best rear axle/transmission oil/grease in 4-cyl. DBs?

[franklinman]

I'm sure this topic has been discussed at some point in the past, but I'm just curious as to what the general consensus is on the best fluid and/or grease to use in the differential and transmission on the 4-cylinder 12V series cars.  I see 600 and 1200/1500 gear lube being sold thru numerous sources and I know that using too thin fluids will result in leaks and harder shifting, but I'm wondering what those of you guys that drive their cars regularly have found to work best.  Thanks.

[RickBrinker]

For the Trans i use 1qt 600wt and 2 tubes of grease mixed together I find its easier to pull the top off the trans and put it in

from the top

[Spinneyhill]

This quote is from a Dodge Brothers Club forum and is about a 24 DB. Basically, use a semi-fluid grease, = NLGI 00, the same stuff one would use in the steering box.

 

" Originally, Dodge recommended that a mixture of 2 parts 600wt steam cylinder oil to one part medium grease be used, creating a semi-fluid grease. This 600wt oil is available from aftermarket suppliers, HOWEVER, after consulting with lubrication engineers, i have found that there is a modern equivalent to the home-made semi-fluid grease. The 600wt oil is, in modern units, an ISO VG 460 oil. After contacting Exxon-Mobil's lubrication consultation service, they do make a semi-fluid grease, NLGI 00 (which is semi-fluid) in an ISO VG 460. It's Mobil SHC 007. It's designed for, among other things, old gearboxes, leaky gearboxes, and steering gears on large trucks. It has an EP additive which is needed in gearboxes.
Can be bought in a 5 gallon pail, otherwise known as a 35lb keg at amazon, or other place you can buy bulk oils. Here's a link that hopefully wont go dead like most forum links. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00G97ECX4/ref ... T2F5G87711 "

 

The source is http://www.dodgebrothersclub.org/phpbbforum/viewtopic.php?t=275

 

I believe you have roller bearings in your countershaft or lay gear, so this probably doesn't apply to you unless you can think of a place you have brass or bronze. If the semi-fluid grease you are interested in has a Copper Strip Corrosion Test result of 1a (or 1b at a pinch), you are good to go. At one time about 30 or 40 years ago and still in some oils and greases to day, EP additives contained sulphur and had a habit of attacking copper, which is a constituent of brass and bronze.

 

Note that it was not "600 weight oil", it was 600W, which is sort of a model name. I suppose it was close to 600 cSt kinematic viscosity at 40 ^oC so took its name from there, but that test and scale may have been a bit different back then too.

Edited December 3, 2018 by Spinneyhill (see edit history)

[DB26]

I just put straight 600w in my 26 a few months ago and I still have slight leaks in both the front end and rear end. 

Edited December 3, 2018 by DB26 (see edit history)

[franklinman]

On ‎12‎/‎2‎/‎2018 at 6:16 PM, RickBrinker said:

For the Trans i use 1qt 600wt and 2 tubes of grease mixed together I find its easier to pull the top off the trans and put it in

from the top

What type of "grease" are you referring to?

[22touring]

I am going to say LUB164 (edit: as far as transmission oil is concerned).  Check out this thread:

 

 

Edited December 5, 2018 by 22touring (see edit history)

[RickBrinker]

Just regular grease like you would put in a grease gun

 

[Guest]

What is regular grease.  I have three grease guns each with different grease.  Following is an excerpt from https://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/how-to/a2948/choosing-the-correct-grease/

A primer about grease: It's basically nothing more than a heavy oil mixed with enough soap to make it stringy and clingy enough to remain in place as the bearing spins. This will ensure the bearing's rollers or balls are constantly covered in the oil. The soap is based on a variety of compounds, notably lithium or aluminum complexes for most of the greases used in cars, trucks and boats.

Problem: Not all the soaps are compatible with each other. This causes the soap and the oil to separate, letting the latter settle to the bottom of the cavity the bearing is in. No surprise—a lot of grease caps have a poor metal-to-metal seal and will let the oil leak out after some weeks. Like yours did.

Your wheel bearings were probably originally lubed with a lithium-12-complex grease, a perfectly good grease for wheel-bearing use, even on a boat trailer if it's maintained. Shooting some more grease into the bearing cap with a grease gun isn't a bad idea. Shooting an incompatible grease in is.

This counterpoints the need to completely remove the last vestiges of old grease from a bearing whenever it's repacked. Yes, you want to remove the dirt and wear particles, but odds are you won't know what kind of grease the last mechanic used.

I'm not going to print a huge grease compatibility chart here, although that kind of information is available on the Internet. If you always clean the bearings properly before repacking, it will never be a problem.