Transmission and Rear Diff Fluid.
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 11
Likes: 0
Transmission and Rear Diff Fluid.
This one is a little long. You can skip to the bold part below.
I had to swap out of the fluids in my Evo last weekend and took it as an opportunity to work on the S2000 since it was high time.
On the S2000, I had swapped out the transmission fluid shortly after purchase last year to the Honda MTF because the transmission which had a few hard miles and it was about as cooperative as my wife the day after the anniversary I forgot. I had no idea what the previous owner used, maybe canola oil, but I had since been religious about changing the transmission fluid and have been doing so every 10,000 miles ever since, but I could never rid myself of the 1-2 shift notchiness, and sometimes 5th.
This reminded me of the similar issues I had with the Evo’s transmission.
My Evo is the MR model, which was equipped with a hastily designed 6-Speed transmission. Non-MR Evos only come with a 5-speed. Now Mitsubishi in their infinite wisdom decided they need a transmission quick so they asked Aisin, the folks who make the 5-Speed box, for a 6-Speed one. Aisin had an equally crack team of geniuses who decided to forgo any additional engineering and just take the existing box and slap an extra gear. Great, mission accomplished… except… now this new transmission has an extra gear, houses less fluid and produces the same amount of heat, though I’ve heard it’s not nearly as shitty as what the WRX and STi guys have to deal with.
If you go to the Evo forums, you’ll see several people ditching their 6-Speed in favor of the stronger 5. Because add power and the 6-Speed fails due to overheating. Mitsubishi recommended I use the Mitsubishi Super DiaQueen OEM Transmission fluid. After about 20,000 miles, my new Evo started depicting notchiness between 1st and 2nd gear so I changed the fluid to OEM DiaQueen that many of the 5 –Speed owner raved about, but after a few miles on a hot summer day, the transmission would remind me of my wife again… I don’t know why she wants me to keep remembering the worst decision of my life…
I did a lot of research and discovered this oil that Castrol made called SynTorq LT or SynTrans. I believe they only market it under their own name outside of the states as they have a distributing agreement with Chrysler, GM and Ford as their OEM fluid. It was designed for the really shitty NV-4500 transmissions which are in several GMC and Chevy trucks. I also understand that this is the fluid used in both the old and new Dodge Vipers as well. Anyway, I switched to it in my Evo and it was a night and day difference. The 2nd Gear notchiness was very rare (not completely gone), transmission was smooth as butter on cold and warm days alike.
Now in regards to the rear diff fluid. Unlike Honda, Mitsubishi only sources its fluids from one manufacturer. Mitsubishi doesn’t have the whole “meets manufacturer’s specs” drama on the back of their boxes of oil. I understand that all Mitsubishi fluid is made by Eneos Oil. Eneos (0W-50) is what I have always used in my Evo since day one and is what I use in the S2000 as well. I’ve never trusted the Mobil 1 crap. Virtually every Evo owner swears by one fluid for our transfer cases and rear differentials: DiaQueen LSD Gear Oil. We’ve tried Amsoil, Redline, Canola Oil. Yes they work, except for Canola, but none of them it seems would hold up the same as the oem fluid. DiaQueen LSD is GL5 SAE90 and fully compatible with the S2000 rear diff, includes the necessary additives as well.
You can skip the above to this part:
I switched to Castrol Syntorq/Mopar Synthetic MTF from Honda MTF and I must say the transmission feels better when cold and it’s almost night and day once warmed up. I usually get it from the Dodge dealership: Mopar Part# 4874459
I also switched to Mitsubishi DiaQueen LSD Gear Oil, I can’t necessarily tell if it’s better but the slight scratchy noise that would be emitted from the rear of the car when coming to a stop seems to have gone away. Buy this one online, comes in a 4L jug, Mitsubishi Part# 3775610.
Also, I had run Mobil 1 10W30 when I had first purchased my S2000 and noticed it would burn off very quickly after a few laps at Summit Point. I switched to Eneos 0W-50 and have noticed very little loss in oil compared to Mobil 1, the other oil I’d recommend which I run in my G37XS is Castrol 0W-30, you can get it from AutoZone, it should have a sign on it reading European Formula. Make sure it says Made in Germany on the back. The American stuff is shit, much like my wife today and the S2000’s convertible top.
PS: Yes, yesterday was our anniversary. I forgot. I had cereal for dinner.
I had to swap out of the fluids in my Evo last weekend and took it as an opportunity to work on the S2000 since it was high time.
On the S2000, I had swapped out the transmission fluid shortly after purchase last year to the Honda MTF because the transmission which had a few hard miles and it was about as cooperative as my wife the day after the anniversary I forgot. I had no idea what the previous owner used, maybe canola oil, but I had since been religious about changing the transmission fluid and have been doing so every 10,000 miles ever since, but I could never rid myself of the 1-2 shift notchiness, and sometimes 5th.
This reminded me of the similar issues I had with the Evo’s transmission.
My Evo is the MR model, which was equipped with a hastily designed 6-Speed transmission. Non-MR Evos only come with a 5-speed. Now Mitsubishi in their infinite wisdom decided they need a transmission quick so they asked Aisin, the folks who make the 5-Speed box, for a 6-Speed one. Aisin had an equally crack team of geniuses who decided to forgo any additional engineering and just take the existing box and slap an extra gear. Great, mission accomplished… except… now this new transmission has an extra gear, houses less fluid and produces the same amount of heat, though I’ve heard it’s not nearly as shitty as what the WRX and STi guys have to deal with.
If you go to the Evo forums, you’ll see several people ditching their 6-Speed in favor of the stronger 5. Because add power and the 6-Speed fails due to overheating. Mitsubishi recommended I use the Mitsubishi Super DiaQueen OEM Transmission fluid. After about 20,000 miles, my new Evo started depicting notchiness between 1st and 2nd gear so I changed the fluid to OEM DiaQueen that many of the 5 –Speed owner raved about, but after a few miles on a hot summer day, the transmission would remind me of my wife again… I don’t know why she wants me to keep remembering the worst decision of my life…I did a lot of research and discovered this oil that Castrol made called SynTorq LT or SynTrans. I believe they only market it under their own name outside of the states as they have a distributing agreement with Chrysler, GM and Ford as their OEM fluid. It was designed for the really shitty NV-4500 transmissions which are in several GMC and Chevy trucks. I also understand that this is the fluid used in both the old and new Dodge Vipers as well. Anyway, I switched to it in my Evo and it was a night and day difference. The 2nd Gear notchiness was very rare (not completely gone), transmission was smooth as butter on cold and warm days alike.
Now in regards to the rear diff fluid. Unlike Honda, Mitsubishi only sources its fluids from one manufacturer. Mitsubishi doesn’t have the whole “meets manufacturer’s specs” drama on the back of their boxes of oil. I understand that all Mitsubishi fluid is made by Eneos Oil. Eneos (0W-50) is what I have always used in my Evo since day one and is what I use in the S2000 as well. I’ve never trusted the Mobil 1 crap. Virtually every Evo owner swears by one fluid for our transfer cases and rear differentials: DiaQueen LSD Gear Oil. We’ve tried Amsoil, Redline, Canola Oil. Yes they work, except for Canola, but none of them it seems would hold up the same as the oem fluid. DiaQueen LSD is GL5 SAE90 and fully compatible with the S2000 rear diff, includes the necessary additives as well.
You can skip the above to this part:
I switched to Castrol Syntorq/Mopar Synthetic MTF from Honda MTF and I must say the transmission feels better when cold and it’s almost night and day once warmed up. I usually get it from the Dodge dealership: Mopar Part# 4874459
I also switched to Mitsubishi DiaQueen LSD Gear Oil, I can’t necessarily tell if it’s better but the slight scratchy noise that would be emitted from the rear of the car when coming to a stop seems to have gone away. Buy this one online, comes in a 4L jug, Mitsubishi Part# 3775610.
Also, I had run Mobil 1 10W30 when I had first purchased my S2000 and noticed it would burn off very quickly after a few laps at Summit Point. I switched to Eneos 0W-50 and have noticed very little loss in oil compared to Mobil 1, the other oil I’d recommend which I run in my G37XS is Castrol 0W-30, you can get it from AutoZone, it should have a sign on it reading European Formula. Make sure it says Made in Germany on the back. The American stuff is shit, much like my wife today and the S2000’s convertible top.
PS: Yes, yesterday was our anniversary. I forgot. I had cereal for dinner.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
S2WOOOW
S2000 Under The Hood
6
Jun 13, 2002 04:31 PM