Anyone know what kind of gear oil I should use for my 1951 B/W OD transmission and where I can purchase it? Thanks! Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
From another thread on HAMB Up until the 70's all the overdrive units were made by borg-warner and there were only 2 basic models. there were tons of different housings to make them work on different trannies, but still only 2 internal designs. the T-85 is a bad *** ******. it will take everying your flat head could dream of putting out...in fact, the T-85 is what the super T-10 is based on. I blew up a few T-86 3-spd overdrive ******s, but it was always the cluster or sliders that blew, never the o.d. As far as the solenoids not working...what usually happens is that the seal falls apart and they fill with oil and don't work anymore, but usually after a good cleaing they work like a dream. You can get the seal from any autoparts store or from a studebaker parts place (its the same part)...or, you can go to the hardware store and get some really fat, O-rings with an i.d. that fits that solenoid shaft and an o.d. that fits the solenoid housing. Pull old seal out and stack two of those O-rings in there so that when you bolt it up, the O-rings compress and seal better. Also, those solenoids have a primitive type of fuseable like inside them that sometimes burns out. If thats the problem, you can pull the cover off the solenoid and replace the link with some regular wire. One time, my solenoid filled with oil and wouldn't work and I kept burning out o.d. fuses, so I got a big *** fuse (50 amps or something) and it burned out the link inside the solenoid. I popped it apart, soldered it up and it worked just fine. A quick test you can run is to spray a ton of electric motor cleaner into the vent/drain hole on the solenoid cover while its still on the car and then go drive it and see if it works... just a word of warning, if you end up using an old borg-warner overdrive unit, make sure to use non-hypoid gear oil in it. they have some br*** or bronze parts that regular hypoid gear oil can ruin after a while.
If you have one loacally go to Tractor supply and get " Ford Tractor mineral oil" It is a mineral based oil and is the correct stuff. http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/travellerreg%3B-ford-tractor-all-mineral-90-transmission-fluid-2-gal You can also order it online from Fifth avenue garage. http://www.fifthaveinternetgarage.com/ I also HIGHLY recomend the B/W guide that fith ave sells. Todd Todd
I used the same 80/90 in the OD as I used in the trans. At one point, the OD was sticky. I drained off some gear oil and put a pint of ATF in the OD unit. It never was sticky again.
G'day, We used Ams oil synthetic 80/90 for years and never had an issue. It was the newer version behind a Saginaw trans but the od is the same. ms
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