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Originally Posted by Brucelee
Most gear lube smells really awful. I believe it is sulphur.
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Hi,
Yes, you're right. Gear Lube needs to be much more resistant to compression than Motor Oil does. Basically, so it can withstand the extreme pressures experienced between the gears as they mesh (much higher than anywhere in the engine).
To meet this need, the lube manufacturers use an additive which is a sulphur/phospohorus compound. It is already present in refined Oil (as well as part of the additive pkg.), but added to Synthetic Oil.
As the Gear Oil ages, it becomes less stable and it's chemistry changes. These additive compounds breakdown releasing the Sulphur and that's what you smell. It also means that the Lube has lost some of it's ability to resist compression too...
Happy Motoring!... Jim'99