Lets see - He has a gearbox (never mind what it's from) which was very quiet when new and is now getting pretty noisy. In my book, that would be a 'shred of evidence' that something undesirable is happening and adding new oil of a higher viscosity has been an industry accepted thing to do for many years with old gearboxes which are getting a bit noisy - Any competent mechanic would tell you this is not only OK to do, but that it's a good idea to do
Case in point - The 5 speed transmissions used in Dodge diesel pickups from 1990 on came with automatic transmission fluid as the lubricant, which isn't known to be the best of lubricants for such an application. When those old gearboxes began to 'sing' after 50 or 60 thousand miles (and almost all of them did) any mechanic worth his salt would drain them and refill them with 10W30 motor oil and they will indeed run much quieter . . . . and last longer to boot. Even a Dodge technician will tell you this is a good idea
'Egocentric?' - Thinking only of himself? I would say the opposite. I believe he's thinking about the care and health of his Seg gearbox and doing something to extend it's life. Why anyone would think that's 'egocentric' is beyond me
If it's making noise, a higher viscosity oil certainly won't hurt it any so long as he's not riding in in below freezing temperatures . . . . and if he uses something like Mobil 1 5W20, even very cold temperatures won't hurt it any
Don
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