Fluid Questions

[izzy]

Sorry if these questions have probably been answered already but i was wondering how many quarts of oil will my 85 engine take. Its completely stock with stock oil filter and oil cooler? What type is the best (10 W 30, 10W40)? The guy at Napa told me to use the 10W40 by Royal Purple because he says that my engine has quite a few miles (135,000) and that its better to use a synthetic in my weather (Phoenix, AZ currently averaging 100 degrees and driving the old engine pretty hard at times, she takes it too and purrs just begging for more (but i take care of her too). Also, as far as replacing the tranny fluid, i guess the OEM owners manual says to use Dexron II ATF wich the guys at Napa says has been replaced by the Dexron III whicj is also a mercon ATF too. Does this sound right? I went and bought the Royal Purple and the Dexron III (about 4 quarts of it, i wonder how many it will take and i also wonder how the hell im gonna get it in the tranny ). As far as the rear end, it seems to be the stock fluid that came with the rear end so i decided to change it as well. I know your supposed to add an additive (for the posi) so i got the additive, i cant remember the name of it, dont have it in front of me at the moment, but it said it would work for my hypoid rear end or what ever and i also got some valvoline gear oil for the rear that says its for all types of high perf. and posi rears and it said it was 80-85-90 weight and thats what the manual said to use, is this ok? Also, do you guys really think those K&N oil filters really do anything for you because i've been using it forever but this time i got the one from NAPA? I appreciate any advice, thanx.

izzy

[svono50]

Izzy,

Your 85 should take 4.5-5 quarts of oil. Oil opinions vary as much as car owners do, so you will need to formulate your own opinion based on the info you get. If something sounds too good, it probably is.

Anyway, I have been using Castrol 10W-30 since I purchased the car and it has been running fine. For your hotter climate and mileage the 10W-40 should be OK, but it may not be the best for the turbo due to its higher viscosity, from what I have read.

For tranny fluid, Dextron III/Mercon should be just fine. I switched to synthetic tranny fluid a few years ago and noticed some improvement in shifting, but YMMV. I run Mobil 1 synthetic ATF. You drain the fluid from the lower plug, then fill it into the upper plug until it spills out. The T5 tranny takes 2.5 quarts of fluid. Make sure you have the car level when filling it, since it will overflow different depending on the car's angle. I fill mine with a manual pump set-up that I purchased from my local Poop Boys for $5 (it looks like a big liquid soap dispenser). You fill the supplied bottle with fluid and just hand pump it up into the tranny hole, it works great even with with 80-90W gear lube. Another way to fill the tranny is to remove the shifter handle and pour it into the upper tail shaft, but that is a bit more intensive, since you would have to unbolt everything on the shifter.

For the rear end, 80-90W gear lube oil should work fine. As you mileage goes up the need for friction modifier goes down, since the differential clutches slip more easily with age. The modifier actually makes the oil slipperier(sp?) and prevents chatter when you go slowly around a corner. Again, I switched to Valvoline synthetic 80-90W with modifier and have not had any problems.

The main thing you will notice with the K&N is a slight increase in performance (maybe 5hp) and gas mileage. Once you buy one, that should be the last air filter you ever buy unless you damage it, since you can wash and re-oil it over and over again. The recharger kit from K&N costs about $10 and should last you many rechargings based on my useage. Your car will run fine with the Napa unit, since it is similar to the stock filter, IMHO.

Hope this info helps.

[izzy]

Reply to filter

Ted, hey thanx for all that great info. I did, however, want to make myself more clear, i don't know if i wrote air (whoops if i did) I was talking about the motor OIL filter. I was asking if the K/N oil filter did anything for us? Thats the one that i got the NAPA piece. I definitely got a K/N for the intake, thats a must in pretty much any car right, lol?

Again thanx.

izzy

[svono50]

Izzy, you did say oil, not air...my bad. From what I have read on oil filters I stick with the standard Motorcraft unit. I haven't seen anything on the K&N or Napa units, so I can't comment.

Here is the main article that has been out there on oil filters:

http://minimopar.net/oilfilterstudy.html

It used to have personal comments by the auther, but due to corporate pressure he removed them and posted only the empirical data of the filters he cut apart. He moved his opinions to a separate page, which is also on the site:

http://minimopar.net/oilfilters.html

Both the Motorcraft and Napa units are in the "recommended" section, FWIW.