GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I bought a mannual transmission vibe 4 month ago, and now it is almost 76000KM. So I thought I had better to change the transmission oil by myself.so my question is following
1, which brand and what type of transmission oil do you recommand ?
2, how many bottles should I buy?
3,any else I should pay attention to ?
4,how many miles later should I change the brake oil and streeing oil?

thank you so much!

Redline MT-90 GL4 is what I use, 2 bottles. DO NOT PUT A GL5 FLUID IN YOUR TRANSMISSION, IT WILL GRIND.

Brake fluid: Unless you have a leak, flush the system when you change your brake pads.

What year? 5 or 6 speed?

Definitely Redline MT-90 for the 03-08 vibes. I believe it saved my 2003 5 speed which is famous for bearing failure.

thank you two guys so much!
you mention the redline mt90 gl4 too. my vibe is 5 speed.
but I am in canada. and I search it here, it's hard to be found here.
so do you could recommand others?

You'll need to go to a specialty autoparts store... No bigbox retailer will generally have it. In what part of the country do you live?

finally, I found and bought it in 77autoparts. it is 40KM far away from my home.
redline MT-90 75W90 GL4 manual transmission & transaxle lubricant. 1 bottle is 1 us quart. I bought 2 bottles.

thank you so much, if you don't mention that the Gl5 is the wrong one, maybe I would buy the wrong one, they looks same of package.

tomorrow I'll change it for my vibe.

I did it, the process was easy. but I wonder that when I poured two bottle redline into the fill hole.but the oil didn't overflow from it.
So I am kind of worry about that 2 bottle is enough for it? my vibe is 2003 5 speed manual trans.

If you had the front wheels jacked up an the rear wheels on the ground you would be able to add more then 2 litres. Put all 4 wheels on the ground where the car will be flat and level then open the fill hole. Does any run out?

Al I recall the level of all Vibe Manual transmissions is very close to 2 Litres.

If it's a little low, you won't hurt it, just get it topped up when you can.

I've been really happy with Valvoline Synthetic 75w90.

SeattleJeremy wrote:I've been really happy with Valvoline Synthetic 75w90.

That's what I'm using. 180,000 miles. No tranny problems.
I'm still on my original clutch, too.

star_deceiver wrote:Redline MT-90 GL4 is what I use, 2 bottles. DO NOT PUT A GL5 FLUID IN YOUR TRANSMISSION, IT WILL GRIND.

Brake fluid: Unless you have a leak, flush the system when you change your brake pads.

I'm using a gl-5 fluid (Mobile 75w-90 synthetic) in my 05 base... haven't noticed any grinding after changing it 3k + miles ago. I know the 05 manual reccommended gl-5... is the manual just wrong?

johnz wrote:I know the 05 manual reccommended gl-5... is the manual just wrong?

Could be, the manual is wrong in some places. But then again, things have changed in the transmissions so your manual could be spot on.

I only know from personal experience. Last year I put in some 75w90 gl5... transmission became difficult to shift. By the next day I had to double clutch downshifitng to second, and 3rd was impossible without the perfect double clutch. Started flushing it out the day after. Went through 6 litres of TDH over a few thousand kms then put in the Redline. Normal shifting returned the second I dropped the clutch after the first flush with TDH. With Redline now, it glides through the gears!

(TDH - Transmission, differential, Hydraulic fluid. It's GL4, conventional and very inexpensive.)

The manual for my 2006 Matrix says GL4 or GL5 are OK.
I put regular Valvoline 75W-90 GL5 in a couple of years ago and it works just fine.

I flush the brake fluid every 3 years. I drain and refill the PS reservoir once a year.

Man I should have asked this question before replacing my manual transmission fluid. Earlier this year when it started to get warm I replaced the fluid with Valvoline full synthetic 75w-90 gear oil (GL-5, MT-1). Didn't notice much until it became relatively cold again. These days it is extremely difficult to get into gear and shifting is anything but smooth until the transmission has warmed up (a while after the engine temperature gauge reads "normal"). I thought it might be a sloppy shift linkage but now I am suspecting the manual transmission fluid. Anybody else have a similar experience? How much damage have I possibly done to the synchros?

biodieselrabbit wrote:Man I should have asked this question before replacing my manual transmission fluid. Earlier this year when it started to get warm I replaced the fluid with Valvoline full synthetic 75w-90 gear oil (GL-5, MT-1). Didn't notice much until it became relatively cold again. These days it is extremely difficult to get into gear and shifting is anything but smooth until the transmission has warmed up (a while after the engine temperature gauge reads "normal"). I thought it might be a sloppy shift linkage but now I am suspecting the manual transmission fluid. Anybody else have a similar experience? How much damage have I possibly done to the synchros?

My car has 138k miles on the OD, replace the gear oil every 30k with Valvoline full synthetic 75w-90, and it has brass shift linkage bushings. I haven't experienced any issues getting it in to gear.

Does your transmission make noise when in gear? How many miles does it have on it? The 03-05 5-speed (Toyota C59) are notorious for bearing failures.

biodieselrabbit wrote: Anybody else have a similar experience? How much damage have I possibly done to the synchros?

Yes.

Damage? Probably little.

Solution to the problem:

johnz wrote:

star_deceiver wrote:Redline MT-90 GL4 is what I use, 2 bottles. DO NOT PUT A GL5 FLUID IN YOUR TRANSMISSION, IT WILL GRIND.

Brake fluid: Unless you have a leak, flush the system when you change your brake pads.

I'm using a gl-5 fluid (Mobile 75w-90 synthetic) in my 05 base... haven't noticed any grinding after changing it 3k + miles ago. I know the 05 manual reccommended gl-5... is the manual just wrong?

GL5 gear oil will eat your brass synchros, which are in the base and GT vibes. I am not sure about the model years unfortunately. Regardless of what the manual says (dexcool...hahanooo), only use GL4 in these transmissions.

I put redline MT90 in a brand new trans I swapped in when the old one ate it. The old trans synchros were trashed at 120k. The new trans smoothed out completely in 3000 miles, better feeling than any other c60 trans I have driven. Like butter by comparison.

Also, amazon has Redline MT90 for a fair price.

Thanks for the quick responses. The vibe has 160,000 miles on her and I switched out the manual transmission fluid about 4,000 miles ago. Took her for a test drive again tonight while cold and could not hear any noise from the transmission. As SeattleJeremy said these transmissions are known to be prone to bearing failures (something to do with a plastic guide for steel ball bearings cracking) but most people notice noise not difficulty shifting as the indicator of failure. I will keep my fingers crossed just in case though.

As a better description of the problem (most apparent getting into 1st), it feels like I have to put a lot of force to get it into gear when at a complete stop. If I move the shifter slowly it doesn't exactly grind but more clunks. However if I take my foot off the brake with the clutch still depressed and let the car move ever so slightly, it slips in much better.

Called a few places today to find Redline MT-90. Got a couple quarts on order. Hoping to do the swap before family comes to visit for the holidays. Will post an update once I have some results.

http://www.toyota.com/t3Portal/document ... _06-01.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Specs 2ZR-FE and 2AZ-FE MT Gear Oil as GL-4 (pp.476), whereas the GM Owners Manual calls for GL-5

So the Redline MT-90 (GL-4) gear oil definitely improves shifting at lower temperatures compared to the Valvoline GL-5. It is still not smooth by any standard but, from what I have read, that appears to be the norm for the 2003 transmissions. Might still take a look into the shift linkage (lubricate and/or replace) if I can find some time in the coming months.

Thought others might appreciate this little comparative view. Note that the lines are due to the jar I placed the fluid in, not something in the fluid itself.

I went ahead and switched to MT-90.
Nobody else has mentioned that it's a weird color.
It does shift a little smoother at cold temps.

Just to clarify, the two pictures are the same fluid (Valvoline 75W-90) before and after being in my transmission. I couldn't say whether the Redline MT-90 is a different color but it definitely seemed to be thinner (i.e. less viscous) than the Valvoline stuff.

it looks like i'm going to jump on the red line band wagon. i've never experienced gears grinding or popping out but always felt the shifting in my vibe was more clunky than other manual transmission cars i'd driven. also this is the first time i've had the car when it's actually been cold and noticed some stickiness shifting from 1st to 2nd on cold days.

I have been struggling with this question since I bought my Vibe 2 years ago. I put an huge amount of miles on mine and have changed the oil now 3 times...once when I bought it and every 30k since. I have used Mobil 1 each time....most recently I nearly purchased Royal Purple...that was until I found this "white paper"
I will let you draw your own conclusions.

Enjoy!

http://www.goodsenseoil.com/G2457-GearOilWhitePaper.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

acvw74 wrote:I nearly purchased Royal Purple...that was until I found this "white paper"

Interesting reading, but being 6 years out of date it's probably not as useful as it once was. Royal Purple, for instance, is now a completely different formulation (they complain bitterly about it over on BITOG forums).

I ran the Redline MT-90 for a little while but had trouble shifting in colder temps. I was recommended the Amsoil GL-4 and its crisp and smooth now. Now here I am.

It get's cold in Florida?

MT-90 worked ok even below -30... I say ok because nothing on any vehicle, even the driver, works properly on a cold -30 morning... at least until the 3rd cup of coffee!

Yes we get some cold days down here in "winter". The Amsoil GL-4 holds up better and shifted better in the colder temps. The Redline needs a bit to warm up and sometimes took too long. Not cool when your at a light.