Synthetics not doing the job?

burnie · #1 11-02-2005, 12:40 PM

I had lunch with a friend of mine who is a mechanic at the Harley house. He was telling me he has quit using synthetic oil because of the problems he is seeing. He has been having tranny problems and engine wear problems coming in and all of them have been running synthetics. Has anyone else heard of this?

pococj · #2 11-02-2005, 10:14 PM

Not with engines, but have heard of problems with trannies using Syn 3 engine oil instead of "real" gear oil.

WildBill2566 · #3 11-03-2005, 02:03 PM

Synthetic oil is better than dino oil...........................the end

Specific oil for specific application is best, one oil for all three holes will always be a compromise.

Correct grade oil for specific use is best...............wrong grade oil is very bad.

Changing a good synthetic oil in a modern engine every 3000 miles is a waste of time, changing oil every 20,000 miles is a waste of a modern engine .

Amsoil, Mobil 1, and Redline dont have much to chose between them. There may be others as good, but I doubt there are any better.

Your bike your money your choice.

All the above is just my 2 cents, and may be a crock o'###te.

WB

burnie · #4 11-03-2005, 04:52 PM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: pococj

Not with engines, but have heard of problems with trannies using Syn 3 engine oil instead of "real" gear oil.

I think that is what he was complaining about. I think people are putting too light of a synthetic in the Tranny. If im not mistaken, You should use 90 weight, and he said something about people have been using 60 weight.

pococj · #5 11-04-2005, 02:01 AM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: burnie

Quote:

ORIGINAL: pococj

Not with engines, but have heard of problems with trannies using Syn 3 engine oil instead of "real" gear oil.

I think that is what he was complaining about. I think people are putting too light of a synthetic in the Tranny. If im not mistaken, You should use 90 weight, and he said something about people have been using 60 weight.

Thing is, 90 weight gear oil is the same viscosity range as low 40w thru 50w motor oil. They are measured on different scales, so the "weights" are not directly comparable. What is apparently happening is the oil is shearing, meaning the long chain molecules are being chopped/ground and otherwise wasted. When that happens the viscosity of the oil rapidly decreases, or "thins". And that's bad.

1200c · #6 11-04-2005, 02:37 AM

Isn't the purpose of oil in the tranny mostly to cool and not lubricate?

oldgeezer · #7 11-04-2005, 11:53 AM

The purpose of the primary oil is to cool, the transmission needs cooling and lubrication.

txHarleyMan · #8 11-09-2005, 04:41 PM

DO NOT USE SYN3 IN A TRANNY! PERIOD! 20w50 is way to light. Use a good gear oil.

JamieWG · #9 11-09-2005, 07:24 PM

I'm using HD Formula+ in my primary and transmisson. I'm happy with it.

Taildraggerdave · #10 11-10-2005, 12:13 AM

Redline Shockproof Heavy works very well in the trans