Swepco 201 these days?

[midnight911]

For those in the US, where are you sourcing Swepco 201 these days? I notice the price hike and wondering if I'm looking at wrong places... Please share price and source of your recent purchase of Swepco 201. Thank you!

[thetorch]

Amazon. Prime free 2 day delivery. $99 per gallon.

[HarryD]

Our Host has it for $90.

I see you are in Portland, talk to Rothsport. They may be able to give you a deal.

[PeteKz]

I've been using Vavloline. It works pretty well in my 915. And it's a lot cheaper than the Swepco.

[PeteKz]

I've been using Vavloline. It works pretty well in my 915. And it's a lot cheaper than the Swepco. Try it. If you want to switch back to Swepco, you won't have lost much $$.

[HarryD]

Most any GL5 oil will work but from what I understand, SWEPCO has an additive that helps prolong the gears in the transmission.

Some thoughts from Steve Weiner:

Originally Posted by Steve@Rennsport

With all due respect, I'd kindly disagree,.....

Synthetic gear oils are not advisable with any 901-915-930 transmissions since those lubricants do not work properly with the Porsche baulk-ring syncros.

Non-synthetics such as Swepco #201, #210, Lubrication Engineers 703-704, and Kendall are the preferred products for these unique gearboxes.

There is a LOT more to this story, however a correction was needed on recommended lubricants to help prevent someone from an expensive mistake.

Originally Posted by Steve@Rennsport

LOL,..If you have lost as many ring & pinions as I have in 911 race cars, you might not feel the same way,.....

I've used virtually everything over the past 33+ years thats available in the US and Swepco does the best job of protecting that sensitive R&P gearset.

You are right though, no lubricant is a substitution when there are other mechanical problems at work.

[Schulisco]

Just look for an gear oil which meets these requirements:
- non synthetic, mineral oil only (because of the drag tourque of those oils, (part)synthetic oils do not have it that much)
- SAE 90 / SAE 85W90 / some SAE 80W90 (depends...)
- GL5 / MIL 2105 (B)
- 100°C viscosity not lower than 16 cSt
- 40°C viscosity not higher than 200-220 cSt

Compare it to the physical properties of the Swepco 201 80W90 and 90 .

Thomas

[EleanorDay]

Thanks for the information... MyBKExperience Survey

[midnight911]

Originally Posted by HarryD

Our Host has it for $90.

I see you are in Portland, talk to Rothsport. They may be able to give you a deal.

Harry, thanks.
I didn't want to start another which oil to use thread.
My 915 was rebuilt with LSD installed by Gordon and Steve told me to use 201, so I'm sticking with it. For some reason, my initial search at the host did not show 201 but now I see it and guess I'm ordering it here. Or perhaps pay a visit to Jeff to pick up some...

thanks for the inputs folks!

[winders]

Originally Posted by Schulisco

Just look for an gear oil which meets these requirements...

That's not the right way to pick oil for the 915.....

[Schulisco]

Originally Posted by winders

That's not the right way to pick oil for the 915.....

Interesting... Would you enlight me and others with your approach to choose the right oil?

I followed the specs Porsche gave in the manuals and because of experience reports from other owners. Porsche gave for SCs/915 only minimal recommendations: GL5 / MIL2105(B) SAE90 oils. This kind of oil is in general pure (non synthetic) mineral oil and I compared the tech data sheets of several oils of this kind and all were in between the values I wrote above. I also made my own experiences and I also got several reports from other owners with modern fully synthetic gear box oils and those oils worsen the shifting comfort and increased the gearbox noise dramatically. In few cases some owners were desparated and they feared to overhaul the gearbox due to bad shifting comfort. Then they replaced the filled modern oils with those old fashioned ones and gearbox worked again like a dream. No overhaul necessary. Of course - if a gearbox is really damaged or the sychros or some gears are dead you cannot repair it with a oil change, no question. But before I tear a gearbox out of the car for overhaul due to a bad shifting comfort I replace the oil at first when I don't know which oil has filled in before to see how it works then.

Thomas

[porschedude996]

Originally Posted by HarryD

Our Host has it for $90.

I see you are in Portland, talk to Rothsport. They may be able to give you a deal.

Currently they are out of 201. I was trying to use my PCA Discount on a good size purchase and ended up calling them to complete the transaction. A gallon of 201 was in my cart but the Parts Specialist ran up and down my order and said they were out and didn’t know when it would be In stock. I ended up on Amazon to purchase.

[midnight911]

Originally Posted by porschedude996

Currently they are out of 201. I was trying to use my PCA Discount on a good size purchase and ended up calling them to complete the transaction. A gallon of 201 was in my cart but the Parts Specialist ran up and down my order and said they were out and didn’t know when it would be In stock. I ended up on Amazon to purchase.

Good to know. thanks!

[MotorWorks]

I think it Swepco 201 was cheapest on Ebay last time I looked for a gallon. I actually switched to Redline 75w90NS last fluid change because it was easier and cheaper to get. I've got less than 100 miles on that fluid change so I'll see if it's good or I'll go back to Swepco 201

[midnight911]

As of today...give it or take:

Pelican Parts - 90.44 - Ground (cont US) free when order amount exceeds $99 - PCA 10% discount
Paragon Products - 79.00 - +shipping
Ebay - 83.37 - +15.18 shipping
Summit Racing - N/A
ECS Tuning - N/A
FCP Euro - N/A
Rothsport - ??? - Locals could visit and pick up with a jug

[HarryD]

Originally Posted by midnight911

As of today...give it or take:

Pelican Parts - 90.44 - Ground (cont US) free when order amount exceeds $99 - PCA 10% discount
Paragon Products - 79.00 - +shipping
Ebay - 83.37 - +15.18 shipping
Summit Racing - N/A
ECS Tuning - N/A
FCP Euro - N/A
Rothsport - ??? - Locals could visit and pick up with a jug

With Rothsport you get a bonus tour of whatever is in the shop (typically something cool).

[3rd_gear_Ted]

Lots of Offroad supply shops sell all the Swepco products for use in their higher stressed gearboxes.