Amsoil Gear Oil is In! Let's Do This!

[KansasKid]

Alrighty! I've been puttin' it off for years now. But it's time to buckle down and do it! Bring on the transfer case and rear differential!

After a couple days of searches, general consensus around here seemed to be that Amsoil gear oil is the way to go. Apparently, Amsoil is so legit, I can't buy it anywhere locally. So I started hunting online. My first option was to just buy it directly from Amsoil.com. But, just for giggles, I started searching around for approved vendors in my area. The first shop I found that actually used Amsoil gear oil was still 20 min away, and I thought I had lucked out when I read online that they also do differential oil changes. Then I called and found out they charge $100/ gear oil change. So to get the transfer case AND rear diff done, it was gonna be $200.

After I got off the phone with them, I immediately went back to Amsoil.com, and picked up a couple quarts. ~$40 after taxes and shipping is way better than $200. To my surprise, I ordered it yesterday, and it showed up today.

Stay tuned; my plan is to take some decent pictures while I'm under her, and get some pics of the transfer case and rear diff. Once it warms up later next week, I'll be out there with my buddy, jacking up Azumi so I can finally get around to taking care of her.

[KuroNekko]

Amsoil is said to be pretty much as good as it gets. I think the Europeans make some high quality stuff like Motul but I consider Amsoil, Motul, etc. to be "boutique oils". Very high quality, but expensive and you have to go to the right place to get your hands on it; usually through dealers. For my manual transmissions, I use Red Line given it was available through the Mazda dealer I used to get parts from for the Mazda3 I had. For motor oils, I know Amsoil is great stuff, but more mainstream and readily available products appeal to me for greater convenience. This is why I go with Pennzoil Platinum or Mobil 1. In fact, I'm finding that Pennzoil Platinum is getting harder to find so I've started to use Mobil 1 more.

[KansasKid]

Yeah, I'm going with the Pennzoil Platinum Synthetic for my Cruze this time, since it's also due for an oil change. Sticking with the Castrol GTX for Azumi though. As for the Amsoil, it was only $14/qt directly from Amsoil.com. Seemed like I was getting the premium stuff for just a few bucks more than the regular stuff you can get from AutoZone/Advance/O'Reilly's, and that's significantly cheaper than the $21/qt for the Royal Purple.

[DiggerDerrik]

When you spark up a conversation about high end synthetics a lot of different opinions will pop up. Most of which are just opinion. I put Red Line in the differentials of my F350. I put OEM transfer case fluid in the transfer case with a bit of Archoil AR9100 friction modifier added. I run Shaeffer’s synthetic 5W-40 in the engine which takes 13 quarts at $48 a gallon. Bottom line is they’re all better then cheaper stuff. Even is the only benefit is you’re own piece of mind.

[DiggerDerrik]

*Peace* of mind

[LPSISRL]

Even is the only benefit

*if

[KansasKid]

Alrighty, so instead of being 65F, it ended up being 55F and drizzly all day. I had to move into my buddy's busted up garage in order to do the oil changes on Azumi. The concrete in my buddy's garage is ancient and all cracked up and sagging in spots. We got her has level as we could. It was a good thing we did the differential changes. There was oil seeping out of the transfer case drain plug. I turned on the AWD for part of the drive over to my buddy's place. I'm guessing that the transfer case wasn't going to last much longer. When I went to unscrew the plugs, they were both super loose. Like probably looser than the 23Nm (17lb-ft) of torque as recommended by the service manual.

I wasn't able to get any pictures, but for future reference, the oil level filler plugs for the transfer case and rear differential are 3/8 inch square. I was expecting a socket for them, like the motor oil drain plug. Also, the recommended torque is a lot lighter than you'd think, if you're gonna try and tighten them w/out a torque wrench.

The oil that came out of the transfer case was pretty dark. It was definitely way overdue for a change. Hopefully the Amsoil Long Life gear oil I put in will last another 40K miles. Then we were getting ready to take her off the jack stands, when I realized we completely forgot to change the oil filter. We were able to get it swapped out w/out draining and replacing the oil again, and w/out making a giant mess all over my engine bay, like some shops have done.

Other than that, the only other notable thing from today's work was I got to drive my buddies JDM-engine swapped 2011 Honda Civic Si again for the first time in years. It has a 1.8L from an Integra. It was a lot nicer now than I remember now that I'm not quite so bad at working a shift lever and the clutch pedal. That car just pulls all the way to 7000 RPM, in every gear.

[bdleonard]

Just a quick note for any future readers, the square plug recess is actually 10mm and not 3/8 inch. If the plug comes out easy 3/8" will work fine, if the plug is good and stuck 3/8 is undersized (9.5mm) and runs a greater risk of rounding out the plug. Given that a 10mm square head is under $10, I just added it to my tool box.

[KansasKid]

Awesome! I don't have one of those. I'll have to look at adding a 10mm square head to my collection.