Amsoil MTG for less than $14.80/qt

[barnum]

Not sure if this has been covered in another thread but couldn't find it in one... but I've got an almost belt-like noise coming from my manual transmission which seems to only be prevalent in cold weather at lowish speeds (around 20-30mph) when the clutch is pushed in while in gear while slowing down to stoplights or changing gear.

So I feel that my first move would be to do a fluid change in the transmission and make sure it wasn't too low/wrong fluid etc. From what I've seen people tend to side with Amsoil MTG over Redline MT-90 so I'm going to go with that. However, the only place I've seen it for sale is on their site for $88.80 for 6 quarts ($14.80/quart).

I don't drive the piss out of the truck so I know my drain intervals wouldn't be all that frequent but $90 is a hard pill to swallow for fluid. Does anyone know where else I can get it for cheaper? Anyone a dealer willing to help your fellow man or know a guy who knows a guy?

[barnum]

Also any info on the sound could be useful.

[Slumpert]

Just a suggestion.. Change the fluid with el-cheapo stuff first and drive it around for few miles. That will help dillute the dirty fluid left over from the change so when you put good stuff in it will be a lot less contamination inside.

[Towncivilian]

Cheap GL-4 is hard to find. I wouldn't run GL-5 for any period of time.

If you register on Bob Is The Oil Guy and send a PM to Pablo, he should be able to help you out with the MTG.

[barnum]

Slumpert: I can see how that might help with clearing out debris however I'm concerned on the same issue that Towncivilian brought up. The cheapest GL-4 oil I've seen is still $9/quart so it would be tough to drop an extra $54. Thanks for the input though.

Towncivilian: Thanks for directing me to someone. I found that I can get MTG for $11.45/quart under a preferred customer trial. I'll also make sure to check with Pablo before I buy any.

Any suggestions on filling the transmission back up? The fill hole isn't exactly easy to get to. May need to get some plastic/rubber tubing, siphon it out of the bottle then hold the tubing higher than the fill hole and let her flow. I don't even have Jack stands or a lift to make this easier on myself.

[Towncivilian]

An inexpensive gear lube pump is a good idea, something like this: http://m.advanceautoparts.com/mt/shop.a ... 7CL3*16158

In my case, NAPA had it for cheaper.

[barnum]

Didn't know that existed. Awesome.

[maxmileage]

Hey Barnum, did you resolve your sound prob with a gear oil change? I think my trans is starting to do the same. I have amsoil in mine for about a year now and the sound just developed over the last month or so. Thanks, Max

[barnum]

Have yet to do the trans oil change. Just got a new jack and am getting jack stands soon so I'm waiting on warm weather. Currently less than 10°F here lately.

After a bit of research, it seems I have a throwout bearing issue. Sounds terrible in cold weather. Saw your post in another thread and yours may be different than mine. My issue should be the throwout since it occurs with clutch pedal in. The clutch was just replaced before I got it in April of last year. Haven't called the dealer to see if they had replaced the throwout too at that time. Either way, I am doubting the trans oil change is going to help me/you. Though I think I'll do it anyways for my own personal preference and to maybe get some smoother shifts. I'm going to suck it up about the noise since my clutch is new and wait it out until the spring. Hopefully the noise will subside by then because currently its a mix between a belt noise and a 14 year old dog growling. Colder the weather, slower the growl, more of a leg press for shifts.

Oh and since I never followed up on the origin of this thread, you can become a trial "Preferred Customer" with Amsoil and get wholesale prices on their products which is ~$11 or something per quart of MTG. Still not cheap by any means but is the cheapest I think you can get it.

Good luck. Let me know of your results if you fix your transmission or change the oil.

[GRNMACHINE]

Another option would be to use some Valvoline MaxLife DEX/MERC AT, was able to find some at Autozone or Advanced Auto for about $5 a quart. Much cheaper if just flushing.