On 8/19/2017 10:04 AM, Bram van den Heuvel wrote:
> Given >, Stormin' Norman
> > wrote:
>
>> The specific products you mentioned above are all synthetic lubricants
>> and cost more to manufacture, hence, they are more expensive at retail
>> than their non-synthetic counterparts.
>
> I think I have the answer as to "why" now, which is that the synthetics
> cost about $70 per gallon while the not synthetics cost about half that, at
> around $35/gallon.
>
> But why, when motor oil is commonly half that still, is gear oil at even
> $35 per gallon, but much more importantly, what would be a reason to choose
> between the $35/gallon SAE 75W90 GL-4 gear oil versus the $70/gallon stuff.

One factor is volume. Regular motor oil is made in much larger
quantities. I don't know about the differences in distilling and
processing to comment about other factors.


>
> Is it all due to synthetics?
> Are synthetics better for a two-decade old 5-speed manual transmission?
>
> The reason I'm looking is that the shifting is getting harder to get into
> gear lately, so someone suggested putting the high end transmission fluid.
>

It may help, but it may not do a damned thing. You have to find the
real cause of the shifting problem. IMO, better lube will have minimal
effect. It does not put metal back on worn parts, it does not
straighten bent linkage.

You would get better results if you describe the actual problem. Hard
to move the shift lever? Gears grinding? Synchronizer slow? Clutch
adjustment? After 20 years a lot of things can be worn. Could be as
simple as a worn pin in the linkage or as compex as main gears worn out.