Different tranny fluid

[darth]

Anyone running a different transmission fluid than oem? I'm trying to get rid of the notchiness of the shifter or make it better and was wondering if any had used a performance oriented fluid successfully such as redline amsoil motul etc, thanks

[Cafasco]

The notchy shifter is due to the shifter. Different fluid wont make any diff. But that said...Not sure if synth fluid is factory fill for the manual box. If it isn't, I would swap it out for synth of spec'd weight. Amsoil is really good oil. I would spend the money on it for long term man trans fill for better heat protection and better mpgs.

I had a manual Acrua RSX. Filled manual trans with Synth 10/30 (which was what manual called for). Picked up 2mpg in colder months.

[darth]

I disagree respectfully, well sort of, I can see the shifter adding to the problem but it also feels like the synchros are not linking up properly, I also base this on information I found in a forum called saab tech, in which they used redline with significant improvement. My plan of attack, I bought the shifter reinforcement kit from gs, and will be replacing the trans fluid with redline, 2 parts mt-90(thicker fluid) and one part mtl(about same weight as oem) will post results, won't get my kit from gs until the 14th though

[awjones]

alot of the Cobalt guys like Royal Purple. both Synchromax and Maxgear. another alternative to oem castrol.

[darth]

Ohh good to know, are our 6spd trans the same as the cobalts?

[JasperG]

Just changed my fluid out in my 6 speed when I did a clutch job last weekend. I used the Redline MTL. It is the same weight as the OEM oil. At car quest I gave them the GM part number for the Saab MTL and it pulled up the Redline oil. I also searched on this site and others have used it and the guys at Redline say it is compatible. Not sure about the other brands, I wanted something that matched up in weights/etc as the manual says NOT TO mix oils so I bought 4 qts, drained and filled it up with a quart or so and drained it once again before refilling. I bought the car with a bad clutch so I cant comment on the before but it shifts well and seems very smooth in my aero.

[darth]

Nice! If it feels smooth is an improvement lol. Yes the mtl is the same weight, I believe the not mixing oils is to avoid people from mixing gl-4 & gl-5 oils, I'm saying this because I've seen people from redline recommending certain mixtures for an specific application.