What type and weight of lube should I use in my transmission and O.D.?

Anyone have any brand they reccommend?

Castrol 80/90
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'66 1800S

I'll weigh in simply because I've had an odd experience. When I purchased my 70E, with an M410, it had a very finicky OD. Sometimes it worked correctly, but more often it refused to immediately engage or disengage. The previous owner's records indicted he'd had it to a competent local Volvo garage and the notations said "internal oil pressure problem." He never got the recommneded rebuild.

I always ran 30W non-detergent, as I had in my previous vintage Volvos. After I removed the unit to replace a leaking gasket, the problem seemed to get worse. I had just about given up and was searchig for a rebuilder $$$$$$, when I decided to try one last thing...80w-90 gear oil. That was about a year ago and the thing has worked flawlessly ever since. I've spoken to that Volvo mechanic and he was surprised. He felt it usually went the other way...switching to 30W from gear oil seemed to help problems. So maybe I'm the contrarian exception.

I'm happy. What I've heard since is 80W-90 has become quite acceptable. And gear oil is certainly better for the tranny. One caution, though, don't use Mobil One or any synthetic or semi-synthetic. I understand a certain amount of friction is required for the OD to operate properly...something to do with internal clutches.

Thanks for the info. I know this was probably in the archives but I'm swamped at work and did not have time to do a search.

dg

The manual says 30W non-detergent motor oil, and that's fine. I've had no problem with any modern GL-5 rated 80/90 gear oil, and know a lot of others who don't have a problem with that either. Some Brit car people I know like to use 20W-50, detergents and all -- I've got that in one of ours and it's also absolutely fine. I've got a buddy who adds chainsaw bar oil to his gear oil, and swears it improves shifting and the OD engagement.

It's not picky, in other words. What you DON'T want to use is ATF -- that's only for the next generation of ODs as used on the M46.

Phil, do those "brit car" people use the 20/50 in their gearbox as well as their OD, in other words, do they use 20-50 in their entire tranny? That would make things much simpler if it worked. I use 80-90 here in Vegas because it's so hot, but 20-50 would maybe work just as well too.
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'66 1800S

The gearbox and OD use a common oil supply, so yes, it's used in both.

I don't know that 20W-50 is a good or bad idea, just that when I was having engagement problems with one of mine and posted on a different board about it, several Brit car people told me the problem was surely that I wasn't using 20W-50. Made no sense, but I was desparate and tried it. Didn't fix the problem, but when I finally did solve the riddle, I left it in there. Still works fine 18 months later.

If I lived in Vegas, I'd probably stick with the 80W-90...

My "brit cars" run inexpensive 30 wt. When they get noisy I put in 40 wt. The 122s has 80w140 redline GL5

but it's in pretty bad condition!

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Mike!

Lots of opinions on this one but the book calls for 30W NON-detergent motor oil. That's what I've been using in my '66 for years with no problems. Other folks use a variety of lubricants with the same success.
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Roy Olson