Check you tranny fluid!
JK Jedi
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 4,038
Likes: 1
From: NORTH JERSEY
Originally Posted by OoPEZoO
Used gear oil always smells bad, its just to what degree does it stink. OK gear oil stinks up your garage for a day, while bad gear oil smells like burnt toast and lingers for 4-5 days.
I had the final drive on my motorcycle crap out on me a few years ago that resulted in burnt gear oil. The smell was so bad that my wife just about puked when she walked into the garage, and the smell lingered for a week. The final drive only holds about 1/2 a quart.
I have read lots of good opinions on the Royal Purple Syncromesh, but have never run it in anything. I have always been a big fan of Red Line MTL. I also need to drop the oil in my JK tranny, but haven't decided what I wasnt to put back in yet. Whatever they put in from the factory makes it shift like complete shit when its cold out. When it drops below ~25 degrees, each shift takes a good 3 seconds to keep anything from grinding. After a mile or so, everything warms up and shifts fine. The Redline MTL did wonders for the manual BMW's I've had in the past that had the same issue, so I might go that route........BUT, I do have the lifetime powertrain warranty so that might scare me into refilling with whatever Chrysler put in there in the first place.
I had the final drive on my motorcycle crap out on me a few years ago that resulted in burnt gear oil. The smell was so bad that my wife just about puked when she walked into the garage, and the smell lingered for a week. The final drive only holds about 1/2 a quart.
I have read lots of good opinions on the Royal Purple Syncromesh, but have never run it in anything. I have always been a big fan of Red Line MTL. I also need to drop the oil in my JK tranny, but haven't decided what I wasnt to put back in yet. Whatever they put in from the factory makes it shift like complete shit when its cold out. When it drops below ~25 degrees, each shift takes a good 3 seconds to keep anything from grinding. After a mile or so, everything warms up and shifts fine. The Redline MTL did wonders for the manual BMW's I've had in the past that had the same issue, so I might go that route........BUT, I do have the lifetime powertrain warranty so that might scare me into refilling with whatever Chrysler put in there in the first place.
JK Enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2011
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From: USA
JK Freak
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 815
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From: Cody, Wyoming
Either way, it depends what the OP means by "nasty brown". To me, IMO, that would be a descriptor of something unusual not a normal color for a lubricating fluid; as I'm sure the OP knows what that looks like.
JK Enthusiast
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 256
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From: Apache Junction, Az
Pennzoil has a full synthetic gear oil for Jeeps, called Synchromesh. Autozone and Checker/ O'Reilly carry it. I only buy lubricants that specifically mention that they exceed GM, Chrysler, Ford, Jeep, etc requirements.
JK Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 118
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From: Johnson City, Tennessee
The JK six speeds use GL-5 gear oil...I stock the 80w90 stuff that I usually buy in the five gallon bucket and put a pump on top:-)
The reason gear lube smells is from the high sulfer content...you can buy and use the botique brands, but I am not sure what it will get you.
On the other hand, the six speed in my Dodge Ram, also made by Gertag, requires ATF, but gear lube also works.
Now, does the transmission use an oddball metric allen to access the fill plug?
Howard
The reason gear lube smells is from the high sulfer content...you can buy and use the botique brands, but I am not sure what it will get you.
On the other hand, the six speed in my Dodge Ram, also made by Gertag, requires ATF, but gear lube also works.
Now, does the transmission use an oddball metric allen to access the fill plug?
Howard
JK Freak
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 812
Likes: 1
From: Amish Country, PA
The biggest advantage to a few of the higher end Manual Transmission Lubes is the cold weather performance. And I mean COLD weather performance. Down to about 25-30 degrees everything is usually fine, but anything lower than that gets real clunky for the first few miles.
I have no first hand experience with the JK yet because I have yet to swap out the transmission oil, but I do have quite an extensive amount of experience on BMW manual transmissions (also made by Getrag). On a 5 degree morning, my BMW's were so hard to shift that it felt like I was going to break something getting it out of gear, and almost always would grind a little when putting it in the next gear. My JK acts the exact same way. Once I dropped the factory tranny oil and went to the Redline MTL, I could shift it with my pinky finger in whatever temperature I wanted with no grinding at all. In fact, every single interaction with the gear shift was improved. The BMW I just sold to my nephew had over 245k miles on it with 6-7 hard race track days on it, and still has the original transmission in it. That made me a believer in good quality after market gear oils.
I have no first hand experience with the JK yet because I have yet to swap out the transmission oil, but I do have quite an extensive amount of experience on BMW manual transmissions (also made by Getrag). On a 5 degree morning, my BMW's were so hard to shift that it felt like I was going to break something getting it out of gear, and almost always would grind a little when putting it in the next gear. My JK acts the exact same way. Once I dropped the factory tranny oil and went to the Redline MTL, I could shift it with my pinky finger in whatever temperature I wanted with no grinding at all. In fact, every single interaction with the gear shift was improved. The BMW I just sold to my nephew had over 245k miles on it with 6-7 hard race track days on it, and still has the original transmission in it. That made me a believer in good quality after market gear oils.
Thread Starter
JK Super Freak
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 1,934
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From: Middle of no where
Actually it is Manual transmission Lubricant and not normal gear oil. Also, ATF goes in the transfercase. (Side note many manual trans take ATF, just not this one.)
Either way, it depends what the OP means by "nasty brown". To me, IMO, that would be a descriptor of something unusual not a normal color for a lubricating fluid; as I'm sure the OP knows what that looks like.
Either way, it depends what the OP means by "nasty brown". To me, IMO, that would be a descriptor of something unusual not a normal color for a lubricating fluid; as I'm sure the OP knows what that looks like.