Quote:
Originally Posted by mike657894
Forddan Im thinking of following your lead here. I have a few questions. Did you have good 600w from the suppliers before the 1500? I just put macs 600 in trans and rear. less than 100 miles yet. I can get some silent shifts if I hit my double shift well enough. In your original post you make it sound like your trans now shifts like a syncro unit because of this oil. Is it that good? Im leery as I put standard modern rear end oil in my axle when I got it and developed a slight low speed noise back there.
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First, thank you all for your comments!!!
Mike659874. Let me clarify some points.
I am a newbie concerning Model A. This is my first season with one. So, I do not know yet if my issues shifting were due to my lack of experience or due to the gear oil.
Now, with that clarify I will answer your questions.
I tried 3 different 600W from Model A vendors. With all of them I was not able to shift without having some grinding. After reading many threads, I arrived to the conclusion that I will look to test a thicker gear oil. Could be it will help me on my learning curve. I thought about using STP. But many suggested not to use it and others to use it. At the end, because of the Zinc content and the yellow metals issue, I decided not to use it. If you search "gear oil" you will find many references to Meropa 680W as one of the modern gear oils with viscosity similar to the Henry Ford 600W. But I wanted something more like a Molasse ( like the STP). Then I found that Restoration Supplies was selling Meropa 1500W in small bottles with the legend "good for yellow metals ". My car is a January 1929 Tudor. It was fully restored and gear box done too, all in 2005. I do not know with certainty if I have yellow metals in my gear box. So I was afraid of using an oil that could bring future issues. Meropa 680W is widely used, based on my searches, and it has the same copper oxidation test of 1B, as the 1500W. Plus Restoration Supplies stated online "no issues with yellow metals:.
I ordered 2 bottles, change the oil and drove the car all Massachusetts summer with the 1500W. It wasn't a "WOW, what a change". But definitely I was shifting better. There was a difference for good.
The other big discussion was "in winter you will not be able to shift". Due to snow and salt I will not be driving my A in Winter. But I wanted to see what will be happening in November/December before the town spread salt in the streets.
My first test is related in my first posting. Temperatures are detailed. YES, sifting with the car cold, before starting the car felt harder, BUT the gears moved without any problem.
Started the car, waited a few minutes to warm the engine and when I shifted from first to 2nd..... WOW. It was smooth and no grinding at all. Same from 2nd to 3er. After 10+ miles the feeling was the same. Still I can feel that shifting was slower than in summer. Probably the gear oil, thicker due to the low temp. But it felt SO GOOD.
I got for the first time the "YES, I can do it without grinding". I did several double clutching, but they were unnecessary. I was trying all the options in my testing.
So this is my experience. I hope this helps.
Best Daniel
ps: all other places in my car have 600W from vendors