water in the sump, the life of the engine might be limited but it would still "remain smooth, and new sounding and feeling, for all its life" !..
It's nothing but classic marketing blurb for snake oil.
If it has nothing added why use it instead of what the factory used ?!
Your post sound like an IMM's 'cut and paste' marketing blurb rants....
I'd like to see some proof that this has any advantages at all. While it may not cost much, IMHO it's just a waste of money and resources. For it to be of any real benefit - and I dispute this - it would have to be from when the vehicle is new, and how many keep a new car until it's worn out?
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