Re: [alfa] oil recommendations for '93 Spider

["Dean W. Cains" <dwc@xxxxxx>]

Hi Gwynne:

You've got to know that asking for an opinion about oils is just asking for 
trouble, but hey, what's the Digest for, anyway?

In both of my Spider's, and everything else in my driveway, I use the Mobil 
1 15w50 as a motor oil.  Some of the high-end new cars, like BMW, etc. have 
started using 0W/30's and similar, but my newest Volvo is a '94 850 Turbo, 
and the Spider's are from '74 & '87, so 15w/50 is a good year-round oil for 
me, also being in SW Florida.  I know you didn't ask, but I always use 
Purolator Pure One oil filters, and of the one's I've cut apart, they've 
got the best construction and the most filter material.  The Fram's are 
downright disgraceful, but the Mobil 1 filters are about as nice as the 
Purolators (at twice the price).  The Mann's aren't bad, either, but since 
the same Purolator filter fits both the Alfa's and the Volvo, I've stopped 
ordered the Mann's from the Volvo parts vendors.

Gearbox oil in a 105/115 is a big area of controversy, but I've never found 
a synthetic that worked for me, in a gearbox of any age or condition, with 
Redline's MTL being the worst ever.  It also made the gearbox in my '88 M3 
sound like a coffee can full of nuts and bolts.  I like the 
factory-recommended Shell Spirax 90 in the Spider's, but I prefer the 
Kendall Nitro 70w motor oil, and that's what's been in both the Spider's 
for several years.  The synchros work very well, both hot and cold, 
although not as well in the older '74 gearbox.

In the differential, I've tried several types, without noticing much 
difference, but I like the Mobil 1 75w/90, which is a GL-5 gear oil.  The 
LSD works well with it, and it's nice and quiet, too.  I tried this stuff 
in the '87 Spider gearbox once, and lost much of the synchro action, and 
had to change the oil twice with the Kendall to get them back.

Regards,

Dean

At 08:44 AM 7/10/2004, you wrote:

> Date: Fri, 09 Jul 2004 10:53:25 -0400
> From: "Gwynne W. Spencer" <gwynnes1@domain.elided>
> Subject: [alfa] oil recomendations for '93 Spider
>
> Are any of you folks using synthetic oil in late model Spiders?   Brand,
> weight, environment?
>
> I live in SW Florida and use Synthetic in my other cars, slightly heavier
> than the manufacturer recommended for general use (because of the
> environment - heat)
>
>
> How about tranny oil - synthetic? (I used to use Redline in the manual
> tranny of my 1981 BMW 528i)
>
> How about differential - guess it needs to be the type for limited slip
> units - any recommendations?
>
> Gwynne Spencer
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