Question about Gear Oil - Swepco Blue & Regular

[Tidybuoy]

I recently changed my trans fluid with Swepco 201 Blue. The old fluid was also blue so I'm assuming it was Swepco as well. Everything went normal (ie., no metal pieces in oil or other issues).

The trans has always shifted fine and still does but it's developing a whine that sounds similar to when you would drive in reverse. The noise seems to be intermittant.

I was talking to a mechanic in our car club - he was trained in Germany by Porsche and sounds very knowlegable. The mechanic told me that I should be using 20% regular gear oil and 80% Swepco Blue. He said that Swepco is very good when hot but is not as good as regular oil when cold. He did not say this would cure my problem as he has not heard it himself - just my description.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone had ever heard this 20/80 method and any comments on this.

One last remark: I recently repacked my cv joints as one boot was ripped and almost completely gone. I'm going to replace the entire half shaft soon as it looked burnt & a little worn. It binded a little when turning but that was with the car jacked up and the axle shaft fully tilted.

Thanks..................Vern

[Neel]

I have never heard of that combo.. There is much debate about the 'right' trans-axle fluid to run in our cars.. The search function is your best friend.. I know what works for me and many others, but any fluid will not cover up transmission 'issues' for long..

[db_cooper]

Vern. The Swepco 201 is labeled on the container as a 80/90 and while it is thick, I doubt it is causing your noise.

Never heard of the 20% regular gear oil mix with Swepco. It gets a lot colder in Germany than Fresno Ca..maybe that mix has some merit in a cold climate.

915s are excellent sport gearboxes and very noisy. That is why Porsche went to the G50.

It is easy to develop "rabbit ears" after working on your Porsche. In fact it not a bad idea to keep your senses focused after some work is done. Ive seen many owners hear new mechanical noises after some general maintenance work. Most cases the noise was there always and normal, they just became accustomed to it.

If in doubt, drive 1000 miles and change the gear oil again. Look for debris on the drain plug and if OK, refill with 201 or a 201/Kendall mix.

I've used the Swepco 201 with no issues for many years.

[Driver_X]

FWIW, I had a whine in my gearbox using the blue stuff. I'm heading up to Specialty Auto in Allentown PA next week to have Marc take a look and he recommended that I change to Pennzoil GL-5 Gearplus as that's what he had been using for the last 20+ years.

GearPlusŪ SAE 80W-90 GL-5 Gear Oil

I changed the fluid on sunday and took a nice long drive yesterday, whine is about 20% of what it was. One could argue it's pretty much normal now, I really had to listen for it....

[Peter Zimmermann]

Nice little thread...

Swepco Transmission Fluid Question