Hello all, less than 500 miles ago I drained and refilled the gearbox oil on my 05 with the Getrag GS5-52BG 5 speed following a CV axle replacement. I used the Redline D6 ATF. Last night I needed to pull the shafts due to the seals leaking and noticed that the oil was now a dark brownish purple, and had a strong "burnt" odor to it. I did pull a small pop-up camper less than 100 miles round trip(weighs around 1k pounds, did not struggle). I fell that this would not cause the oil to turn that quickly. Anyone else have any issues like this? Is it possible that the Redline D6 might actually NOT be a good alternative?

I was also thinking that maybe since this is an ATF and they typically have more detergents in them that it "cleaned up" the gearbox

 

I don't know much, but why did you put ATF in a manual gear box? I would have stuck to gear oil.

 

ATF is not thick enough, nor does it have the additives required to be run in a manual trans, as well as the MINI isn't rated for towing.

75w-90 gear oil is what you need.

 

Thanks for the replies guys but for the Getrag 5 speed there are numerous articles referring to using Redline D6 ATF as an alternative. please see the following links for more info

http://new.minimania.com/MINI_Cooper...mission_Fluids


http://new.minimania.com/part/NMG729...0-COOPER-05-06

 

Only use what is recommended for the transmissions, a trans designed for 90 weight oil will not happily accept ATF that is roughly half the weight with none of the same friction & lubricity additives.

 

Other people on this same forum seem to have success using it since the final viscosity ends up being about the same as 90 weight. Since Redline themselves recommend that product over their MT Fluids for the gearbox there must be something special about it that actually makes it compatible. I was hoping to get someone with some years of experience using it or with a similar problem to what I had.

As for towing, from just a power standpoint, it has enough to easily tow 1k pounds, here in the U.S. owners can easily put 1k pounds of load just by 4 passengers.

 

Again I don't have any experience but I'd say if you're trying an alternate fluid and it doesn't seem to be working the way you want, the safest thing to do is to go back to the factory fluid, or something as similar as possible.

It could be totally normal for it to smell burnt when being used in this application, but do you want to bet a transmission replacement on it?

 

Yeah I agree, i'm going to run this fluid for around 1k miles, then drain it into a new clean container, if it smells burned and has a burned color to it again I will just fork over then $45/ quart for the BMW stuff and write Redline a nasty letter.

 

MINI specified BMW LT-3 for Getrag transmissions without LSD.
It has a low viscosity (about 6 compared to 10-11 for MTF-94) and
is very close in specs to Redline D6 and Redline has recommended it as an equivalent for LT-3.
Redline MTL is very close to MTF-94 in specs.

 

I think the op answered his own question in his original post...
He used a non-oem oil....in a few weeks he checked it (why?!) And it was showing signs of distress....
So it appears that the oil, or ATF used is not the right stuff....yup...there is misinformation on the internet.
Re-fill with good fluid, OEM if you want to be safe and hope no damage was done.
The fact the op checked the fluid pretty fast indicates they were not sure or had issues....most folk fill and forget a manual transmission for 100,000 miles or so.... sometimes less...but still...not in a few thousand miles.