S2Nice

Today I drained and refilled the diff on my '02 S. The lube coming out looked dag-nasty, and there was a clump of metal slurry on the magnet, about the size and volume of two dimes stacked together, maybe less. At any rate, I get a bit of a clunk when engaging any gear at rest or when changing directions. There's no play to worry of in the propshaft joints, but the diff outputs can be wiggled up/down/fore/aft a tad. For the sake of defining a tad, I'll say 1 tad = .125" +- .0625". Is there ordinarily a little play to be found there, or is ANY a bad sign? There is no evidence of leaking at the outputs, BTW. I plan to service the rear end again soon to observe the fluid and magnet. Is there a spec I can reference for measuring the play or a procedure (re-torque the output/stub shaft nuts?) for correcting this without it getting all expensive? Since it's pertinent data, it is an '02 with 17,110 miles on the clock.

S2KPUDDYDAD

The stub axles will have a little play that

SpitfireS

What diff oil did you use?
And why?

S2Nice

I used the Castrol Syntec gear oil, which claims to be a fully synthetic, API GL-5 and MT-1, SAE 75W-90 formula.

Why?: It was the only one at the store I stopped at that was synthetic and NOT priced over $15 per quart, and Castol is under the BP/Amoco umbrella, which I trust.

SpitfireS

^
Why didn't you check your owners manual first?


How long does it take to order a bottle of the correct oil via HTG or Ricks?

Sideways

Spitfire, off the soap box.

Correct oil


To the original poster, there is a cadre of owners here that think the only oil that can be used in the S2000 rear end is 90W LE 607. Your choice is just fine.

SpitfireS

Pardon my German
I'm not alone in thinking that a single grade SAE 90 GL-5 is what you need for the S2000 differential.
This is a scan of my German Owners manual.

Verwenden Sie ausschliesslich = Use ONLY!
Btw.. I never mentioned LE
Honda Marine makes a single grade SAE 90 GL-5.

IMO there is enough difference between single and multi grade SAE 90 gear oils for Honda to recommend the single grade.

Its your diff.

INDYMAC

I won't try to tell people what to put in their differential because I think everyone has the right to protect their investment any way they deem best. We all know what Honda recommends, and many of us follow that recommendation to a tee. Some of us have even bumped up the viscosity to a SAE 110 (LE 1605 and AMSOIL SVT) to compensate for the SAE gear oil viscosity parameter change a few years ago. Many of us didn't even know that the viscosity of LE 607 was lowered to around a 90 SUS viscosity@210F from the original 105 SUS viscosity intended for LE 607 around the same time as the change (an LE rep confirmed this with me over the phone a month ago when I questioned him about my UOA's). So for those of us who used LE 607 faithfully over the years were in fact using a product not much thicker than your average 75W90 GL5 (83-87 SUS @210F). So none of us were ever gaining as much protection as we thought we were as it relates to an advantage of viscosity at high temps.

I think the real advantage of using LE 607 has been its highly refined 100% mineral base oil with a pour point of -11F, and an excellent EP additive called Almasol. Mineral oil is generally regarded as better a hypoid gear lubricant over synthetic because it is attracted to and climbs gears better. LE seems to have gotten around this issue with their new synthetic blend 1605 by adding DUOLEC, an EP additive as well as a tackifier. The tackifier apparently helps the syn blend base oil to attach to and climb the gears as well or better than mineral based.

For those who prefer to use whatever they can find on the shelf of an auto parts store or dealership, here is a "white paper" from AMSOIL that compares many of your favorite (no LE or Schaeffers though) 75W90 GL5 gear oils. I think they did a nice job of giving credit where credit is due. But keep in mind, it's an AMSOIL series of tests that probably was designed to highlight their products. I think you will come away enlightened though. Enjoy!

http://www.amsoil.com/products/gearl...hitePaper.aspx

SpitfireS

INDYMAC Posted on Dec 1 2007, 07:20 PM
LE-1605 (and the complete range) have been available since September 2007.
SAE changed their SAE J306 gear oil spec in 2005.
Changed = added SAE 110 in between SAE 90 and SAE 140 to allow a better grade definition of the SAE 90 oil.

SAE quote: [I]there were factions within SAE that felt the wide range could result in an axle being serviced with a lubricant that had a viscosity significantly lower or higher than the axle lubricant that the axle had been designed to operate with, even though the

RACER

Whats the diff