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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / CORRECT TRANS AND REAR LUBE.

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Posted By Discussion Topic: CORRECT TRANS AND REAR LUBE. -- page: 1 2 3 4     DEUCEMAN 04-17-2010 @ 6:54 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 17 Joined: Jan 2010 Please can anyone tell me the correct lube to use in a '39 trans with lincoln 25 tooth gears and in the rear, a '39 banjo with 4:11 gears. Some say 140 wt, GL4, others say the old Ford 600 wt and some say synthetic and others say no. In the trans if you use synoil the trans will leak and jump out of gear as the lube is too thin. Please may I have some suggestions. Everything is rebuilt, lass than 1000 miles and I'm currently using Ford 600 wt lube as that's what the rebuilder recommended, saying "that's what Ford recommended", just change it frequently. Thanks Guys.... supereal 04-17-2010 @ 7:51 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 Duece: Don't use 600W "oil" in anything. It is a thin asphaltic compound originally designed for use in the Model A's, which had transmissions that wouldn't hold conventional oil. It is obsolete, and will damage your gear boxes. We use 140W in our cars and trucks gearboxes. It tends not to leak if the level is kept below the filler hole. You should just be able to find the oil by crooking a finder into the filler. If you can't find 140, the usual 80-90 is fine. These modern lubes contain additives for "high pressure" use, ideal for most gearboxes. As for "what Ford recommended", most, if not all, lubes in the manuals have long since become obsolete. Modern oils are light years ahead of those. The exception is synthetic oil, which while a fine lube, does get dirty as quickly in old engines, and requires as frequent changes as conventional oil. It also has the added disadvantage of being hard to contain with old style lip and rope seals. You can do a whole lot of oil changes for the price of synthetics, as well. 37RAGTOPMAN 04-17-2010 @ 8:15 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1992 Joined: Oct 2009 you can try farm TRACTOR DEALERS for heavier oils, as well as large tractor trailer dealers as well, they may have a better selection, also I put 140 MOBIL 1 in my 37 FORD Rear End 5 years ago , have no problems, I rebuilt the rear, with new bearing and gears and a 354 high speed rear ratio, The new 600 w rear and trans the parts vendors is not the same oil it was 60 years ago, I agree with superreal on the old oil,but have not seen that for sale in years, not unless it is old stock, I have using 600W in my 37 trans since 1978.also shifts good, my 3 cents worth 37 RAGTOPMAN just have to heat it up a little to install, LIKE they say ask 10 people a question, get 10 different answers,!! supereal 04-17-2010 @ 3:30 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 Be glad you don't have brass synchronizers in your transmission. 600W is abrasive and eats soft metals. 37RAGTOPMAN 04-18-2010 @ 12:47 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1992 Joined: Oct 2009 FORD put 600 w in the back of The Model T FORD,in the rear end they have big soft babbit washers for end play in the ring gear, and it was installed in MILLIONS of the THEM ???? and FORD used this grease up to 1948. I have never seen any destroyed rear ends, like super is saying, and HUNDERDS OF ANTIQUE PARTS VENDORS SELL IT,,!!! can't tell how many rears I dissembled and saw good gears, I do now use MOBIL 1 GEAR OIL NOW,in my high speed rear,and have had no problems,MOBIL 1 OIL makes it run cooler, its a Proven Fact, LESS FRICTION, this is only my 3 cents worth, 37RAGTOPMAN supereal 04-19-2010 @ 10:05 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 I was referring to the brass transmission parts, and those in Columbia axles. I worked for many years at a Ford dealership in the 40's and 50's, and 600W oil was not used in any vehicles. I know that those vendors selling Model A & T parts do sell 600W, as well as non-detergent motor oil. Just because it is available doesn't make it correct. Most "original" lubes, such as "soda soap" grease, are long gone. The high pressure additives in modern gear lube, like detergents in oil, are a huge benefit in old vehicles. 51f1 04-19-2010 @ 1:15 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 573 Joined: Oct 2009 Why not use 70W-140 synthetic in the rear end and transmissions? Richard 39 Ken 04-19-2010 @ 3:16 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 382 Joined: Oct 2009 The gears in these old Ford applications are designed with wider tolerances than newer designs used in today's cars. Therefore, the older type of gear oil such as 90 wt. or 140 wt. is the most appropriate. Synthetic is too thin in it's composition to protect our gears because of the wider tolerances. 37RAGTOPMAN 04-19-2010 @ 4:23 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1992 Joined: Oct 2009 51F1 I use in my rear in my 37 but use 250 in the trans, I used to sell OILZUM oils and they made a 250 , I think the syn oil in the trans is ok, but most likley to thin, just make sure you use the heaviest oil you can find and like suer said put in a good additive, gears require a hypoid oil I THINK if you bought some of the 600 replacment oil and added a GOOD GEAR ADDITIVE you would be covered. I used to have a old 60'S BENZ DIESEL and they reguired you to use AUTOMATIC ATF OIL in the STANDARD TRANSMISSION,but they had good seals to keep the oil in, some people use STP in the trans, this is a bad idea not unless you add a hypoid additive to help the lube I think STP would break down with long time use, my 3 cents worth,37RAGTOPMAN supereal 04-20-2010 @ 9:01 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 As Ken points out, synthetics can be a problem when used in parts with wide tolerances. The quality that reduces surface tension to spread lubrication in close tolerances, can cause lack of lubrication in some places in our old cars. When I installed the overdrive in my '47, the driveshaft was made with a bronze center bearing. I greased it well with a synthetic, only to have the bearing howl and overheat during the first 50 miles. After replacing the lube with common JT-6, the problem disappeared for good. We also tried synthetic grease in the rear hubs, only to find gray grease and damaged axle housing surfaces when we checked them after a couple of hundred miles. Beware of a "one size fits all" lube for old cars and trucks.

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