knk112

Looking for the best fluids to put in my car; oil, transmission fluid, cleaner, etc! Please advise

Thanks

Lexmex

Oil: Castrol 0W30 (if not try Pennzoil Platinum 5W30 (quite available at any Autozone, but the Castrol is a tough find)
Transmission Fluid: Amsoil Universal ATF
Fuel Injector Cleaner: Redline Fuel System Cleaner
Coolant: Toyota Red or Toyota Pink with one bottle of Redline WaterWetter
Brake Fluid: ATE SuperBlue
Power Steering: Mobil 1 ATF
Gear oil: Royal Purple 75W90

I often try different fluids, but the above are pretty solid fluids and others have used different ones with great success.

knk112

Thanks again for all your prompt responses and advice!

tcheung87

Agreed. Castrol Syntec 0W-30 is a great oil, check the back to find "Made in Germany" and you've got the right one.

I use Toyota Type-IV for my transmission every 10K miles, I drain and fill the pan and transfer case liberally to keep it fresh, shifts like butter. I'd love to try AMSOIL ATF however it is difficult to find excluding online order.

I also use Mobil 1 ATF in the power steering, and Royal Purple 75W-90 in my transfer case and rear differential (AWD only) and my RX seems to love it.

HarrierAWD

The best fluid is the one that meets manufacturer's spec.

Oil: Whatever 5W30 is on sale
Transmission Fluid: Toyota ATF Type T-IV only
Fuel Injector Cleaner: Not necessary
Coolant: Toyota Long Life Coolant (red) or Super Long Life (pink) only
Brake Fluid: Any that meets Toyota spec
Power Steering: Any that meets Toyota spec
Gear oil: Any that meets Toyota spec

rx300s415

Just wondering, so how does one change the power steering fluid? I have a fluid evacuator (the little pump mechanism that ciphens out fluid via tube) but I'm not sure if that is the way to go about doing this service. Can someone point me in the right direction?

bob2200

There was a good description here a few years ago. Basically, you use clear plastic tubing and intercept the flow back to the power steering fluid container. You than have a partner pour in fresh fluid as you collect the fluid (for just a few seconds) that was flowing back to the container. I did this a few years ago and it worked OK. I think the fluid flows into the upper hose on the container, as I recall.

rx300s415

Alright, thanks a lot! I was actually considering using my Mityvac pump to do this task but I think in the end that method will end up using more quarts of fluid. But I think I will do it your way instead, thanks. Also, I am debating whether to put in Mobil 1 ATF or Amsoil Universal ATF....reason I am debating is mainly prices and the time it takes to get to me. I can get the M1 right away at Kragen's...but for the Amsoil I have to wait for it alongside a whopping $9.55/quart without shipping/tax.

Btw, has anybody had any experiences at all with Amsoil's "Absolute Efficiency" oil filter? I am considering looking into one and was wondering if anybody has anything to tell me about it? Thanks.

Lexmex

Mobil 1 ATF works just fine for PSF. Here's what I can say about the Mobil 1 ATF. I change it out ever year (late fall is when I will do it again), and I notice a small, maybe 25% improvement, in ease of turning after I change it out. I will, given your suggestion, give Amsoil a try for the PSF to see if there is a different feeling, but have found the Mobil 1 ATF works much better than the Valvoline synthetic PSF fluid I had used before.

bob2200

I just did a partial suck-out-and refill, using a cheap plastic turkey-baster and Mobil 1 ATF fluid. I had done a complete flush about 2 1/2 years ago (with Mobil 1 ATF fluid) and the fluid was quite dark. It is so much easier doing the drain-and refill that I may just do that every year. At least it's getting some fresh fluid periodically.

lexus4us

Hello,

I was out today pricing Royal Purple Lube/gear Oil 75W90 amongst some other items. Came home and hit the web as I wanted to see what the GL4/5 meant on the side of the Royal Purple bottle.

Found a before and after KRL 20 hour Shear Stability Test study chart done by Amsoil and to my surprise it has the Royal Purple failing badly.

I quote a commentator on the chart from another board: " Ideally a good quality gear oil will be in the gray area before and after the test. Lucas 75/90 Synthetic, at 22.35 cSt, and Royal Purple Max-Gear 75W-90, at 19.32 cSt, both exceed the maximum 18.49 cSt initial viscosity (red), failing the SAE J306 requirements for SAE 90 gear lubricants. All other gear lubricants were within the required high-temperature viscosity range prior to the KRL Shear Stability Test. Viscosity measurements following the KRL Shear Stability Test revealed that seven gear lubes sheared down below the minimum viscosity requirements (orange), failing the shear stability requirements of the SAE J306. The two gear lubes with the largest viscosity loss, as reflected in the following graph, were Royal Purple, losing 40.6% of its viscosity, and Torco SGO Synthetic, losing 35.2% of its viscosity. Royal Purple was the only gear lube to fail both the initial viscosity requirements and the shear stability requirements. It started out too thick and ended up too thin.But I personally have seen the etching issues when RP gear lube was used in FC (2nd gen RX-7) transmissions and rear ends.If your diff starts getting noisy I would replace the RP with Redline or Amsoil fast. "

The top 3 tested were:

1. Amsoil Severe Gear
2. Red Line Synthetic
3. Valvoline Syn Power

Your feedback is welcome on the GL ratings as well as what you think of the study. The info can be found easily here http://www.amsoil.com/lit/g2457.pdf

BTW, I have never used Amsoil

Lexus4us
PA
2001 Rx 300 AWD
136 K now and 364 K to go!
Maintenance items to date: 02 Air Sensor replaced @ 135 k, no other problems other than a recent "D" lamp died.

Lexmex

I've also read that, too, but I also read www.bobistheoilguy.com and real-life experiences of people on other forums.

There's three gear oils I recommend (I'd like to try Redline next time to give that a go before it goes on my list), Royal Purple, Amsoil and Mobil 1, but Royal Purple proved itself to me in Mexico (and I don't need to mention what I did down there). Amsoil was nowhere to be found and when I asked Mobil 1 and another company called Liqui Moly to provide me with synthetic gear oil, nothing nada. I do however think the best of Amsoil's ATF and will use it over anything on the planet.

However, real-life experience under some brutal conditions rather than lab tests gets the nod for me putting Royal Purple at the top. Plus, it's easy to find RP and Mobil 1 in most auto stores unlike Amsoil. In addition, gear oil is one of those fluids, perhaps more than any other, that lasts the longest before changing it out.

Again, nothing against Amsoil, but check around on forums like this one and I you won't see to many people knocking Royal Purple in droves on their gear oil.

Also quite funny about the Mazda RX7 comment. My friend Michael (you remember he had the 1993 RX7 you see on my car domain page) has been using the same stuff after I told him about RP (he used to use Kaaz gear oil), until he sold the car last year and didn't hear a peep out of that rear differential for 3 years of using it. I have also many friends at my old track in Mexico use this in their differentials (those that have them) and never heard a complaint. Royal Purple was the one synthetic I could get down there outside of a heavy 75W140 I got through BMW and a good, but not great, Pennzoil Synthetic 75W90 I picked up in the few months prior to leaving Mexico.

Again, Amsoil's got a good oil, but there's other good ones out there.

hypervish

I just looked at my power steering fluid resivor( i spelled that wrong ) in my 2000 RX AWD. And it's under the low mark. What type of fluid should i put? Can i put in some power steering fluid i have lying around, im not sure because it's not synthetic. Also i'm not sure if the car currently have synthetic Power steering fluid in it, or synethtic ATF. Also can i just put in some regular non-synthetic ATF? One more question what can cause my power steering fluid to drop down so low? Thank you for your time.

bob2200

Double check your owner's manual, but I believe that the RX300 power steering takes Dextron ATF fluid, not power steering fluid. I would think that any Dextron ATF fluid would be OK, but I have been using Mobil 1 ATF fluid. Sure, it could be a slow leak. I'd just look for obvious signs of a leak, fill to the proper level, and watch it for a while.

hypervish

Thanks, im going out right now and will check in the car and pick some up.