trying to figure out whats in my tranny....

[josemateos]

[FONT=verdana]1st, let me say I have read 100s of threads about Saab manually tranny flushes. So I know a lot about it but I still have a couple questions.

I finally got my tranny fill plug out....FREAKING CRAZY how ridiculous it is to that thing off. Broke two extensions then finally pulled battery and got her loose with some PB blaster and patience.

Anyhow...the reason for this was to check the fluid inside....I wanted to see if I had the new Red MTF0063 or the older Saab Syn....my car is a 2001 and the factory fill is suppoosed to be the old Saab Syn, not the MTF063. Well I know it takes 5 liters to flush it completely out. I didn't want to spend all that money so I wanted to pull the filler plug to see if I already had the Red MTF0063 or if I had the dark brown old Saab syn. The plug was loctited so I thought I probably had the original fluid? NOPE, atleast I don't think so.....the oil in my tranny looks like regular 10w-30 or possibly 5w-30 weight. I know in gear oil this might be closer to a 75w-80ish??? The fluid seems very clean, which surprised me as I was expecting it to be really dark.

Now I need to figure out what I'm going to do. I don't know what the last person put in it, but I have 160k miles on the car so it had to have been changed at some pt. I'm wondering if they just put plain old oil or some type of synthetic gear oil? My car seems to shift ruff, it's very very hard to get into reverse sometimes even after putting in 1st (*its habit I always put in 1st before reverse...seems to help synchro)....it also crunches and pops out of 4th quite a bit (*synchro, I know). I just swapped to a TD04 and was tuned to 270 hp. I've been researching and see Saabs MTF0063 is a 75w-85 API GL-4. I've been checking threads and found lots of stuff I could use. Mobil, Redline, Motul, Castrol...anyhow the cheapest that meets the API GL-4 rating seems to be redline (plz correct me if anyone has found any API GL-4 cheaper? I found RL MT-90 for $65.00 for a gallon).

My question is do you think I can mix the current fluid with the Redline, or another mentioned brand? The redline site says it will mix with anything, but I know Per Saab the MTF0063 isn't supposed to be mixed with anything so that can't be entirely true. Also, as I mentioned the oil looks like regular motor oil (definitely NOT strawberry red MFT0063) or possibly some cheaper gear oil?

My other question....from looking at the threads regarding the manual Saab tranny everyone says the original Saab synthetic (pre 2002) is really dark and nasty? Is that true...even when not too old? I'm trying to figure out if that is what could be in my tranny. Again this stuff is virturally clear, almost looks as clean as M1 5w-30 straight out the bottle....could this be the original Saab syn, or is the original saab syn darker?

Lastly...it seems everyone states that Redline MTL or MT-90 are the best choices. There is a newer RL MT-85 oil I think is closer to the OEM MTF0063 I could use. I think I will try that one. They are all API GL-4 and they are all the same price....I know that the MT90 when cold cause hard shifts but MTL seems a bit too thin. The new MT-85 seems to be just right.

Thx in advance!![/FONT]

[photousa]

I changed my manual gearbox fluid on my '03 and when the original stuff came out, it was brown. I know it had never been changed. I filled it with MTF0063, ran it, then dumped it and filled it again with the stock MTF0063 stuff according to Saab WIS. I've never had any trouble or any of the issues you've spoken of. The one thing I will say is that the only way you can make sure that you get the right amount back in the gearbox is to fill from top with the side plug out, when the fluid starts to run out of the side plug, you know you the proper amount in the gearbox. First time I filled my gearbox, I tried to measure out the correct amount and it turned out I didn't add enough. Still didn't cause any problems, but I got it right the second time.