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I recently rebuilt and reinstalled a 5 speed in my 88 SAAB convertible. I have replaced all but 2 of the bearings. The transmission has a new lay shaft, reverse gear, 2/3 shift fork, seals, and 4 of the 5 synchronizers and springs. I also did the 'Townsend reverse gear fix' for deeper engagement of the reverse gear by the idler. The transmission is shifting and working very well however I wanted to break in the 'new' transmission properly and monitor the oil quality. I drained the 10W30 motor oil a couple of times; it less then 300 miles on it now. To me the oil looks dirty and seems to have very fine metallic particles suspended in it. These metallic particles if it is metal do not show up when I filter it through a paper towel. So if it is metal it is very, very fine. I would suspect with a new rebuild with new brass synchros and other new parts and gears meshing slightly differently I would get some debris. Is this normal? Also it formerly had been running Red Line MTL. I thought I might go back to this after flushing a couple of times with much cheaper motor oil during this break-in period. I know some swear by regular dino and others by synthetics. I have been happy with both. With my first '84 SAAB using motor oil I got 325,000 on it with no transmission rebuild and no problems shifting. I think I changed the tranny oil every other engine oil change. However it was a non-Turbo with much less torque which is much easier on the tranny. Is some metallic debris in the oil typical after a recent rebuild? Which oil should I use in this Turbo tranny long term after the break-in period - motor oil or Red Line?
posted by 68.73.9...
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