VX oil reservoir

[tonylanciabeta]

A friend of mine has a VX Coupe & has just checked the lubricating reservoir for the blower and it was empty  . Upon consulting the manual, it was recommended to use TUTELA ZC90. At the local car accessory shop the assistant said that the 90 related to the viscosity and reccomended EP90. Simon purchased said oil, filled up and went for a drive, stopped after 5 minutes to check the level and it was non existant . Anyway filled up again, went down the road, lifted the bonnet to check the level and still wasn't showing. At this point he came home, filled up & left the car ticking over, at present the level hasn't dropped & there's no obvious leaks. What he want's to know is this oil O.K.? Simon's had the car for 4 year's & has never checked the level, wrongly assuming that the lubrication came from the engine oil. Any comments would be gratefully received. Also the Dales Drive out that I've organised is only 4 day's away now. Photos to be posted that night hopefully. Thanks. Lawrence
 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tutela ZC90 is available from Fiat/Alfa dealers. It lacks the EP additives in usual hypoid/gearbox oils.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The reservoir & gear casing hold quite a lot of oil, once filled the level is supposed to be checked every 300 miles. use the Tutela ZC oil not ep90 don't forget to grease the bearings at the other end of the blower remove the cover carefully & pack with high temp grease, moly grease for CVJ's is good

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Agree with Keith, I'd drain out the EP90 and get the Tutela in ASAP. It'd be worth flushing through - expensive but worth it!
As a point maybe worth thinking about is 'servicing' the blower. By this I mean change the oil annualy. It's not mentioned in the servicing books but as I change my cambelts yearly as a matter of course it's as well to do the 'essential oils' and  have some peace of mind.
It may be worthwhile getting that blower overhauled sooner rather than later.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My nearest alfa / fiat dealer is 60 miles away, so I rang them up and asked them for the specs of the oil so i could find an equivalent. if i remember rightly it is sae 80/90w and api gl 4? or is it 5.... hmm. The stuff which im using at the moment is marked up as gearbox / diff oil which is what tutella is used for. No probs as yet.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am very wary of ep oils the extreme pressure additives are sulphur based - smell like cat piss -they can attack some metals the Tutela oil is for diffs yes but not hypoid gears, diffs like the beta do not have hypoid gears they have spur gears no right angled drive as engine is inline with axles so they don't need ep oils. If you don't have a Fiat dealer near you try an industrial lubricant supplier you should be able to get a good quality gear oil of the correct grade from them.or get Barry waterhouse Evolution engineering to mail some Motul oil expensive synthetic yes but do you know how much a VX blower costs to overhaul?!! G+B Motorentechnik in Germany now charge abiut £1400 for a complete job with new gears, bearings & seals. Look after your blower! & make sure that the relief valve is working. A badly timed backfire can wreck a blower the gears are press fitted in the shafts to enable the rotors orientation to be adjusted  when rebuilding a backfire can knock a rotor out of index seizing the unit it does not have to move far the running clearances between the rotors is a few thou!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------