I have had my 93 vert (37,000 miles) for about 6 months now and probably need to change the fluids. I have read that most of you like mobil one for the oil and not sure about the filter, what else would you recommend that I perform on this new car to me?? I have a great place to go down the street that will do it pretty cheap if I bring my own supplies.

Thanks.

 

I would recommend changing tranny fluid and rear diff fluid.

 

Mobil 1 5W-30 SuperSyn and your choice of oil filter. Many people use a K&N filter b/c it has a nut welded on the bottom for easy install/removal. The other two brands of filters you could consider would be Wix or an OEM AC Delco filter.

NO FRAMS.

Is your car a manual or an automatic? If manual, and you want to have the tranny fluid changed (you should), there are a couple options for fluids there, too. The easiest one for you will be OEM factory fill. Some people use a synthetic motoroil made by Castrol available only at your local BMW dealer, and although the motoroil is recommended by experts, it's too much work for some to track down. I say, Keep It Simple. I have Redline MTL in my ZF6 tranny, and it's been problem-free.

Brake fluid flush? Power steering fluid? It's all up to you, man... The most important thing is that you are not just throwing money at the car to "make it better". If you run into problems down the road, come here first for help diagnosing them. Then search for parts on your own, then find somebody to do the repair for you with your parts. *Most* of all, though, just ENJOY THE RIDE!!!!

 

Thanks guys...I knew you guys would know best!! I will take the advice above and change the oil and filter for sure. My 93 is an automatice, but thanks for the manual advice as well. Is there a way to check the brake fluid or powere steering fluid to see if it's old? Like you said, I don't want to throw away $$ if it doesn't need it....This car was driven really easy and taken care of, but I bought it in Miami, Fl and had it transported North, so my records are pretty unclear--except for a good carfax and state emissions check records.

Thanks.

 

What's the problem with the Fram filters?

 

Brake fluid is easy to check. Open the cap; if the fluid looks dark, it should be changed. The power steering fluid should be clear looking. Some fluids have a golden or reddish color depending on the brand.

With the low miles on the car, I would bet that the fluids are all original. I would do a coolant flush (good time to do new upper and lower radiator hoses too), tranny flush with a new filter, new differential fluid with two bottles of the GM positraction additive and the brake fluid.

The coolant change is a bit involved but do not take it to a quickie lube place or a tire store like Firestone, Goodyear or Les Schwab. Find a reputable shop or have the dealer do the coolant change.

Good oil filter choices have been mentioned and Purolator or NAPA filters are good too. Chances are that the air filter is original so get a new one of those. Go with a K&N air filter. They cost about $55 but they can be cleaned, re-oiled and re-installed. Most paper filters run $16 to $20.

 

There is an oil filter study floating around the Internet that showed that Fram filters have very poor quality filtering media and the amount of the media is much less than other filters. Get a couple of filters and cut the metal can off; you will see for yourself.

Fram cheaped out a number of years ago. They used to be decent filters and I used them in both street and race motors. Not anymore.

 

These are the items I would change on a low mileage car:
oil and filter (mobil 1 is good stuff)
air filter
fuel filter (hard to get too)
trans fluid and filter
Spark plugs (although you can get many miles out of them)
Coolant (green)
Clean the TB (I consider this regular maintenance)
Clean battery cables
Wash, detail, vacuum, and enjoy

I'm sure I left something out.

 

Filters To Avoid

The following list of filters have known problems. You will see well-known names here and will probably be disappointed. This is because many of these brands have stopped making their own filters and buy from a common manufacturer.

Fram Extra Guard
Years ago Fram was a quality filter manufacturer. Now their standard filter (the radioactive-orange cans) is one of the worst out there. It features cardboard end caps for the filter element that are glued in place.

The rubber anti-drainback valve seals against the cardboard and frequently leaks, causing dirty oil to drain back into the pan. The bypass valves are plastic and are sometimes not molded correctly, which allows them to leak all the time. The stamped-metal threaded end is weakly constructed and it has smaller and fewer oil inlet holes, which may restrict flow. I had one of these filters fail in my previous car.

The filter element collapsed and bits of filter and glue were circuilating through my system. The oil passge to the head became blocked and the head got so hot from oil starvation that it actually melted the vacuum lines connected to it as well as the wires near it.

Fram Double Guard

Another bad filter idea brought to you by your friends at Fram. The filter itself is a slightly improved design over the Fram Extra Guard, but still uses the same filter element. It has a silicone anti-drainback valve, a quality pressure relief valve, and enough inlet holes for good flow.

The big problem is that they are trying to cash in on the Slick 50 craze. They impregnate the filter element with bits of Teflon like that found in Slick 50.

As with Slick 50, Teflon is a solid and does not belong in an engine. It cannot get into the parts of the engine that oil can and therefore does nothing.

Also, as the filter gets dirty, it ends up filtering the Teflon right out. Dupont (the manufacturer of Teflon) does not recommend Teflon for use in internal combustion engines. Please do not waste your money on this filter.

Penzoil
This filter is a Fram! It is the exact same design as the Fram Extra Guard filter and it is junk. On the up side, it costs $1 less than the Fram version.

Quaker State
This is another Fram Extra Guard that I have seen at K-mart. It used to be a Purolator, but Quaker State is now owned/controlled by Penzoil...


http://people.msoe.edu/~yoderw/oilfi...ilfilters.html