Hib Halverson
Technical Writer for Internet & Print Media
Ok. This post is not Corvette specific. It talks about the gear lube in stick shift transmissions which are used in Corvettes and lots of other cars, too.
I've used products from Red Line Synthetic Oil Corporation since 1990. I've heard all the "stories" too. The ones from engine builders who tell of oil pump or dry sump failures with the engine "saved" because it was using Red Line Oil. The ones about a few NASCAR teams which are sponsored by major engine oil brands (you know which ones they are because you see their TV ads all the time) but which purchase Red LIne Race Oil in "no-name" five-gallon pails paying cash to a distributor in the southeast because their Crew Chiefs know Red Line's ester-based engine oil can save a motor and turn a DNF into a finish. The ones about engines using Red LIne Racing OIl running at 265° coolant temp and 325°oil temp. I knew about all that, but never really experienced such a situation, myself, until last Saturday…
…the day Red Line Oil saved my ass.
I was in the middle of some major service work on my 116,000-mile, 1999 Blazer. One task was to change the lubricant in the truck's NG3500 five-speed manual transmission transmission. In it, I use one of Red Line Oil's "Light Shockproof" gear lubes. While Red Line markets the Shockproof line (there are three varieties, "Heavy", "Light" and "Superlight") as products for racing and suggest not using them in street applications, I choose to use them in selected high-performance street applications. When I went to my Red Line shelf to get some LSP–oops. I was out of it.
That darn stockboy (that be me) forgot to order the Light Shockproof, so I called Red LIne and ordered a case. Where I made a big freakin' mistake was not putting a post-it on the dash saying "no trans lube".
With the case of oil taking a couple days to ship, I moved on to a host of other tasks which took about three weeks and then, one Saturday, it was time for a road test. I drove to a nearby gas station to stick 20 bucks worth in the near-dry tank. With no obvious leaks and the engine running smooth as silk, I decided to take a short run north on Highway 101. Running about 70-mph, I didn't get far before I noticed the transmission was starting to make noise.
It was then, I remembered that I'd never refilled the transmission. Uh-oh, I thought–I'm majorly screwed.
Even worse was the reason for all this maintenance–a drive trip to Alaska which my Wife and I had been planning for years. We were to leave in a week, so a destroyed transmission would be the kiss of death, not only for our trip to AK, but probably for me, personally, if I had to tell, my Wife, The Fairest Sandra the Red, we're not going to Alaska because I burned-up the truck's gearbox.
I pulled off onto the shoulder and thought about my predicament. I got out my map book and looked. I was about seven miles from the shop. I'd left my cell phone at home so I couldn't call for help. I decided that, if the trans is toast, the damage is already done, so I might as well try and make it back. I headed home at 45 mph. Every time I shifted to fifth, the trans really howled, so I stayed in fourth and continued to drive easy. I made it back to the shop, the transmission whining loudly all the way. I got under the truck and removed the trans fill plug.
Yep. No lube. Oh 2#$t!
I went into the garage, picked a few bottles of Red Line Light Shockproof Gear Lubricant off the shelf, grabbed my trans lube pump and proceeded to fill the transmission. Twenty minutes later, I took a deep breath, started the engine and went for my second test drive of the day.
I was astonished. No trans noise. No hard shifting. No smell of overheated lube. Apparently, the small amount of Red LIne Light Shockproof left in the transmission provided just enough lubrication to prevent the gears from overheating then self-destructing. The next morning, I went for an even longer test, about 50 miles, with no transmission noise, no shift problems, no gear lube smell…nothing. If I'd have been running a typical petroleum-based, trans lube, that five-speed would have at least have been damaged, if not completely fried.
I was a Red Line Synthetic Oil believer before, but now I'm living proof the stuff works, because if it didn't; I'd have been dead at the hands of my Alaska-deprived Wife.
That's how Red Line Oil saved my sorry ass.
I've used products from Red Line Synthetic Oil Corporation since 1990. I've heard all the "stories" too. The ones from engine builders who tell of oil pump or dry sump failures with the engine "saved" because it was using Red Line Oil. The ones about a few NASCAR teams which are sponsored by major engine oil brands (you know which ones they are because you see their TV ads all the time) but which purchase Red LIne Race Oil in "no-name" five-gallon pails paying cash to a distributor in the southeast because their Crew Chiefs know Red Line's ester-based engine oil can save a motor and turn a DNF into a finish. The ones about engines using Red LIne Racing OIl running at 265° coolant temp and 325°oil temp. I knew about all that, but never really experienced such a situation, myself, until last Saturday…
…the day Red Line Oil saved my ass.
I was in the middle of some major service work on my 116,000-mile, 1999 Blazer. One task was to change the lubricant in the truck's NG3500 five-speed manual transmission transmission. In it, I use one of Red Line Oil's "Light Shockproof" gear lubes. While Red Line markets the Shockproof line (there are three varieties, "Heavy", "Light" and "Superlight") as products for racing and suggest not using them in street applications, I choose to use them in selected high-performance street applications. When I went to my Red Line shelf to get some LSP–oops. I was out of it.
That darn stockboy (that be me) forgot to order the Light Shockproof, so I called Red LIne and ordered a case. Where I made a big freakin' mistake was not putting a post-it on the dash saying "no trans lube".
With the case of oil taking a couple days to ship, I moved on to a host of other tasks which took about three weeks and then, one Saturday, it was time for a road test. I drove to a nearby gas station to stick 20 bucks worth in the near-dry tank. With no obvious leaks and the engine running smooth as silk, I decided to take a short run north on Highway 101. Running about 70-mph, I didn't get far before I noticed the transmission was starting to make noise.
It was then, I remembered that I'd never refilled the transmission. Uh-oh, I thought–I'm majorly screwed.
Even worse was the reason for all this maintenance–a drive trip to Alaska which my Wife and I had been planning for years. We were to leave in a week, so a destroyed transmission would be the kiss of death, not only for our trip to AK, but probably for me, personally, if I had to tell, my Wife, The Fairest Sandra the Red, we're not going to Alaska because I burned-up the truck's gearbox.
I pulled off onto the shoulder and thought about my predicament. I got out my map book and looked. I was about seven miles from the shop. I'd left my cell phone at home so I couldn't call for help. I decided that, if the trans is toast, the damage is already done, so I might as well try and make it back. I headed home at 45 mph. Every time I shifted to fifth, the trans really howled, so I stayed in fourth and continued to drive easy. I made it back to the shop, the transmission whining loudly all the way. I got under the truck and removed the trans fill plug.
Yep. No lube. Oh 2#$t!
I went into the garage, picked a few bottles of Red Line Light Shockproof Gear Lubricant off the shelf, grabbed my trans lube pump and proceeded to fill the transmission. Twenty minutes later, I took a deep breath, started the engine and went for my second test drive of the day.
I was astonished. No trans noise. No hard shifting. No smell of overheated lube. Apparently, the small amount of Red LIne Light Shockproof left in the transmission provided just enough lubrication to prevent the gears from overheating then self-destructing. The next morning, I went for an even longer test, about 50 miles, with no transmission noise, no shift problems, no gear lube smell…nothing. If I'd have been running a typical petroleum-based, trans lube, that five-speed would have at least have been damaged, if not completely fried.
I was a Red Line Synthetic Oil believer before, but now I'm living proof the stuff works, because if it didn't; I'd have been dead at the hands of my Alaska-deprived Wife.
That's how Red Line Oil saved my sorry ass.
