Thread: 85/ 140 gear oil sooo much better!.

Like all (I think) Landrover gearboxes from the LT95 on, your gearbox has a small oil pump on the front. This will fail if asked to pump an excessive viscosity oil such as cold EP90 (if you live in a hot climate you will probably get away with it, but why not stick to what is recommended?). If the pump fails, there will be no overt symptom, just that the gearbox will have a fairly short life, depending on how hard it is worked.

John

Pardon me if i'm wrong but doesnt my 1996 Disco 1 have an R380 box? Would what you said about the pump still apply to this?

Originally Posted by Fausto79

Pardon me if i'm wrong but doesnt my 1996 Disco 1 have an R380 box? Would what you said about the pump still apply to this?

Yes.

John

Around 1999/2000 LandRover updated to MTF94 from the auto trains oil..There is a list on here somewhere that let's you know other brands.

Originally Posted by Fausto79

Sorry to reopne such an old thread but in the factory manual it states a dexron II ATF for the gearbox. is this correct? seems a bit too runny putting that stuff in a gearbox. is this correct? is an atf about the same viscosity as a 90EP gear oil?

Originally Posted by Fausto79

Pardon me if i'm wrong but doesnt my 1996 Disco 1 have an R380 box? Would what you said about the pump still apply to this?

Have a look in 'The Good Oil' forum on here, lots and lots of info and FWIW the corrects spec for the R380 is a manual transmission fluid (MTF) meeting a 75W-80 viscosity. Land Rover issued a revised spec in a Technical Bulletin around 1997 and it superseded the earlier oil specification, and although most manuals don't reflect this, they are wrong.

In Australia, particularly in summer a 75W-85 works very well too.

Originally Posted by rick130

Have a look in 'The Good Oil' forum on here, lots and lots of info and FWIW the corrects spec for the R380 is a manual transmission fluid (MTF) meeting a 75W-80 viscosity. Land Rover issued a revised spec in a Technical Bulletin around 1997 and it superseded the earlier oil specification, and although most manuals don't reflect this, they are wrong.

In Australia, particularly in summer a 75W-85 works very well too.

thanks rick, i ended up looking up the good oil forum and reading up a bit about it so im even more confused

basicaly ive always been happy with penrite oils and found good oils for different parts all that match specs from them. i was going to buy a few different drums but found the receipts from previous owner and the oils were done quite recently.

i pulled off the filler plugs just to make sure and the oil in there looks pretty clean and is quite full so ill leave it for now, but ill be using these guys when im ready:

transfer and diffs
Penrite Oil - A Better Class Of Oil

gearbox
Penrite Oil - A Better Class Of Oil

engine
Penrite Oil - A Better Class Of Oil

i hope no1 will argue with me on this one coz i wont listen

Thanks Rick

I haven't done a lot fiddling with the oils on the Puma as it's still under warranty, but it feels to me on that first run in the morning as if it's much smoother all round.
Gear changes are very good and smooth with no slight "gnashing of teeth" and the engine even seems quieter.
Wouldn't this indicate that a thicker oil would be better especially on long runs during a hot Summer?
AlanH.

PS. The more I read about the right oil for the engine the more I got confused especially when the recommended oil wasn't freely available at local stockists.