gearbox oil question

[corkgsxr]

on of the reasons people say you cant use car oil in a bike is

a its not designed for the extreme speeds
b it doesn't have the necessarily property's to properly lubricate a gearbox.

which brings me to my question.

the Citroen rated gearbox oil is about 70 euro for the 2 litres you need

high quality motorbike oil is about 32 euro for 3.5 litres

so why wouldnt the motorbike oil do in a gearbox?

its designed for a gearbox in a motorbike,
a berlingo gearbox goes nowhere near the speeds a motorbike gearbox goes.

can anyone think of a reason why not?

[Phil_G]

what viscosity are the two oils?

Motorcycles commonly share motor oil to lubricate the gearbox and the reason that you wouldn't be best advised to use the car oil in one is if the bike has a wet clutch, the oil doesnt contain the friction modifiers necessary for the clutch to work properly. Just because that it's ok for a bike does not mean that it will work in a van expected to do hundreds of thousands of miles

Just use the correct grade of oil. It's cheaper to pay 70 euro and know it's right than have the van throw it's gears because the lube is incorrect.

Also, what you should look at is not so much the rotational speed but the grip exerted on the transmission. Your van has more tyre area combined with more weight than that of the motorcycle. This leads to more grip, which leads to the gears and consequently the oil having to do a lot more work.

[steve valentine]

Use ATF it's only around £6 a litter and is a recommended replacement for citroen gear boxes. Search in the how to section I did a thread about it and I'm pretty sure I detailed the exact brand of oil I used.

[corkgsxr]

what viscosity are the two oils?

Motorcycles commonly share motor oil to lubricate the gearbox and the reason that you wouldn't be best advised to use the car oil in one is if the bike has a wet clutch, the oil doesnt contain the friction modifiers necessary for the clutch to work properly. Just because that it's ok for a bike does not mean that it will work in a van expected to do hundreds of thousands of miles

Just use the correct grade of oil. It's cheaper to pay 70 euro and know it's right than have the van throw it's gears because the lube is incorrect.

Also, what you should look at is not so much the rotational speed but the grip exerted on the transmission. Your van has more tyre area combined with more weight than that of the motorcycle. This leads to more grip, which leads to the gears and consequently the oil having to do a lot more work.

but the bike tires have more grips so less slippage, and have to deal with a shed load more power. and hard downshifting.

i just dont believe the van box has to do more work than the bike box.

[andy-womble]

but the bike tires have more grips so less slippage, and have to deal with a shed load more power. and hard downshifting.

i just dont believe the van box has to do more work than the bike box.

So the fact that the van gearbox has to be able to transfer enough power to shift up to c.1,800kg of van and payload (yes nearly 2 tonnes) does not come into the equation????

If the van box did not have to do so much work or produce so much torque it would only need to be the same size as a motorcycle gearbox so presumably the boffins that design vehicles have got it all wrong and the same box can be used in a motorbike, large van or even a heavy goods vehicle???

I tend to think not somehow:!::!::!::!:

[Phil_G]

but the bike tires have more grips so less slippage, and have to deal with a shed load more power. and hard downshifting.

i just dont believe the van box has to do more work than the bike box.

So the fact that the van gearbox has to be able to transfer enough power to shift up to c.1,800kg of van and payload (yes nearly 2 tonnes) does not come into the equation????

If the van box did not have to do so much work or produce so much torque it would only need to be the same size as a motorcycle gearbox so presumably the boffins that design vehicles have got it all wrong and the same box can be used in a motorbike, large van or even a heavy goods vehicle???

I tend to think not somehow:!::!::!::!:

Hi,

Thanks given for that - and you're forgetting the Berlingo 800 - that's a GVW of over 1,900KG

Cork, I really don't mean to be rude, but you're so far wide of the mark here, it's not funny. Motorcycle engine oil WILL NOT suit your berlingo's transmission. Do not use it. If the other PSA stuff I've come across is anything to go by, the gearbox is designed to work with a specific grade of lubricant somewhere in the region of a 75w/80 oil.

Having spent the last 10 years assisting at a garage that prepares, builds and repairs race vehicles (from 500kg formula ford cars to 4 ton plus monster trucks packing 1,300 bhp, it's safe to say that I've got a good enough understanding of what I'm talking about. It almost sounds like you've asked the question, in the hope that we will say "do it". Well, I for one will not, as it is not right and potentially detrimental to the vehicle's longevity.

When I bought my car on 83,000 miles a few years back, it was horrible (as i found out the first cold morning) to shift into second as it would "baulk" at engaging, however, once warmed, it was fine. I took it to my friend who recommended that, as we don't know what oil is in it, we put the correct grade of oil into the box to ensure that it's not something simple before we tore into the trans to find the problem.

Sure enough, the CORRECT grade oil later and it was, and still is with 285000kms or 177000 miles, fantastic. Heck, at 150,000, it had a clutch change. My friend helped and checked the transmission over whilst it was off the car. He fetched it back declaring that he'd seen worse gearboxes with 50,000kms, let alone 150,000!

It's a false economy to use the incorrect lubricant, but it's your vehicle, your choice.

[divingscubaboy]

Philg I'm with you on this one. However the 'special' lubricants that some manufacturers is bull####. Not sure I'd use atf though, bit thin. I've used an 80 gear oil in both my bingos and they've been spot on with much smoother changes etc. Most manufacturers never recommend changing of the transmission oil. I can only see it being a good a thing draining all the shite out at least once in its life!

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk

[Opensauce]

I'm guessing the Citroen gearbox oil for 35€/litre is fully synthetic gear oil. You can get premium brand, ie Mobil fully synth gear oil for £12/litre but you would need to ensure it was the specified grade.