Hello, I have a new to me 1987 328 GTS with 41,000 miles. Just had the belt service done to start a new base line. I want to change the oil and transmission fluid. I did try to use the search function but all I succeeded in doing is getting my head spinning. Simple yes/no: - is Mobil 1 FS European Car Formula 5W-40 Full Synthetic Motor Oil (which I can get locally) going to be a good engine oil? - is Red Line Synthetic Gear Oil 58305 75W-90 NS going to be a good transmission oil? I did find the Baldwin B253 oil filter. Last question. There are what appears to be two lights at the rear edge of the engine compartment hood. Are they lights and are they switched or do they come on when the hood is opened? Thanks in advance the the help! Jon
IMO... The engine oil is fine Red line MTL is a better choice for the gear oil The lights you refer to illuminate the license plate when you turn on the exterior lights. They have nothing to do with the engine compartment/do not illuminate when you lift the hood.
Consensus on the best gear oil is Redline MTL Consensus on the best engine oil has never been reached, and has been discussed ad infinitum. The one you mentioned will be fine. The two lights are for license plate illumination.
Guys, thanks for the quick responses! Redline MTL it is. And thanks for illuminating me on the license plate lights! Did not think to look at them with the hood closed! Jon Quick follow-up -- just checked and the Redline MTL that I found is 75W-80 as opposed to the 75W-90 specified in the Owner's Manual - still OK?
Enjoy you new car. Best advice I have every gotten on oils is if xWy is specified, first match y, then get x as close to spec as possible. For my 308 QV I use Mobile 1 75W90 in transaxle (80w90 called for) and 20w50 of what ever is on sale in the engine (10w50 called for). Car shifts like butter once warm. Many here go 5w40 for the engine and use boutique oils for the transaxle.
OK, so now I am down to Redline MTL 75W-80 versus Redline MT-90 75W-90 for the transmission. Open to suggestions. By the way, I am in Florida so cold starts are not an issue. THANKS! Jon
MTL will give you easier/smoother shifts but if you are not comfortable using a different weight than OEM spec, do what you are comfortable with. FWIW I have used four different synthetic gear oils in my 328 since '08. MTL allows easier/smoother shifting, even eliminating the common "hard to get into second when cold" issue. A few months ago at the most recent gear oil change, I foolishly installed a different (well-known) gear oil ...of the 'correct' weight...because I had it on hand and didn't have any MTL. The shifting was so poor in comparison that three days later I ordered some MTL and, when it arrived, drained the gear oil and replaced it with MTL. So the car got two gear oil changes in a week!
I like Redline MTL, but the website recommends this for your specific car. Go to Redlineoil.com to verify it yourself. I was going to use MTl in one of my ride, but the website said otherwise. Don't create additional problems by using the incorrect fluids. 75W90NS GL-5 GEAR OIL NS means non-slip, for transaxles that need hypoid-protection and smooth shifting For use in manual transaxle
"I like Redline MTL, but the website recommends this for your specific car" 75W90NS GL-5 GEAR OIL The NS gear oil in the link is, as you pointed out, optimized for hypoid protection. There are no hypoid gears in the 3x8 transaxle to protect. FWIW, MTL is recommended by several techs on this site who have been working on these cars since they were in production. See post 14 in this thread: https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/switching-my-oil-to-redline-any-thoughts-why-i-should-not.128933/
Looks like the predominate advice is the Redline MTL so I will be giving that a try. Will report any issues. Thanks for the advice!
Groovy baby, but this comes straight from the engineers at Redline. My money goes with the engineers, not the "I've always done it this way" guys.
"My money goes with the engineers" Keep in mind that Redline (or any oil company) "engineers" do not test their oils in every engine/transmission available. That would be an impossible task. In reality, they don't generally test them in production engines/transmissions. They use various test machines and computer simulations. The only experience Redline engineers likely have with Ferrari 3x8's is watching Magnum PI reruns.! OK, I'm being a bit sarcastic with the last sentence but really, all an oil company engineer can say is, "This oil should work OK in this application because it meets the auto manufacturer specs." But real world experience over many years may determine there are better-performing alternatives in that application. A tech who has 30+ years of experience is far more knowledgeable about what actually works in the field than an engineer using test gear and computers. However, As has been said many times - folks should so what they are comfortable doing. If they are more comfortable matching the factory spec stated by the manufacturer, as opposed to a tech recommendation/suggestion, that's what they should do!
I was very fortunate to tour the Chevron lab shortly after they invented Techron. (Techron is a big deal.) (They declined to say which other companies they licensed it to.) The Chevron testing equipment most certainly included many automobile engines on test stands which had been run for massive numbers of hours during product development. I would expect engine oil manufacturers also use such “real world” methods to test their prototype products.
Fully agreed with mike996 - while the Redline engineers might know their oils, they apparently don't know that there are no hypoid gears in the 308 transaxle, so GL-5 is not necessary. Rifledriver is one of the lifetime Ferrari-trained mechanics here who has tried them all and recommends Redline MTL. He's not an "I've always done it this way" guys, he reviews what works, what doesn't, knows what's poorly designed and could/should be improved - believe who you like, but I believe Rifledriver over the "We think this is the appropriate oil" guys who don't even understand what's inside the transaxle. Cheers, Gordon
