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Put expensive oil in my broken trans (Can i Re use)
Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2010 4:45 pm
by Florin1
I put fully synthetic 75/90w in my transmission after my swap, made it down the block and transmission broke. I drained the fluid back out and now its gray with metal. I just spent $50 for the fluid and do not want to spend another $50. Can i just go to a paint store and ask for one of those fine filters and strain my oil for re use in my new trans?
Re: Put expensive oil in my broken trans (Can i Re use)
Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2010 5:29 pm
by cj91legss
i don't see why not, but at the same time don't think it's a good idea. i know gear oil is expensive but even if you strain it out, you're not getting all of the metal particles out of your gear oil.
Re: Put expensive oil in my broken trans (Can i Re use)
Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2010 5:47 pm
by SLODRIVE
Don't do it!!! Why risk damaging the next transmission you put in just to save $50? I can guarantee you that you won't be thinking about that $50 if you end up replacing you next transmission prematurely. Not only that, but I bet it'll bug you from day one if you're driving around with glittery gear lube in your gearbox.
Re: Put expensive oil in my broken trans (Can i Re use)
Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2010 6:16 pm
by Deride
No, no, and no.
Re: Put expensive oil in my broken trans (Can i Re use)
Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2010 7:02 pm
by gijonas
Real easy fix.Find the strongest magnet you can and put it in a container with the oil and let it sit,move the magnet a few times and your done.Anything left thats non metallic wont do any harm.
Re: Put expensive oil in my broken trans (Can i Re use)
Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2010 11:30 pm
by Florin1
where do i find a strong magnet, and if i do, will it be cheaper than buying new oil?
Re: Put expensive oil in my broken trans (Can i Re use)
Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 12:06 am
by gijonas
It really doesnt have to be anything special,got any junk speakers?
Re: Put expensive oil in my broken trans (Can i Re use)
Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 2:30 am
by Florin1
i sure do! lol. I'll give it a shot for giggles.

Re: Put expensive oil in my broken trans (Can i Re use)
Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 6:42 pm
by SLODRIVE
gijonas wrote:Real easy fix.Find the strongest magnet you can and put it in a container with the oil and let it sit,move the magnet a few times and your done.Anything left thats non metallic wont do any harm.
Right. Aluminum, stainless steel and brass are totally harmless materials to have in your oil.

Re: Put expensive oil in my broken trans (Can i Re use)
Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 7:30 pm
by Deride
Here's a quick easy fix... gather up all the cash you have, find the nearest toilet, toss cash in, and flush.
Re: Put expensive oil in my broken trans (Can i Re use)
Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 9:34 pm
by gijonas
Right. Aluminum, stainless steel and brass are totally harmless materials to have in your oil.
Right.Obviously he should still strain it,but the majority of parts that wear in a trans are magnetic....steel.If the trans had a devastating explosive failure i would say different, but there should not be harmful sized chunks of any of those things.Besides, whatever the magnet misses, gravity wont

Re: Put expensive oil in my broken trans (Can i Re use)
Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 2:07 am
by 07Evolved
NO, I would buy new oil. You never know exactly what could be in the oil even after you strain it or whatever.
To me, another $50 is worth it compared to taking a chance of needing another transmission.
Re: Put expensive oil in my broken trans (Can i Re use)
Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 6:48 am
by Florin1
Meh the new trans only cost me $100 and 3.5 hrs to install.
Re: Put expensive oil in my broken trans (Can i Re use)
Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 7:29 am
by kimokalihi
07Evolved wrote:NO, I would buy new oil. You never know exactly what could be in the oil even after you strain it or whatever.
To me, another $50 is worth it compared to taking a chance of needing another transmission.
Just for the fact that it's a pain in the ass to replace would be enough for me to buy new oil.
Re: Put expensive oil in my broken trans (Can i Re use)
Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 7:29 pm
by vrg3
Those of you opposed to the idea of magnet-ing and coffee-filter-ing the oil and putting it in the new tranny: what makes this oil worse than new oil would be after one drive down the block in the new used transmission?
I'm not taking sides; I just want to understand.
Re: Put expensive oil in my broken trans (Can i Re use)
Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 7:40 pm
by gijonas
Those of you opposed to the idea of magnet-ing and coffee-filter-ing the oil and putting it in the new tranny: what makes this oil worse than new oil would be after one drive down the block in the new used transmission?
That is another point i was going to make,grind a couple gears while launching hard and there you go...dirty oil lol,
Re: Put expensive oil in my broken trans (Can i Re use)
Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 8:11 pm
by SLODRIVE
Oil from a
broken transmission is a little different than oil from a
used (but presumably good) transmission. Depending on what went wrong, transmission failure will put a lot more crap in the oil than many thousands of miles of normal wear. Contaminated oil vs. dirty oil.
It seems like the OP's made up his mind, so this is kind of a moot point anyways. To each their own!

Re: Put expensive oil in my broken trans (Can i Re use)
Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 8:15 pm
by 07Evolved
vrg3 wrote:Those of you opposed to the idea of magnet-ing and coffee-filter-ing the oil and putting it in the new tranny: what makes this oil worse than new oil would be after one drive down the block in the new used transmission?
I'm not taking sides; I just want to understand.
Good point, but like any vehicle you buy when it is new, you need to change the oil very often at first to get all of the metal shards and all out and replace it with new oil. (My thoughts at least...)
I ride motorcycles and when I buy a brand new bike, I ride the piss out of it to break it in. I change the oil at 50, 200, 500, 1000, and 3000 miles, etc so that I get all of the metal shards and foreign objects out of the oil.
There are always two thoughts to this:
1) Run the motor (in this case, tranny) very gently at first and replace oil at 500 miles or some designated mileage.
2) Run the piss out of it like I do at first and change the oil at 50 miles or some designated very low mileage.
I have actually done both theories with two different brand new motorcycles. Actually they were the exact same motor, chassis, everything. Honestly I know it sounds weird but I swear the one that I ran the piss out of and changed the oil with the 50 mile theory felt like it had more power on down the road. I don't know if it was the oil changing theory or not, but I am definitely a nut when it comes to having clean fluids.
So, I guess if it were me, I couldn't put oil back in a tranny that I knew was once contaminated with metal shards and such. I would just get brand new oil, but that is just my 2 cents.
Re: Put expensive oil in my broken trans (Can i Re use)
Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 8:22 pm
by vrg3
SLODRIVE - You think the action of the teeth shearing or cog snapping or whatever ends up putting contaminants in the oil that the aforementioned cleaning process won't get out? Even if it did, it seems to me that those parts are all steel and so the magnet would get them. The bearings may not be ferromagnetic but they barely even got a chance to turn. Or am I missing something else?
Brad - I fail to see the relevance of your comment. We're not talking about newly manufactured machines. And "change the oil very often" certainly can't mean every 500 yards, can it?
Re: Put expensive oil in my broken trans (Can i Re use)
Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 8:39 pm
by gijonas
I have actually done both theories with two different brand new motorcycles. Actually they were the exact same motor, chassis, everything. Honestly I know it sounds weird but I swear the one that I ran the piss out of and changed the oil with the 50 mile theory felt like it had more power on down the road. I don't know if it was the oil changing theory or not, but I am definitely a nut when it comes to having clean fluids.
That all has to do with properly breaking in against the new cylinder crosshatch,in the opinion of most what you do is probably best.But what you speak of really has very little to do with the oil itself.
Re: Put expensive oil in my broken trans (Can i Re use)
Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 1:25 am
by 07Evolved
vrg3 wrote:SLODRIVE - You think the action of the teeth shearing or cog snapping or whatever ends up putting contaminants in the oil that the aforementioned cleaning process won't get out? Even if it did, it seems to me that those parts are all steel and so the magnet would get them. The bearings may not be ferromagnetic but they barely even got a chance to turn. Or am I missing something else?
Brad - I fail to see the relevance of your comment. We're not talking about newly manufactured machines. And "change the oil very often" certainly can't mean every 500 yards, can it?
My point was that with anything, metal shards and foreign contaminants in oil (no matter what kind) is no good. I'm sure we can all agree on that? I'm just saying that yes, you can strain it and what not but is it really worth taking a chance when another $50 will be a 100% problem free solution?
Re: Put expensive oil in my broken trans (Can i Re use)
Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 1:30 am
by 07Evolved
gijonas wrote:I have actually done both theories with two different brand new motorcycles. Actually they were the exact same motor, chassis, everything. Honestly I know it sounds weird but I swear the one that I ran the piss out of and changed the oil with the 50 mile theory felt like it had more power on down the road. I don't know if it was the oil changing theory or not, but I am definitely a nut when it comes to having clean fluids.
That all has to do with properly breaking in against the new cylinder crosshatch,in the opinion of most what you do is probably best.But what you speak of really has very little to do with the oil itself.
Yes, you are correct. It does have to do with the proper break in. It has to do with the oil because the oil contains all of the metal shards that the initial break in produces. Changing it often at first is a pro-active measure to prevent a lot of metal shard build up in the block instead of changing it out a little later on down the road.
I just think that having the peace of mind to spend another $50 is worth more than trying to clean the used oil.
Re: Put expensive oil in my broken trans (Can i Re use)
Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 5:13 pm
by SLODRIVE
vrg3 wrote:SLODRIVE - You think the action of the teeth shearing or cog snapping or whatever ends up putting contaminants in the oil that the aforementioned cleaning process won't get out? Even if it did, it seems to me that those parts are all steel and so the magnet would get them. The bearings may not be ferromagnetic but they barely even got a chance to turn. Or am I missing something else?
Your assumptions about my post are correct. I don't see how swishing a magnet around in the oil can come anywhere near removing all the little metal particles from the oil, even if they were all magnetic. I also don't consider a coffee filter to be an effective way of ensuring clean oil. It seems that it would take so much time, effort, ingenuity, etc. to properly clean the oil, that it would be way less work to earn an extra $50 for new oil.
Re: Put expensive oil in my broken trans (Can i Re use)
Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 6:34 pm
by Florin1
So i'm just gonna drive the new trans with the oil thats in it now. (I'm gonna try the magnet thing to see how it works, and to filter it) Here is my NASIOC thread for your entertainment.
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthr ... ?t=2038766
Re: Put expensive oil in my broken trans (Can i Re use)
Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 11:12 pm
by Justins91ss
$50 dosent even fill the legacy

was $4.19 gallon in palm springs/vegas yesterday.. Just buy new fluid $50 dosent go far now a days..