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Author Topic: Changing gear oil  (Read 10505 times)
Jon Weywadt
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« on: March 09, 2009, 06:34:06 pm »

This weekend I started the project of renovating my Murena 2.2. One thing that seemed easy to do was changing the gear oil. I had bought some RedLine 75W90NS GL-5+ gear oil to get better grip of the synchros.

Well getting the drain plug out was easy (once I found a 8mm square piece of steel to insert in the plug). Then draining the oil and measuring how much was in there. 1.4 ltr. as it turned out.

Finally it came time to pull the dip stick out of the gear box to refill it. But... it would not come out. No amount of pulling or hooks with handles, could provide enough leverage to yank it out. I finally had to remove the air filter and housing to get some room to work. Then inserting a wheel wrench through the ring on the dipstick and using another wrench as a crowbar against the gearbox housing, it still took three to four really hard yanks to break the plug loose. The aluminium had corroded and sealed the plug in tight. Below the O-ring it was clean, though. To illustrate how hard I had to pull, the ring on the dipstick got, almost completely,  straightned out.

Well the oil finally got poured in. The dipstick cleaned with wirebrush and lubricated with some tough silicon grease. Now it can be pulled like it was meant to. I have attached a picture to show what it looked like after it finally got pulled out. I hope this is not a sign of things to come. Undecided
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roy4matra
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« Reply #1 on: March 11, 2009, 12:08:44 am »

This weekend I started the project of renovating my Murena 2.2. One thing that seemed easy to do was changing the gear oil. I had bought some RedLine 75W90NS GL-5+ gear oil to get better grip of the synchros.

It is my experience and opinion, that if you have a synchro 'not gripping' problem, changing the oil will probably not cure it.  Oil that is too thick can cause balking especially when cold, but slippage is due to either a worn out synchro or the cone on the gear is too small and the synchro cone hits the vertical face before the cone faces have mated.  This latter fault is usually because the gear cone face was incorrectly machined and is undersize.  This is actually a known problem with some of these boxes.  The only solution is a new gear assembly.  I had exactly this on the box that is in the car Anders now has.

Quote
... To illustrate how hard I had to pull, the ring on the dipstick got, almost completely, straightened out.

I have never come across this before, but it suggests the car has stood unused for a long period, and the damp/wet had seeped in above the seal and corroded the top section.

Quote
... I hope this is not a sign of things to come. Undecided

If the car has stood for a long enough period in a damp climate, as suggested by the dipstick problem, I'm afraid there probably will be other problems.  Damp and corrosion affects these, like any car, so you need to check the car thoroughly and rectify/clean/lubricate all areas affected.

Roy
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macaroni
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« Reply #2 on: March 11, 2009, 09:34:15 am »

I'd recommend replacing the coil and the ignition module, both cheap and readily available.
I'd also change the auxiliary belt as that drives the water pump.

All these things broke on my car within weeks of buying it from someone who drove it 6000miles in 10 years.
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krede
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« Reply #3 on: March 11, 2009, 08:06:01 pm »

Quote
I'd recommend replacing the coil and the ignition module, both cheap and readily available.
I'd also change the auxiliary belt as that drives the water pump

Definitely !!
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michaltalbot
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« Reply #4 on: March 12, 2009, 01:09:06 am »

My experience is, that when Murena was standing long time in damp climate, also there was the problem with brake calipers - I mean the problem with corrosion between iron and aluminium parts of it.
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suffolkpete
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« Reply #5 on: March 12, 2009, 08:04:26 pm »

I'd always start with the brakes when re-commissioning a car that's stood for a while.  Change the fluid as well.  The Murena brakes are a bit unorthodox, so don't do anything until you've read this excellent article from Roy.  http://www.matraclub.org.uk/pdf/Brakes.pdf They are excellent brakes when working properly though.
The other aspect I'd look at would be the electrics.  They suffer from the usual French car problems of poor switchgear and connectors, with the main source of problems being the fuse box  on the left hand side under the bonnet.
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Jon Weywadt
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« Reply #6 on: March 12, 2009, 09:49:58 pm »

My experience is, that when Murena was standing long time in damp climate, also there was the problem with brake calipers - I mean the problem with corrosion between iron and aluminium parts of it.

Thanks all for the feedback.  Cheesy
The guy I bought the car from had already replaced he disks, calipers, brake lines, and clutch.
The car runs, drives straight and stops on a dime.
I do have some ignition problems as it runs a bit rough. For example, it does not matter if I pull the sparkplug wire from cylinder 3. No change in rough idle. 1, 2 and 4 it wants to stall if I pull them. I used this to find which was the problem. However, changing the plug and the wire had no effect. I cleaned the distributer, but it did not help much. I have now bought a new rotor and distributor cap and will try that this weekend.
I will definitely look at changing the coil and ignition module too.
The sparkplug wire on cylinder 3 had a collar, like the ones shown on the set at Simon Automobilteknik. I didn't think about it at first, but realize that the collar seals the pit, where the sparkplug is seated, from dirt and debris. I would therefore like to find a full set of those. Does anyone know if they are equivalent to another car make/model? Or do I have to get them from Simons?
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suffolkpete
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« Reply #7 on: March 12, 2009, 09:57:26 pm »

Perhaps it's time to look elsewhere, apart from the ignition.  Do a compression test and also look out for air leaks on the inlet manifold. I don't like to be a prophet of doom, but you may have a blown head gasket or a burnt valve.  Sad
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Anders Dinsen
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« Reply #8 on: March 13, 2009, 10:12:46 am »

I agree completely with Pete - this does not sound like an ignition problem (since you have checked the obvious), but rather something else. In additon to bent/burnt valve, blown gasket, you could also have a leak on the inlet side. Take a look at the tip of the spark plug for the problematic cylinder - it will tell you a lot:

http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/techinfo/spark_plugs/faq/faqread2.asp

I run plug wires without collars without any problems. I actually think the collars are a bit worthless as that side of the engine is quite dry. Only if the rocker cover gasket starts leaking oil down there will you have problems, but that's easy to fix.

- Anders
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1982 Talbot Matra Murena 2.2 prep 142
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Used to own:
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1997 Renault Matra Espace 2.0 8V
1987 Renault Matra Espace J11 2.2
michaltalbot
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« Reply #9 on: March 13, 2009, 08:06:06 pm »

Perhaps it's time to look elsewhere, apart from the ignition.  Do a compression test and also look out for air leaks on the inlet manifold. I don't like to be a prophet of doom, but you may have a blown head gasket or a burnt valve.  Sad

Exactly - it all looks like burned valve Undecided but You will know more after the compression test.
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