I see that some people on here are really picky about the types of fluid they put in their 7's. Is it a personal preference type of thing, or are there reasons for it?

I ask because when I was checking my car the other day (it's been sitting for a couple of weeks), I'm low on brake fluid, clutch fluid, etc.

Thanks for any input.

 

Brake and clutch fluid, use whatever brand you want. People on here are picky about the oil though, Castrol GTX 20w50 is the stuff to use.

 

i couldn't agree more!

 

Mobil1 red top

 

agreed

 

For Brake and Clutch fluid, any Dot 3 or Dot 4 is good. I got some Dot 4 from Canadian Tire when I re-did my brake system because it can handle higher heat. No real difference, really.

Any non-synthetic 10w30 or 20w50 (as some people use) is good. Synthetic *may* or *may not* harm your engine, but why bother spending the extra money if you don't have to. Oil changes on these cars should happen more regularly anyway, so just use some good Dinosaur-based oil

For Manual Transmission, the best damn stuff to get is RedLine MT-90. It's expensive, but DAMN it's worth it.

For the Rear Differential, any synthetic 75w90 is good. I used the Canadian Tire house brand synthetic 75w90, and some guys on the canadian forum use the exact same stuff. It's good stuff, any brand is good though.

Do your engine oil changes every 4000km (dunno what that is in miles) or so. That way it keeps fresh, so it's easier for your engine to burn. Yes, you heard me, the engine is *designed* to burn a little oil to keep the seals lubed. If this is a foriegn concept to you, search up "OMP" or Oil Metering Pump... a helluva lot has been posted on it.

And the fluid that everyone loves to forget - Antifreeze/Coolant!
Use a 50/50 mix of distilled water and ethelyne-glycol based antifreeze. Most antifreezes nowadays are ethelyne-glycol, but check anyway. It has to be good for aluminum engine parts. Prestone is good stuff, but any brand will do. Most people neglect their coolant system. I say you should probably flush it if you haven't in recent history. Prestone has something called "Superflush". It's 1L of SuperFlush to like 8L of water.. run it through the system for a while (after draining the original coolant of course) and drain it out. I guarantee that it won't be anywhere NEAR the almost-clear colour it was when it went in!!

And have you changed your fuel filter lately?! $5 and a 5 minute job, easily accessible... And it's the cause of a lot of power loss and problems. If you can't remember the last time you changed it, do it now!

Oil filter... I do it every change, but chances are you can get away with every second change if you're changing it very often. With the $3 price tag, I do it every time. Why skimp?

And unless you're turbo'd, use *low octane* fuel. High octane doesn't.. I repeat *doesn't* give you any more power, and your gas milage actually suffers. I don't think it's *bad* for the car, but it isn't exactly the best if you're filling with 92 octane all the time. These engines love *low* octane, and hell, it's damn cheap! Just get good quality gas from a reputable gas station, that's the key.

That's it.. except for the blinker fluid .. but I only change that when I do the muffler bearings anyway, since the resivoir is so hard to get at

Jon

 

For brakes and clutch use Castrol LMA fluid. If you ever need it flushed/rebuilt use it. LMA stands for low moisture absorbtion. Heres the deal. All brake fluid is hygroscopic (except for silicone fluid which should NEVER be mixed with regular fluid and its boiling point stinks anyway), which means it absorbs water from the atmosphere (remember your brake reservior is vented to atmosphere). Over the years, this water (being heavier than brake fluid) settles/collects at the lowest point. This eventually causes corrosion (rust) in the brake lines, from the inside out.

I use this in my street car and my racecar. There are better racing fluids, but like most racers, my car sits alot and I feel that prudent bleeding still gives me good fluid for racing.