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- #21
Nick S
Well-known member
Thank you for all of the replies. I called Bill Boudreau (the "ZF Doc") and spoke with him about the transmission. He was helpful. I took his advice and had the 75W-90 drained and I had the transmission refilled with the Castrol 10W-60 that Bill and BMW recommend for the transmission. The car shifts much easier now than it did with the 75W-90. Bill told me that the major problem with using 75W-90 is that the oil is too thick. Being too thick, it does not flow as well as the lighter weight oils that are recommended for the transmission. Therefore, the oil does not get into areas that it should as easily, and will not dissipate heat from parts of the transmission that is should. Over time, this may lead to premature failure of the transmission.
I also had the transmission specialist at the Chevy dealer drive the car. He has worked on (and rebuilt) many of these transmissions himself. He claimed that the transmission was not making any unusual noises for this transmission. He said that he had recently placed a remanufactured ZF transmission into a 1994 Corvette and that it made more noise than my transmission.
As far as the metal in the transmission fluid, it was more like what you would find on the magnet on your oil drain plug. So, I would figure that this would come with normal wear of metal parts.
Also, people have commented about there being noises that come from the transmission while it is in gear at a stop or in neutral with the engine idling. I don't hear any odd noises during either of these conditions. The transmission seems to be pretty quiet.
The transmission seems to make more noise in first through third gear and seems very quiet in fourth through sixth. I think that part of the reason for the increased noise in first through third gear is because the engine turns a higher amount of rpms in those gears. Typically, once I am in fourth gear the engine is not turning as many rpms. Again, I am a poor judge of how much is engine and how much is transmission noise with this being my first car with a manual transmission. At this point, the car is mine and the only thing that I can do is drive it. If the transmission gives out, I'm screwed. Right now, the transmission is only one of two major things that I am worried about with the car. I have only driven the car about 300 miles, but so far I am only getting about 11.5 to 12 miles per gallon driving around town (mostly stop and go driving). The mechanic that I have dealt with at the Chevy dealer with my previous car (1999 Camaro Z28) seems to think that this is most likely due to a bad sensor (most likely 02) and not plugs and wires. I did not have the car scanned to check the sensors because he said that they would probably charge an hour ($100) of labor to do it. I did find a leak in one of the tubes attached to the intake (looks like part of the PCV system) and fixed that leak. I don't know if that had any affect on the mileage. So, that is another mystery I will have to tackle. Other than all of this, the car seems to run well. Did you ever think that you made a major mistake buying a vehicle? I'm getting to that point. Thank you all for your help and letting me vent a bit.
I also had the transmission specialist at the Chevy dealer drive the car. He has worked on (and rebuilt) many of these transmissions himself. He claimed that the transmission was not making any unusual noises for this transmission. He said that he had recently placed a remanufactured ZF transmission into a 1994 Corvette and that it made more noise than my transmission.
As far as the metal in the transmission fluid, it was more like what you would find on the magnet on your oil drain plug. So, I would figure that this would come with normal wear of metal parts.
Also, people have commented about there being noises that come from the transmission while it is in gear at a stop or in neutral with the engine idling. I don't hear any odd noises during either of these conditions. The transmission seems to be pretty quiet.
The transmission seems to make more noise in first through third gear and seems very quiet in fourth through sixth. I think that part of the reason for the increased noise in first through third gear is because the engine turns a higher amount of rpms in those gears. Typically, once I am in fourth gear the engine is not turning as many rpms. Again, I am a poor judge of how much is engine and how much is transmission noise with this being my first car with a manual transmission. At this point, the car is mine and the only thing that I can do is drive it. If the transmission gives out, I'm screwed. Right now, the transmission is only one of two major things that I am worried about with the car. I have only driven the car about 300 miles, but so far I am only getting about 11.5 to 12 miles per gallon driving around town (mostly stop and go driving). The mechanic that I have dealt with at the Chevy dealer with my previous car (1999 Camaro Z28) seems to think that this is most likely due to a bad sensor (most likely 02) and not plugs and wires. I did not have the car scanned to check the sensors because he said that they would probably charge an hour ($100) of labor to do it. I did find a leak in one of the tubes attached to the intake (looks like part of the PCV system) and fixed that leak. I don't know if that had any affect on the mileage. So, that is another mystery I will have to tackle. Other than all of this, the car seems to run well. Did you ever think that you made a major mistake buying a vehicle? I'm getting to that point. Thank you all for your help and letting me vent a bit.
--many times car companies use thinner oils to get better gas mileage... this could be the case here.
