Question On Manual Transmission Fluid For 3rd Gen

Has anyone used this fluid for their 3rd Gen Manual Transmission Tacoma?
Ultra1Plus SAE

$28 75W-90 Synthetic Gear Lube - 1 Quart (Pack of 2)

75W-90 Synthetic Gear Oil, API GL-4

Seems much cheaper than others I have seen out there.
Plan on changing mine every 25K
Thanks All,
Bob

 

Never heard of it. Let us know your feedback, especially if you cycle through a few different fluids for comparison

 

Saw a guy on Facebook who used it and likes it. I’ve been through a few different fluids (not that one) and I have settled on Driven 80W-90 GL4 conventional as my favorite. It’s a tad notchy when cold (they all have been) but super smooth warm.

The others I’ve tried:

Motorcraft (didn’t like, notchy much of the time and way too expensive)

Sta-Lube 85W-90 (good except when cold)

Sta-Lube 140W (just an experiment, actually worked really well in summer but was too thick to even try to use in winter)

Ravenol

$28 75W-90 Synthetic Gear Lube - 1 Quart (Pack of 2)

75W-90 synthetic blend - good pretty much all the time. Would have kept using but I like the warm performance of Driven 80W-90 better.

 

Will do. I drove around the neighborhood and everything seemed pretty smooth.

 

Good to know thanks

 

Top recs would be amoil, Ford Motorcraft, or Redline MT-95. Currently using Ford Motorcraft with my MT

 

I run amsoil in mine

 

Any particular reason for toying conventional oils as much or just curious?

i'm also curious

 

I used Ravenol synthetic in the rear diff per a recommendation. No complaints.
Crazy how pricey the GL-4 fluids are. Was originally going to try Toyota but it was $90 a liter

 

MT-90

 

I just switched to MT90 at 18K miles. I swear it is a tad better than stock. But then again it is likely all in my head.
I don't think it is going to matter too much. 25k is likely a decent interval. Lots of Amsoil fans out there but I am not interested in the membership. Ravenol I hear is good but there are minimums to qualify for the shipping. The MT90 can be had on Amazon with a subscribe and save discount and I will add a quart every once in a while when I am low on items to qualify for the max discount.

In the end, I like using premium fluids, but I also know it probably won't matter.

 

In terms of quality over time and in various vehicles spec-ing different fluids, i've found acdelco syncromesh to shift the nicest regardless of spec. However by 20'000kms it feels like the fluid is depleted of the pixie magic and ready to be changed again.

(I don't use syncromesh in this vehicle because even driving on the highway for a while warms it to the point of getting slightly grindy between gears, plus I tow/haul often which would make it worse)

i've settled on amsoil(because with the amount I drive and with prices and fluid stock near me I'm presently 2 years ahead on free membership and with the exception of motor oil it's cheaper than me buying in town) I find that depending on how much towing/hauling I do during the interval it's usually near the 80'000km mark that the shifting starts to noticeably degrade and require changing. In turn at 80'000kms I just change the whole drive line and power steering fluid to keep my intervals easy.

Honestly in my experience with other vehicles, yet viscosity and spec make a difference of course but for manual transmission I feel like the change interval makes a bigger difference than brand if you use the specified fluid. So in this case a

$28 75w-90 Synthetic Gear Lube - 1 Quart (Pack of 2)

75w-90 gl4 gear lube. If I could get other brands of above mentioned lube nearby for cheaper then i'd jump ship from amsoil in a heartbeat.

I've never had a part failure from lube when using the proper spec and I feel changing it on time makes a bigger difference to the longevity of the component than brand unless you excess the recommended maintenance interval

 

Just to add another data point here.
I recently did my Manual Gearbox fluid change with the Amsoil MT Fluid

$28 75W-90 Synthetic Gear Lube - 1 Quart (Pack of 2)

75W-90.

I was a bit early (@20k mi) since it is the first replacement post factory. - Found it in stock at Napa Auto. I bought one of the 3 needed in the bag container (Which I then re-used with the fluids to fill my front diff and transfer case...)

I find that the feel with it is oddly a bit notchier than the factory fill. This was a bit of a disappointment. I guess I expected a buttery smoothness...
I probably have 50 miles on it so far. I'll give it a few report back. I may try the MT 90 next time.

 

Full synthetic anything for me has always been notchier. Have personally never understood the hype.

 

What options are there for conventional? Is

$28 75W-90 Synthetic Gear Lube - 1 Quart (Pack of 2)

75W-90 always synthetic cause a quick google search produces nothing conventional with that rating. I’m curious!

 

Not a whole lot.

$28 75W-90 Synthetic Gear Lube - 1 Quart (Pack of 2)

75W-90 is basically always synthetic, except Ravenol does offer a semi-synthetic. I ran that for a while and it worked quite well. I think it mostly has to do with synthetics being a bit thinner when cold for the same warm viscosity as conventional.

I run Driven 80W-90 GL4 and I have used Sta-Lube 85W-90. Being 90 weight they do work well when hot, the sta-lube could be a bit grindy when cold. For whatever reason the synthetics felt notchy to me regardless of temp. Not all the time, but a lot of the time. Part of it is probably just the transmission and timing of the shifts, but I find that I like the Driven best overall, so that's what I run. In extreme cold it's a bit notchy for the first mile or so. In extreme hot, it can't be beat.

I ran the Motorcraft full synthetic in my truck for a little while and wasn't a big fan. However, I recently tried it in a friend's truck with the B&M short shifter, and had no complaints there. I think the short throw makes it harder to feel fluid differences because of how tight the shifter becomes.

 

Awesome detailed reply, thank you! I see you’re down in TX, up here in CO I’m not sure I want the shifts any stiffer in our colder winters though, and we don’t get heat like you do. I suppose I could always try at the next fluid change and just change back if I don’t like it.

 

Out of what I tried, I’d say the Ravenol semi-synthetic was probably the best for Jack-of-all duty. Wasn’t bad in cold, still very good when warm.

What I have certainly isn’t “bad” in cold either, it got down to like 5ish degrees here a few weeks ago and it was fine. Just have to be more deliberate and shift slow for a few minutes. But if you’re putting around in town a lot and not really warming up much, it’s not ideal. The stuff I have definitely does its best work in warm conditions.

 

Great insight...

I wonder what they use at the factory. I spend quite some time in the mountains. All above 20F unless something unusual is going on... (and I am usually NOT htere then!) - But summer is mostly warm, but with only a handful of days above 90F.

@BLtheP - you say "Driven 80W-90 GL4 conventional as my favorite." Do you think it is the higher viscosity that contributes to smoothness? Or do you give Credit to the conventional 'natural' Dino juice*.

I may follow your lead on the next change...

* - I am not averse to running All-natural, genuine, 'organic' Dino juice - I still use 20w50 Dino extract (i believe it comes with some 'Pulp') in my old mini cooper which uses the same 8-quarts of oil in the pan to simultaneously lube the engine AND the transmission. (Rendering synthetics sort of out of the question...)

 

Yeah I’m not sure. Since we can’t actually find any fluid sold by Toyota, I doubt we’ll ever know. I’d say any summer whether mildly warm or Satan’s breath is fine. It’s anywhere from 30-70 here right now and mine’s working well.

As for the conventional vs synthetic, I don’t really know. A lot of people use full synthetics and rave about them, but synthetic is almost
the only option available. It’s not very scientific but it does seem like when doing a drain and fill, conventional seems to “cling” to the metal a bit more. The synthetics are kind of watery and drip right off the aluminum case. So maybe they (conventional/mineral oils) coat and stick to the internals better? I honestly don’t know.

Hah, I’m not averse to thicker stuff. I ran 140W for a while. Now THAT was thick. And it actually ran dang good in the summer, but it was unnecessarily thick and it didn’t work great at anything cooler than warm. I use conventional in pretty much any gear box if I can get it and usually a synthetic blend in engines.