GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Hey All. My daughter just bought an '06 with 5 speed manual, with 112,000 miles, from a used car lot. After reading up on this forum I ordered some Redline MT-90 and went to change it. I jacked up the front end till the wheels were a few inches off the floor and opened the fill plug. I was surprised to see clean oil begin flowing out of the filler hole. Mind you, the front end was raised. After a minute it was still flowing so I opened the drain plug, drained, and refilled with my 2 qts. of MT-90. My worry is, if that was GL5 oil, could it have done significant damage to the synchros during the few months it was probably in there? All the oil I can find locally seems to be GL4/GL5 "compatible" so it was probably one of those.

I appreciate any feedback. I'm probably worrying over nothing.

Welcome to Genvibe. You shouldn't worry about the oil being 'clean', I just changed my MTF and even after over 85,000km and 7 years it was as clear as the oil going in. In the 2009-2010 it's lifetime oil. Also the smell of sulpher in a GL-5 is overpowering and unmistakable. GL-5 smells like rotten eggs and comes out darker. I doubt you would miss that odor. Enjoy your Vibe.

Redline mt90 is a gl4 oil

Thanks for the responses. I didn't realize the smell difference was related to GL4 vs GL5. I remember changing the differential oil in my RWD pickup after 80,000 miles and how smelly and black it was. I'm sure that's what you're talking about. So do the universal type oils like valvoline or penzoil sychromesh, "suitable for any GL4 or GL5 transmission", contain sulfur?

GL4 also contains sulfur, but at about half the concentration as GL5.
When I changed the oil in my 5-speed at 22k miles it wasn't very dark, but it had a metallic sheen.