Very cool. I suppose the full name is "Royal Dutch Shell" so it's not just a North American brand!

Petro-Canada in Russia - now that's interesting! Do they sell the "WinterGas" in your country, too? I am not sure what name they'd give it, but basically a special blend that's packed with antifreeze.

Yes Mobil1 is expensive everywhere... Currently $52 CAD for 4.4L here

 

Shell in Russia: http://www.shell-distributor.ru/
Petro-Canada at our forum: http://jeepspb.ru/forum/viewtopic.ph...b5b6&start=480
Mobil at a local shop where I sometimes drop to change oil (any of) when I'm either lazy or just don't want to soil my hands.
Engine oil+filter change (in a "small" vehicle) is abt USD 5 if I get their oil.
Full-flow oil change in AT - abt USD 25 with filter change. Plus their oil, of course.

 

Salad,
what would you say regarding Chevron MD-III in AW-4, 44RE and tcases?
Also guess no need to buy the "original" oil for 4hp 4-stroke Briggs&Stratton in garden appliance?

 

I'm not a big fan of "multi-application" ATF (since it basically doesn't really meet any of the specs exactly), but it would probably be ok for the AW4 since it claims to be compatible with Dex-III/Merc. and you can use just about any trans fluid (some even use 10w30) you want in the transfer-case though most use the same fluid as the trans for convenience sake. I definitely would not use it in the 44RE though that takes ATF+4 which the Chevron MD-III does not claim to be compatible with.


If you can get it I'd just stick with regular Dex-III/Merc in the AW4, ATF+4 in the 44RE and either one in the transfer cases.



No, just look for something that can handle high heat (air-cooled engines get a lot hotter than water-cooled ones), HD diesel oils like Rotella are excellent for these applications as well. Any synthetic will likely be fine though, if you use dino oil in air-cooled engines it would stick with either HD oil or oils specifically spec'ed for that application though due to the higher operating temps.

 

Dmill89, thanks. All well noted.
But AW-4 was engineered for DexronII as you can see on the dipstick.
And there was no +4 in '96 for 44RE.
Maybe the situation is the same as with motor oils - newer is not always better?

 

Dex-II is no longer made (at least in the US), Dex-III/Merc is the direct replacement for it.


A 96 44RE likely would have had ATF+3, but ATF+4 is a direct replacement for it and is a better fluid so I can't really think of a reason to use +3 instead (unless it is all you can get).

 

Found Chevron's product data sheet:

"Formulated for applications that call for the former DEXRON®-III H, MERCON®, and Allison C-4 fluids."

Sounds fine to me. Aisin-Warner has Dexron IIE, III, Mercon, and JWS-3309 as acceptable lubricants for the AW-4. NP231 and NP242 transfer cases are approved for all major ATF formulations and will pretty much run on anything (including light motor oil) so have at it.

As for the 44RE, that's a Chrysler transmission. Its little brother the 32RE will explode with fluid intended for the AW-4 used in it (not slippery enough, clutch chatter results).

Any modern synthetic multigrade 30 is great for an air-cooled 4-stroke. The monograde requirement really only applies to conventional mineral oil that doesn't do very well under heat. Actually, I picked up a small container of this stuff for my riding mower: http://www.getg.com/G-OIL/4-cycle_bi...etic_SAE30.php I'd have gone for 10w30 or 5w30 if it was stocked locally.

 

Just after reading the above when MD-III appeared here I switched to it in all my AW4s and tcases.

As for 44RE - noted.
Guess can use Chevron ATF+4, not Mopar only.
Both available of course.
The situation with lubes and spares is much better that could be expected in present situation. Though everything appeared to be upto twice more expensive...

 

The T case can run any atf, more modern synthetics should be better, or gear oil. Gear oil should actually be better for it, especially for high temperature, high speed, high load use. Fuel economy may suffer some since moving parts through the thick fluid takes more energy, may or may not be noticeable. Some people run atf in differentials for drag racing to reduce the load, that sounded crazy to me till I realized that many FWD cars use atf in their diffs full time. If you can find the specs, the atf with the highest high pressure load capability should excel. I've never looked to see if they test it like motor oils with the four ball test and such. Since it's not doing the things it has to in an auto trans there's no issues about it having the right viscosity, static friction coefficient, and other properties that make atf compatibility a big deal.

My garden machines have always run on whichever 15-40 I have at the time, usually Rotella, but I often buy whatever's on sale since my diesel goes through quite a bit of oil. A good motorcycle spec oil should also do well and realistically any good car oil should as well. Unless you're running them under really hard loads for extended periods or in really hot weather the oil won't get very hot. I put a temp probe in one mower a long time ago, don't recall the number, but it was nothing to worry about. They run flat tappet cams but the valve springs are so soft I doubt there's any real worry about scrubbing.

Some 'special use' oils make sense, many don't. Marine engine oil is one of those and I belive garden machine oil is another. If it's truly a specially formulated oil for my 6.5HP lawn mower then there's no way it's also optimized for a weed eater, riding mower, ect. but the same oil is recommended for all of them. I've known of many garden engines that died, but none without having been run dry and/or run with a broken or missing air filter. I've repaired or replaced many marine engines, but not a single one that died due to lubrication issues. Most have been run on 15-40 diesel, some on car oil, a few on marine oil. Most have died from overheating and/or water ingestion, a few because of bad gas.

Most vehicles and machines that get decent maintenance fall apart around a running engine.

 

The chain-driven New Process transfer cases should NEVER be run on gear oil. It is FAR too thick. There's an integral oil pump that pushes lube through capillaries.

Using a light oil that is tolerant of high heat is important. This is why ATF is specified. However, dino-juice ATF has a tendency to vaporize from the heat - so synthetic is better.

 

Q8 = Kuwait

I see what they did there

 

Yea, I didn't think about that; had my old D20 in my mind.

You said some people use 10-30 in their T-case which is about the same viscosity as 75-85w gear oil. Dex3 I think is around a 20w, right in the middle so a 75w would theoretically be ok.

 

Yesterday dropped at Shell:



Guess Burger King and KFC are much closer to the North American brand
No Rotella at all on the shelf...

 

Not really. Dexron III specified a MAXIMUM of 7.5 cSt at 100°C. ATF+3 is in the same neighborhood. 75w90 gear oil is around 16 cSt at 100°C... (Chevron 16.7, Redline 16.1)

Rockland Standard Gear recommends the use of a *synthetic* 5w30. It's thicker than ATF to be sure, but there's a huge difference between that and a conventional 10w30, which is still a lighter oil than 75w90 sulphur molasses.

Nah I didn't figure Burger King or KFC would stock Rotella! :P

Most of the Shell stations here have small 1L bottles of T3 15w40.

 

Being outside of North America, you might not be able to find Rotella. I don't know the specifics, but Shell Helix Ultra Diesel or Rimula maybe equivelant to Rotella T6.