Gernby

I changed my tranny fluid again today with a mixture of Redline MTL and Redline MT-90. I don't know exactly what the ratio is, but I put a little more MT-90 in than I did MTL. I am very impressed with the results, but I'm a little concerned about their compatability. I have always thought that the 2 oils were just different viscosities of the same oil, but they look completely different. The MT-90 looks like traditional oil, and MTL is RED. This may not mean anything, but I figured I would ask about it. Does anyone know for certain if these 2 oils are compatable?

I haven't driven the car enough to see how it does hot, but it does great cold. My gear selection has never been this smooth with cold fluid (below 60 deg. F).

I should mention that I have used Honda MTF, GM Synchromesh, and straight Redline MT-90 in the past, with ~3K mile change intervals. GM Synchromesh helped reduce my 2nd gear grinding, but not as much as MT-90. The downside of MT-90 was that the car was barely driveable cold.

StwoK

I also use that combination of Red Line's MT-90 and MTL with the addition of raising the back of the car up so I can slighty overfill the transmission. I know you've followed threads posted by cmnsnse and he suggested a slight overfill also. I also asked the Honda Tech at my local dealership and he thought it would be a good idea but not to go over 2qts.


I posted this just a couple of months ago ......................

I've been over filling for about six months now. I add one quart of RedLine MT-90 and one quart of RedLine MTL. A little dose spill out so it is not exactly 2 qts. but very close. When the oil is fresh, this combination gives some of the smoothest shifts ever. Just before attending last September's DragonBall Run, I changed the engine oil, tranny oil, and diff. fluid. That was 3 hard days on the Dragon and surrounding roads, the total trip was 1600 miles. With around 3,000 miles on the tranny fluid, it started to get that notchie felling, so it's time for a change. When it was drained, the oil was no longer bright red, but looked like rusty water. The Dragon is a roller coaster ride for your car and you spend a lot time accelerating the decelerating again, hard rights or hard lefts, and you spend a lot of time in the land of VTEC! I think the Dragon fried my transmission fluid! I guess if you drive hard, change fluids often.

After living with this combination for sometime now and really like it. MT-90 seems a little heavy for this transmission while MTL is to lite. Together they are just about right.

Both Red Line products are synthetic.

Gernby

Thanks for the info.

I wouldn't expect the fluid to be red, since you are mixing 1 qt. of brown oil with 1 qt. of red oil. I would be really surprised if it changed color in 3K miles.

nsx555

I posted the below in another thread recently. I am interested in why Honda specifies their own fluid in the transmission. Anybody know or have a guess?

". . ., I was wondering about the use of other than Honda MT fluid. Both the S2k manual and Helm say that we should use Honda MT, unless it isn't available in which case we can use either 10W-30 or 10W-40 motor oil temporarily. It seems that Redline MT-90, mentioned in the Library article, would be a lot thicker. In an earlier thread, someone mentioned that some of the oil passages in the transmission were very small, and they questioned whether thicker oil would be wise. And in another, UL was using Honda MT at least thru the warranty period to give Honda service no reason to question a repair due to wrong oil. Neither S2K or Helm manual specify a certain type of engine oil or differential oil, but they do specify only Honda for the transmission. I know many are using GM synchromesh and Redline with no apparent problems, but I think I will stick with the Honda stuff for now."

Gernby

I think Honda specifies "Honda MTF" just because they sell it. It is a good oil, but not great. It does fine for normal driving, in normal climates, but it sucks ass when driven hard in a hot climate.

StwoK

[QUOTE]Originally posted by gernby
[B]Thanks for the info.

I wouldn't expect the fluid to be red, since you are mixing 1 qt. of brown oil with 1 qt. of red oil.

StwoK

[QUOTE]Originally posted by nsx555
[B]". . ., I was wondering about the use of other than Honda MT fluid. Both the S2k manual and Helm say that we should use Honda MT, unless it isn't available in which case we can use either 10W-30 or 10W-40 motor oil temporarily. .........

Gernby

I left my car out of the garage last night, since I wanted to see how well the tranny shifted cold. It was below freezing this morning, but it did great! It was only slightly notchy for the 1st shift into 2nd as I left my driveway, but after that it was perfect. I haven't had any oil do this well cold.

I also drove about 20 miles on the highway, pretty aggressively, then got off on the service road for some aggressive shifting. It did great then too. So far, this has been the best feel of any oil I've tried. I will do some more "testing" when we hit another warm day.

The NTS2K club is having their 1st autocross in a couple weeks, so I'm looking forward to seeing how well it performs there.

StwoK

That's good to hear that some else is seeing simular results!

Keep us posted on the findings!


Plano,Tx ...... isn't that on the North side of Dallas?? I didn't realize the cold weather dipping that far South!

Gernby

Plano is on the North side of Dallas. We have seen many days below freezing. I know we've gotten down to the low 20's, but not often. This has actually been a mild winter.