fluid advice

hey what do you guys recomend for oil, coolint, and what do i get for powerstering flueid, and aod trany flueid, i just wanna get what will work good in my fox beter safe then sorry. thanks guys for all the help ive goten on this site so far much apreciated.
 
1. Regular plain ol' DexIII/Mercon ATF for your transmission - don't bother with that "high mileage" crap, and synthetic is way expensive but doesn't really do diddly for benefitting your transmission;
2. Type F transmission fluid seems to work a tad better than regular power steering fluid in that if you have a noisy pump, it helps to quiet it down. (Power steering fluid is basically just ATF with a different coloring, anyway.) Otherwise, just about any ol' power steering fluid is fine, as long as it's clean;
3. As far as antifreeze ... whatever's cheap. Mix it 50/50 with DISTILLED water (not tap water, mineral, or drinking water) and flush/fill at least every 5 years, if not every other year;
4. Engine oil depends on how many miles are on your motor, the climate where you live and/or the season, how many miles you drive in a given period of time, and what your budget is like. Engines with lots of miles that tend to eat oil usually do better with thicker oil (10w-40 or even 20w-50). In hotter climates and seasons, thicker oil is better (10w-40 or 20w-50), and colder climates/seasons, thinner is better (5w-30 or 10w-30). Synthetic seems to last longer and definitely protects better against friction and wear, but costs more and (if you have any pre-existing leaks) will tend to seep out or get burned up a bit faster; conventional is way cheaper, but breaks down more quickly and doesn't protect as effectively;

People will argue forever about what brands are better than others, but as long as you stick with the above general guidelines, you'll be fine.

FWIW, I run generic-brand full-synthetic 10w-30 in my DD (with almost 210k on the original motor), and regular Castrol GTX 20w-50 in my notch. For power steering, coolant, and tranny fluid, I've been using the cheap generic crap since '96 or so and never have had any problems. :nice:
 
1. Regular plain ol' DexIII/Mercon ATF for your transmission - don't bother with that "high mileage" crap, and synthetic is way expensive but doesn't really do diddly for benefitting your transmission;
2. Type F transmission fluid seems to work a tad better than regular power steering fluid in that if you have a noisy pump, it helps to quiet it down. (Power steering fluid is basically just ATF with a different coloring, anyway.) Otherwise, just about any ol' power steering fluid is fine, as long as it's clean;
3. As far as antifreeze ... whatever's cheap. Mix it 50/50 with DISTILLED water (not tap water, mineral, or drinking water) and flush/fill at least every 5 years, if not every other year;
4. Engine oil depends on how many miles are on your motor, the climate where you live and/or the season, how many miles you drive in a given period of time, and what your budget is like. Engines with lots of miles that tend to eat oil usually do better with thicker oil (10w-40 or even 20w-50). In hotter climates and seasons, thicker oil is better (10w-40 or 20w-50), and colder climates/seasons, thinner is better (5w-30 or 10w-30). Synthetic seems to last longer and definitely protects better against friction and wear, but costs more and (if you have any pre-existing leaks) will tend to seep out or get burned up a bit faster; conventional is way cheaper, but breaks down more quickly and doesn't protect as effectively;

People will argue forever about what brands are better than others, but as long as you stick with the above general guidelines, you'll be fine.

FWIW, I run generic-brand full-synthetic 10w-30 in my DD (with almost 210k on the original motor), and regular Castrol GTX 20w-50 in my notch. For power steering, coolant, and tranny fluid, I've been using the cheap generic crap since '96 or so and never have had any problems. :nice:

thank you. and when it comes to oil etc there is no buget lol :D :nice:
 
ive used synthetic power steering fluid for years now. started running it when my pump started to whine real bad, silenced the whine for about 7 years now. to bad i cant find anything that will work like that on the wife...
 
I was wondering because all the dealerships and shops i goto and worked at all use tap.

To be honest, they are both bad.

Tap water has minerals that can deposit and corrode radiators and such.

Distilled water does not have minerals, but because of that they can "wick" metals out of the engine. It's the same reason why you should not drink distilled water as it can suck minerals out of your bones and cause osteoporosis.


I mostly have used tap water. No issues here. But to stay honest, I usually try to fill with premixed coolant or a gallon or so of distilled.
 
ON my 87 I try to stick to 50/50, but when I do add just water I use either tap or filtered drinking water haven't had any issues there at all. For oil I use the Motorcraft Synthetic Blend 10-40, once I finish the new motor I will use strictly Mobil 1 on it. I have switched cars that have used conventional over to synthetic many times and have never had any issues with it, maybe I'm just lucky? LOL. Other fluids nothing special but before the 87 went down I had started using synthetic power steering fluid and it seem to quiet it down a bit. I totally avoid the orange cans of death, I use only the following Motorcraft, WIX, STP or Purolator. the 87 had over 100k on it when I got it and now has over 300K on it and still runs strong, I must be doing something right.