sleepR

Yeah I shift at higher RPMs, pause before the next upshift, until it warms up. It was just more forgiving before. As it all started happening more than a year after I got it, I'm wondering what's changed.

For the MC rod free play, I meant not tightening that rod too much, as I know it's supposed to have a little free play within the cylinder. So yes, in spec.

arsenal

Had another grind on second gear at high RPM's the other day. What's the general consensus on the best trans oil?

sleepR

There's no consensus. I've heard mostly Amsoil, but LHT prefers Royal Purple. However, as stated, Billman says Honda, so I'm not too interested in moving away from his recommendation.

rpg51

I not one to believe that these different oils make a heck of a lot of difference. But, having said that, I can't lie that I have been impressed with the shifting I am getting in my ap1 with Amsoil in the gear box. I used Honda before this. Seems better now. Who knows.

arsenal

What weight Amsoil?

Need the guy on Engineering Explained to perform an experiment

Chuck S

S2000 owners manual (got one of those?) Amsoil MTF is 5W-30 which is fine.

But so is Royal Purple SyncroMax.

Want testing? (Don't ask Jason, he put a Ballace TCT in his car apparently without any research.)


-- Chuck

arsenal

So you advise me to read the manual, then advise against what the manual states.

Jason has some very informative videos which are not impacted by what timing chain tensioner he uses. Stick to the exhaust threads.

rpg51

[QUOTE=arsenal;24593696]What weight Amsoil?

/QUOTE]

5W 30

https://www.amsoil.com/shop/by-produ...?code=MTFQT-EA

Chuck S

Never said to ignore the manual which specifies Honda MTF and permits 10W-30 and 10W-40 motor oil as a temporary remedy ('cuz it's missing the additives needed) if you can't find Honda MTF for some reason. Honda MTF is a light gear oil of 75w-80 viscosity, equivalent to a 10w-30 engine oil (why gear oil and engine have different "numbers" is a mystery to me) with additives of some sort to increase some gear adhesion or something..

Amsol MTF and others all have the additives and modifiers missing from ordinary motor oil. There are probably a couple dozen MTFs that will work "best" according to results here on the forum where this discussion has been going on for 19 years.

Getting Engineering Explained (Jason) to "test" gear box oils sounds like a futile idea and LHT claims to have already done this. LHT, though, isn't a 100% source either as he only mentions getting the S2000 filter on tight as he pantomimes tightening by hand. The TCT reference for Engineering Explained indicates to me (as noted) that he just grabbed the Ballade model without any research at all. Rather unlike him. Perhaps Balade gifted this to him? Bottom line is consider several expert opinions. And when in doubt RTFM. Automotive lubricants have known specs and Honda just has what they call MTF put in their bottles. I've no clue what oil it really is.

-- Chuck

zeroptzero

I agree , I tried a number of fluids and nothing worked as good as Amsoil MTF, and it worked amazingly well in cold temps (0 degrees Celsius) and every cold start I drove. Not even the Honda MTF would shift as well in cold temps, the poor shifting when cold is common for many S2000's.

When the S2000 was developed Honda MTF1 was the recommended fluid which is thicker than Honda MTF2, and more in line with Amsoil MTF viscosity.

As far as a test mentioned above, the test is easy, dump the old fluid and put in Amsoil MTF, it either works or it doesn't, you will know right away if it is better or not. If you like it keep it in the sump, if you don't dump it and put the Honda MTF2 back in there. Simple and inexpensive. IMO.