RAVENOL J1C1001-12 SAE 75W-90 Gear Oil - TSG Semi-Synthetic API GL-4 Spec (1L, Case of 12)

I went back and forth trying to decide what gear oil to go with in my 2003 Miata's 5 speed manual transmission. I finally pulled the trigger on Ravenol J1C1001 SAE 75W-90 Gear Oil - TSG Semi-Synthetic API GL-4 Spec as GL-4 was recommended and GL-5 was NOT recommended. I kept finding GL-5 locally.Shifts are smooth and precise. I was having a very slight 3rd gear bearing noise previously but Ravenol seems to have quieted that down to the point I can't hear it anymore. I feel this is a high quality product.

This is an almost entirely clear, almost colorless gear oil. The bottle itself has a unique telescoping cap neck with a telescoping that pulls out of the container after you unscrew the cap from the pulled out neck. Each liter bottle came wrapped in its own shrink wrap… which i much appreciated. See below for details.First, I would like to thank the distributor of this gear oil for sealing its liter bottles in plastic wrap before shipment! (Some engine oil, from a different distributor but shipped to me in the same box, leaked because they did not do the same. So, kudos to the Ravenol shipper for being a little more on the ball here!)Now to this liter bottle and its unique telescoping pour system. You pull up on the cap and this pulls up a telescoping neck, then you unscrew the cap, lastly you pull upward some more to pull out a telescoping hose (yeah, two different tiers of telescoping going on here!) and the cap comes off. While this is really neat and beneficial to a lot of car owners no doubt, this amazing feature caused me considerable hassle, as my vehicle, a 2000 new beetle with a turbo gas engine, won't work well with these sort of bottles due to where the fill plug is. I therefore had to jury rig a gear oil hand pump with its own injection hose to my gear box to the Ravenol's bottle's own injection hose to get this oil into my gear pan. Messy! If and when I do this the next time it'll be less messy but, still, this was quite a trial working to get two liters (bottles) of this stuff into my VW NB GT's gear gullet. If I'd had had a different container to pour the Ravenol gear oil into to then pump from there, things would have gone smoother for sure. It's good time I'd set aside two hours for what should have been a one hour job here. Ah, wisdom.In the end, I'm looking forward to seeing what this clearish oil looks like in 20,000 miles or so…should be pretty apparent any breakdown in the oil by then… (if I even have this frustrating 2000 New Beetle at that point— Oy!)

I couldn't find API GL4 spec fluid in any stores, or anywhere else online. Only GL5 spec that says "Exceeds GL4." The problem with using GL5 is it breaks down the brass syncros on 020 transmissions in MK1 Rabbits. I was worried I wouldn't be able to change my fluid, so glad I found this stuff. It's clear, which was interesting, but it works as desired. Shifting smooth again, no issue getting into gear anymore.If you are looking for MK1 Rabbit transmission fluid, you need 2 liters of this for the 5 speed, and 1.5 for the 4 speed. Easy to change, super stoked on the quality and speed of shipping.FYI, way easier to fill through the speedometer cable hole than the fill hole, and DO NOT POUR IT INTO THE TIMING HOLE, YOU WILL RUIN YOUR CLUTCH, lol.

Tried Redline 90, Amsoil MTG, and Liqui-Moly GL4+, this is by far the best I've used in my vintage VW. While Amsoil was a very close second, I went back to a semi-synthetic and have no regrets. This has all the benefits of easy cold weather shifting that synthetic offers, blended with the viscosity of GL-4 mineral oil...which my old VW requires. It even smells like old-fashioned gear oil. Bottle has a built in spout, follow directions on the lid and you will be alright.

I bought this oil for my 2010 Nissan Xterra with manual transmission and it does a great job of lubricating, dissipating heat and keeping the gears running quiet.The bore or mouth of the bottle is not the typical one you can find in a Mobil 1 or any oil bottle. It has a pull-out transparent PVC tube which Would be perfect to use if you were filling a transmission that’s removed from the car but if you’re filling it up while it’s in the car it represents an interesting challenge. By the Way, push pumps cannot be attached to the bottles the bottles have no threads.November 2018 UpdateThe colder temperatures have arrived and the smoothness of shifting gear is no longer present. It's more challenging. This never happened with the Nissan Original oil.November 2020 Update30K miles later I replaced the fluid and it came out clean, the way it should be. I switched to a different brand bought locally for two reasons: price and hard shifting during cold weather.

European gear lubes tend to use very expensive viscosity improves. Why does this matter? It makes it easier to no have to stand on additive alone for EP and anti-wear. It also means the shift characteristics will last much longer in daily use. I am guessing it is a G-III base stock which in the USA is sold as a synthetic by most but outside of the USA most contries do not allow anything less than a G-IV to be sold as a "synthetic" must be called "semi-synthetic". The better viscosity improvers are more shear stable so the shift feel is more consistent for a longer period of time!

Previously was able to get redline mt90 for the price of this gear oil but evidently times have changed :/This is still a good product though and is safe for the synchros found in your typical Toyota manual transmission.

I have two Nissan vehicles with manual transmissions, an Xterra and a Frontier. The gearbox on the Frontier was noisy in most gears and shifted hard. The Xterra had hard shifting issues in 4th and 5th gears.I changed the gear oil in the Frontier first and the noisy gears quieted down and the shifting was more precise. I liked the good result so much, I changed the gear oil in the Xterra as well. The difficulties of shifting was drastically reduced.I will use Ravenol products again.

Ottimo prodotto