warming up the gearbox..

It was nearly freezing the other night, driving off in the morning the shifting had returned to winter mode, notchy and generally unpleasant. I normally let the motor warm up for 10 or 15 mins in winter, this morning with frost on the car i put the tb in neutral and the gb in second, made hell of a difference when driving off! The box felt fully warmed up.

There is an oil pump in the 80 gearbox, no doubt it helped distribute the oil Mike and warm it through a little.


regards

Dave

I put a hot water bottle on mine before I go to bed and make sure to check in on it several times during the night. Got forbid it takes any movement of my arm to go from 1st to 2nd gear... Might put a wee heater in there if the frost comes back

Whatever works for you bud...

Fit a block heater mate. Have it on programmer for 20 min before you leave for work. Car will be up to temp,use less fuel and may make a difference to the box with transferring heat from the engine.

Mine is an absolute pig of a box from stone cold at -20C for example. 10 mins is usually enough, but the tip of selecting a gear with the TB in neutral is a good idea, I'll try it at the next pending cold snap!

perhaps use a different grade oil? Does anyone use the lucas additive in their G'box and does it help?

Personally I'd be cautious of using any additives in a gearbox with an internal pump, certainly any that thicken the oil and affect it's viscosity. JMO

Towpack said:

Personally I'd be cautious of using any additives in a gearbox with an internal pump, certainly any that thicken the oil and affect it's viscosity. JMO

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I'd be looking to thin it, if anything...

The Lucas additive that I saw demonstrated at the bike show a couple of years back certainly seemed to increase the oils viscosity making it stick to the gear wheels in the demo gadget for longer than plain oil. I'm not aware of any additives that actually thin the oil or of a lighter gearbox oil than a 75w90. Is there one?

http://oil-additives.evonik.com/pro...default.aspx?gclid=COu6xZqSqskCFSMFwwodIFANGQ

are you on synthetic?

On my last change I filled with FS Castrol 75w90 (Syntrans I think) which did improve cold changes through the box (2nd particularly) although I don't think mine's as bad as some and certainly wouldn't call it problematic or unpleasant.

I'm on semi...

Going fully synthetic would help but all previous oil residue would need to be removed so probably better solution after a rebuild or if seals are being replaced. I don't believe the two oils like to mixed as the synthetic will remove deposits and residue from the mineral so a a short oil change would be required.. Not sure how autos would accept the same changes either.

With synthetic engine oils I would agree, to a certain extent, but gearboxes don't get anything like the buildup,of deposits and residue. Most FS and SS oils will mix OK with the small amount of mineral oil left in the box after draining anyway IMO.

clivehorridge said:

I'm on semi...

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You posting on the right forum there Clive


I just start up pop it in D and smoothly drive away through all gears

Ah, well I'm similar, start up and drive, it's the best way to warm everything up IMO.

I'm not sure how the thread mutated to synthetic discussions, viscosity is what it is, irrespective of the type of oil used.

Guessing I'll be put right if I'm wrong. I'm certainly no chemist.

You have the added advantage of running on Zippo too Gary, much more instant heat compared with us oilies...

I can't hang around anyway, next doors car alarm seems to cheer for the 80 when it starts on a regular basis lol. If leave the air con turned on and start from cold the next day it revs to 1800 rpm lol

Does warm up quick, heater warm in very little time.

My comment was tongue in cheek regarding semi lol

I use fully synthetic, after the first oil change on fs the oil came out almost black, cleaning all of the grime out no doubt.. a good thing imo.

karl webster said:

Fit a block heater mate. Have it on programmer for 20 min before you leave for work. Car will be up to temp,use less fuel and may make a difference to the box with transferring heat from the engine.

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Hi Karl, is there any particular one you recommend and where could I buy one?