Yet another Lubricant Thread

[coffeegoat]

I've been slowly building up my list of maintenance and build items for my new 2001 Limited but until my old truck sells I don't have any money for the fun stuff, hence I'm doing cheap and easy stuff like fluid swaps.

A bit of background, my old rig was a 1985 Nissan pickup and it has been in the family since ~1986, as long as I can remember my dad treated all car fluids as generic, brake fluid was brake fluid, oil was oil, coolant was coolant, etc. But when I went off to engineering school I discovered a bright new world of aftermarket fluids that promised amazing performance at reasonable prices. Long story short after evaluating lots of engine oils (synthetics, additives etc) I discovered that running mobile one synthetic with a quart of lucas oil stabilizer could add 2-3 MPG to my old truck and pay for the price difference in about 3 tanks of gas along with better cold weather performance.

Enter the Montero with lots of new lubricant information, "don't use anything but Mitsubishi Diamond" - "Eneos is cheaper and just fine" - "I like Amsoil" and on and on the discussions go. The problem is now I'm doubting all my fluid selection knowledge. Is ethylene glycol all the same? Is there a better brand of dot 4 brake fluid? Should a buy one of those inlet fuel swirlers to realign my chi?

So, with all that in mind, here are the eventual fluid choices I've come to, with a brief commentary on why, and if I'm crazy please let me know.

Engine Oil: Mobil One Full Synthetic 10W30
Reason: It's available at Costco for cheap, its worked well in all my other vehicles, and the other popular choice Rotella T6 could potentially kill my catalytic converter

Transmission Oil: Redline D4
Reason: Lots and lots of discussion on this topic, but in my opinion it comes down to being extremely well reviewed even though it's a little more expensive than Diamond it's. I couldn't find anyone with actual problem associated with it, and from all the rave reviews it sounds like it cures cancer and regrows hair. I'd rather spend a bit more money and tell myself I'm making it up in MPG.

Transaxle/Diff Oil: Redline 57904 Gear Oil - GL-5
Reason: Don't have a great one here, but if Redline makes nectar of the Gods I might as well put that stuff everywhere, this is the GL 5 version.

Transfer Case: Redline Mt-90 GL-4
Reason: Same as the Transaxle oil, who doesn't want to lose excess flab and feel great.

Brake Fluid: Standard Dot 4
Reason: Haven't found a compelling reason to switch away from the cheap stuff at O'Reilly's, is there anything I should know here?

Coolant: Standard Ethylene Glycol
Same as the Brake fluid, is there better stuff available?

What do you guys think? Am I making this too hard?

 

[Inyo_man]

Looks solid...

The only suggestion I have is to use Mitsu. Motors Diamond ATF SP III rather than Redline in the auto box.

 

[KyleT]

T6 won't kill the cat. Ive used it for a long time now even before it was t4 just branded 5w40 and the ZDDP/Zinc has been watered down so far in it it won't hurt. Mobil 1 is a great oil though.

Trans you MUST use the Mitsubishi SPIII. Hyundai or Daewoo sp3 is the same as well. Or the are rate ENEOS SP. these transmissions are super sensitive and will not act right without the correct fluid. None of the "sp" equivalents work. My 98 was horrible and it was only 50% wrong with redline and sp3.



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[Michael Brown]

Aisin Auto transmissions need to have Mitsubishi Diaqueen SPiii. Other fluids have incorrect friction additives that will not work correctly in this transmission. It can be bought in cases on ebay. 12 Quarts are needed for a full flush/change. http://www.ebay.com/itm/12-Quarts-GENUINE-for-Hyundai-Kia-ATF-SP-III-Automatic-Transmission-oil-Fluid-/371692006439?hash=item568a91ec27:g:jMsAAOSwMmBVh2hY&vxp=mtr
Full fluid change can be done by removing cooler hose and flushing new fluid through the transmission. Link for procedure is below.
http://www.pajeroclub.co.za/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2115

Everything else is good. I use Mobil 1 full synthetic because it is easy to find. Diffs work well with any GL5 fluid, but having a LSD rear will require special fluid. Check the rear diff for a HYBLID LSD label. If it has one then you will need either Mitsubishi SAE 90 LSD oil or the equivalent. Transfer case always needs GL4 oil due to the brass used in it. New GL5 fluids are not supposed to affect brass/bronze anymore, but better to be safe. You will never get the brakes hot enough to cause problems that require anything higher than Dot 3 or 4 fluid unless you are doing something very wrong. Coolant is mostly irrelevant. Any bargain antifreeze will work. Some may have corrosion prevention additives, but eventually it always corrodes and needs a flush/change.

 

[coffeegoat]

Fair enough, what's the point of having experts if you don't listen to them.

So I'll go with Mitsubishi Diamond SP-III (or Diaqueen which I believe is the same) for the ATF fluid, stick with the Redline MT-90 in the transfer case, and I'll verify my rear diff and oil selection match correctly.

I read through the FSM yesterday and it looks like the Transmission, transfer case, and differentials are pretty easy to swap. When I do my timing belt I'll be able to do the coolant pretty easily but it looks like the FSM has 2-3 pages just to get the correctly bleed the brakes. It doesn't even have a procedure for a fluid flush. Particularly since I don't know what's in the brake fluid reservoir I would worry about not doing a complete swap because you're not supposed to mix Dot 3 and Dot 4. Is there an easier way to do this or is it just follow the manual?

 

[Michael Brown]

The SPiii fluid was also used by KIA and Hyundai. I purchase whichever version is cheaper at the time.

I believe there is a drain on the bottom of the radiator for removing coolant and 2 bleeder bolts in the thermostat housing for filling. There isn't much else in the FSM about a coolant flush, though.

Brake fluid flush is pretty much the same procedure for any car. It does require 2 people (1 to open bleeder and 1 to hold pedal) unless you have a pressure brake bleeder kit.
https://www.automd.com/16/how-to-flush-brake-fluid/
https://www.dvatp.com/bmw/brake_fluid_flush

 

[jeep-N-montero]

Aisin Auto transmissions need to have Mitsubishi Diaqueen SPiii. Other fluids have incorrect friction additives that will not work correctly in this transmission. It can be bought in cases on ebay. 12 Quarts are needed for a full flush/change. http://www.ebay.com/itm/12-Quarts-GENUINE-for-Hyundai-Kia-ATF-SP-III-Automatic-Transmission-oil-Fluid-/371692006439?hash=item568a91ec27:g:jMsAAOSwMmBVh2hY&vxp=mtr
Full fluid change can be done by removing cooler hose and flushing new fluid through the transmission. Link for procedure is below.
http://www.pajeroclub.co.za/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2115

Everything else is good. I use Mobil 1 full synthetic because it is easy to find. Diffs work well with any GL5 fluid, but having a LSD rear will require special fluid. Check the rear diff for a HYBLID LSD label. If it has one then you will need either Mitsubishi SAE 90 LSD oil or the equivalent. Transfer case always needs GL4 oil due to the brass used in it. New GL5 fluids are not supposed to affect brass/bronze anymore, but better to be safe. You will never get the brakes hot enough to cause problems that require anything higher than Dot 3 or 4 fluid unless you are doing something very wrong. Coolant is mostly irrelevant. Any bargain antifreeze will work. Some may have corrosion prevention additives, but eventually it always corrodes and needs a flush/change.

Coolant does matter, my truck is still maintained using the red Asian import formula made by Zerex, so he needs to verify if he has red or green in there.

 

[KyleT]

Use distilled water in the cooling system as well.


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