Reduction Box Oil

[Lucky5]

Hi Folks,

I need the help of the hive mind and maybe @MilesperkWh

I wish to keep my MG5 long term so was hoping to swap the reduction box gear oil now I have covered nearly 4K miles.

The manual states Shell SL2808 and nobody has heard of it...not even my local MG dealer. They said they don't even deal with Shell and would get Fuchs but they didn't seem to know what type so let's hope they find out before the first Taxi needs a change

So the question is what grade of oil is required I guess?

Cheers All

 

[Cocijo]

My initial question is why at 4k miles? I would say it’s a bit of overkill. What is the recommended interval 30k miles? I suppose it can’t do any harm

 

[Lucky5]

Well, having changed the oil on our Leaf at 15k I thought better to do it a bit earlier looking at the state of it and all the swarf that came out

Hopefully now it has bedded in the condition of the oil will remain in better shape and without any "bits" floating about. Not needed if only keeping a short while I guess.

 

[Cocijo]

It will be interesting to see what the oil is like on the 5. I wonder if there’s a magnetic plug to catch fine metal?

 

[m4rmite]

It will be a long time before you need to change the oil, we might know what it is by then

 

[Lucky5]

Hoping Miles might be able to find the actual type of oil required and then I'll take pictures whilst it is up in the air.

 

[Cocijo]

MG technical - maybe drop MG an email?

 

[Deleted member 3150]

its not on the service plan so looks like a factory filled transmission with a service life more than the 7 year warranty.

 

[Kithmo]

Well, having changed the oil on our Leaf at 15k I thought better to do it a bit earlier looking at the state of it and all the swarf that came out

Hopefully now it has bedded in the condition of the oil will remain in better shape and without any "bits" floating about. Not needed if only keeping a short while I guess.

You can probably use the same oil as you did in the Leaf.

 

[ArfurM]

It's SL2808, apparently. Can't find specific info., (altho' the label in the piccie seems to indicate it's 75W viscosity), but there's this on Shell's website:

Electric vehicle fluids: Lubricating the future of mobility | Shell Global

With the rise of hybrid and electric vehicles, the automotive industry is going through a profound shift. For many of our customers e-mobility represents some of the biggest engineering and design changes in the industry’s history. At Shell, we’re working alongside our customers to help manage...

www.shell.com

..Apparently the partner with Fuchs, so if the garage is getting that, it's prolly the same stuff...

 

[Lucky5]

Thanks ArfurM! All I need is the spec of oil, for our Leaf it is ATF rather than 75w-90 or whatever. It annoys me when Mfrs make life difficult. The E-Fluids above look interesting but the transmission one looks like it is geared(no pun intended) towards transmissions with e-motor built in like some hybrids But may be more universal than that.

Someone on this forum has had to have their reduction box replaced on their 5 so would be interesting to know what was used in that. I’ll have to leave it unless I get a cast iron guarantee of what to use as not going to risk a warranty rejection because we’ve found the wrong lubricant has been used etc. Etc

 

[weedavemac]

Thanks ArfurM! All I need is the spec of oil, for our Leaf it is ATF rather than 75w-90 or whatever. It annoys me when Mfrs make life difficult. The E-Fluids above look interesting but the transmission one looks like it is geared(no pun intended) towards transmissions with e-motor built in like some hybrids But may be more universal than that.

Someone on this forum has had to have their reduction box replaced on their 5 so would be interesting to know what was used in that. I’ll have to leave it unless I get a cast iron guarantee of what to use as not going to risk a warranty rejection because we’ve found the wrong lubricant has been used etc. Etc

Please keep us updated if you can.

 

[FCat53]

Hi Folks,

I need the help of the hive mind and maybe @MilesperkWh

I wish to keep my MG5 long term so was hoping to swap the reduction box gear oil now I have covered nearly 4K miles.

The manual states Shell SL2808 and nobody has heard of it...not even my local MG dealer. They said they don't even deal with Shell and would get Fuchs but they didn't seem to know what type so let's hope they find out before the first Taxi needs a change

So the question is what grade of oil is required I guess?

Cheers All

Looks like a Spirax S2 oil with some local branding. But any decent synthetic 75/90 oil should be a lifetime fill! MPM TDL seems popular.

 

[Lucky5]

I will. I have contacted Opieoils as well to see if they can work it out

 

[biffo]

The manual mentions Shell E-Fluids

Electric drive transmission oil : Shell E-Fluids E6 iX (SL2808)


I can see information about a Shell product launch that looks related - but not much else - Shell E-Fluid E6 i Plus 75W

Electric vehicle fluids: Lubricating the future of mobility | Shell Global

With the rise of hybrid and electric vehicles, the automotive industry is going through a profound shift. For many of our customers e-mobility represents some of the biggest engineering and design changes in the industry’s history. At Shell, we’re working alongside our customers to help manage...

www.shell.com

 

[Kithmo]

I'm surprised they use such a heavy weight oil as 75W in an EV.
Many manufacturers have been using lighter transmission oils for the last 20 or more years in FWD cars, some even used ATF in manual gearboxes which share the same fluid with the differential.

 

[biffo]

I'm surprised they use such a heavy weight oil as 75W in an EV.
Many manufacturers have been using lighter transmission oils for the last 20 or more years in FWD cars, some even used ATF in manual gearboxes which share the same fluid with the differential.

As a disclaimer - I don’t know if that’s the correct fluid. Just the only mention I found for “Shell E-Fluid E6 i”. I’m not paying for any repairs

 

[m4rmite]

I'm surprised they use such a heavy weight oil as 75W in an EV.
Many manufacturers have been using lighter transmission oils for the last 20 or more years in FWD cars, some even used ATF in manual gearboxes which share the same fluid with the differential.

75w90 viscosity is around 4 times thicker than atf 3 at 40c for example.
Imagine the extra rotational stress when cold
Be careful what you think you can put in folks.

 

[Lucky5]

Opie Oils have come back to me in a very efficient manner but are reluctant to pin it down as the information is not 100%. I will wait and hopefully a clearer picture will emerge before the mileage racks up too much. Their reply is below for those interested.

“I think it might be the same as the E6 iX, but I can't be sure and with a car that is still under warranty, I don't want to guess at alternatives.

I don't know whether it is a GL4 or GL5 oil, GL5 would make more sense to me as they cope better with extreme pressures, but the vast majority of 75w oils are GL4.

As I'm not certain of the answer, I don't want to suggest something that could be wrong.”

 

[m4rmite]

Opie Oils have come back to me in a very efficient manner but are reluctant to pin it down as the information is not 100%. I will wait and hopefully a clearer picture will emerge before the mileage racks up too much. Their reply is below for those interested.

“I think it might be the same as the E6 iX, but I can't be sure and with a car that is still under warranty, I don't want to guess at alternatives.

I don't know whether it is a GL4 or GL5 oil, GL5 would make more sense to me as they cope better with extreme pressures, but the vast majority of 75w oils are GL4.

As I'm not certain of the answer, I don't want to suggest something that could be wrong.”

GK5 is nearly double the additive treat rate of GL4, so would help with longer stability.

I'm waiting for an answer off an ex work colleague on the shell grade, once/if i get an answer I'll post it here.

I worked in oil for the last 23 years and sods law i left this year, just before i bought an ev.

As there is only 900ml in the car there's not enough to give my old place a sample to test and give a breakdown.

As you can imagine most smaller oil places are reluctant to acknowledge the future is ev.