Fluid Recommendations

Hello,

What are you folks' fluid recommendations for late eighties Audi Turbo's? Gear oil, brake fluid, engine oil, fuel injector cleaner/treatment, grease, coolant, etc..

I've been referred to RedLine products for some of these.

Thanks,

Bill Graham

Reply to
Bill Graham
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Evidently I should have searched for this topic before posting, since I have been told that this topic has been covered extensively.

I realize that this information is an various manual publications, but I wondering more about productions that have come out after the publications i.e. Synthetic products, etc..

Thanks.

Bill Graham

Reply to
Bill Graham

Synthetics in the diffs and gearboxes. The old boxes shift a bit stiff with regular gear oil. Synthetic in the engine if you plan to pound it. Regular oil if you don't. I use Valvoline full synthetic gear oil for diffs, Pentosin synthetic motor oil if I need 5W-40 and BMW/Mini synthetic if I need 5W-30. Why? Price and availability. Any brand will do.

Many turbo owners prefer synthetics. The older cars are overengineered, have water cooled turbos and after-run cooling. With regular oils and regular intervals, you'll never kill a turbocharger.

My personal fleet runs cheap oil, changed a lot. The tweaked 5KCSQ runs synthetic, changed a lot. But I beat the living snot out of that car for the 1,500 or so miles it goes a year.

Reply to
JPF

Thanks for you run down.

I ordered the Bentley manuals today. Used price, but still sealed. Does the book give instructions for changing the oil in the turbo. I do not know when and if that was done. I'll start out changing everything so I can then keep track. It would be easier if the odometer was working.

I'm picking up the car on Monday morning. $1500.00. I talked to the sellers again today. The most recent service record they have, from this year, was for when they had the AC converted from freon to the currently used stuff. I think I'll have a full record of everything done to this car.

Do fixes, the expensive one's at least, STAY fixed typically?

Thanks again!

Reply to
Bill Graham

I don't want to clog up the newsgroup, so would you mind if I sent you an e-mail on occasion while I'm familiarizing myself with this car? If that's o.k., I must be dense in regards the "removetheobvious" directions of your e-mail address. Mind sending me one?

Thanks.

Reply to
Bill Graham

Bill, The expensive fixes stay fixed - so long as the "while you're at it" fixes were done at the same time - eg. Replaced the rear main crank seal when the clutch was replaced, replaced tensioner when the timing belt was done, etc. It's often the parts that could have been easily removed and cheaply replaced during the big service that will be a lot of grief if they fail and the whole thing has to be torn apart to fix a 2cent part. If it hasn't had it done already, you should contemplate a (near) complete rubber mount replacement in the near future - the front subframe mounts, tranny mounts, engine mounts, suspension mounts. The parts are fairly inexpensive, and any oil/ps fluid leaks in the past may have really eaten up the rubber. Consider that you'll only do it once and you'll be done with it - and it will make the car a much more solid ride. So far as the oil change, just do it as normal, remove drain plug from bottom of the engine oil pan, remove filter, fill new filter with oil, install and torque to spec, put new washer on drain plug and put back in, torque to spec (do not overtorque), fill oil to mark (car level), start up, run till warm, stop, check oil - top up if necessary. The turbo takes oil from the engine system so there's no independent draining of the turbo to be contemplated. [Interesting bit of trivia - my friend won a Ferrari last week, when asked about oil changes, the delivery guy said that it costs $5,000 (Canadian pesos) for one - I hope that's for "Ferrari Oil" that has molecules shaped like a rearing stallion.] BTW, I use Mobil 1 15W50 in my 1987 5ktq, but it was an abused puppy when I got it and seems to run fine with the stuff - although I use a block heater to keep it from solidfying in the winter :-) Cheers! Steve Sears

1987 Audi 5kTQ 1980 Audi 5k 1962 and '64 Auto Union DKW Junior deLuxes (SPAM Blocker NOTE: Remove SHOES to reply) "Bill Graham" wrote in message news:BBC9BB1A.204FE% snipped-for-privacy@nc.rr.com...
Reply to
Steve Sears

Bill, it's obvious - you remove that. Many posters on the newsgroups use phrases like that imbedded in the return address so that Spammers who collect addresses off the net will send their offers for Viagra, money from Nigeria, free Pay TV, etc. to an account that will bounce. It doesn't totally block them, just slows the flow down to a trickle of junk mail. Cheers! Steve Sears

1987 Audi 5kTQ 1980 Audi 5k 1962 and '64 Auto Union DKW Junior deLuxes (SPAM Blocker NOTE: Remove SHOES to reply)
Reply to
Steve Sears

I think he means the things that go on your feet. It's also the only thing in all caps.

Stu

Bill Graham wrote:

Reply to
Stu Hedith

Though you all would enjoy this article as it relates to European Lubricants. It was published recently in an Amsoil related news letter.

Regards, David

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October 15, 2003 European Vehicles Require High End Oils European vehicles are designed to use higher quality European lubricants, often posing problems for American owners.

Many popular North American engine oils may actually be harmful to European engines. European automobile manufacturers design vehicles to use specific high quality lubri­cants with specific properties and additives. Most motor oils offered in America do not meet the demanding specifications, and the European lubricants are not readily available. As a result, problems such as premature wear and engine sludge develop.

"Europeans build their cars and impose higher requirements on the type of oil than we are used to here in North America," remarks an oil industry source. "They have more of a multi-tier system within their specifications, whereas the API uses the lowest common denominator as a guideline. It is by its own admission, within API 1509, a minimum spec."

While the American Petroleum Institute (API) sets oil standards in America, the Automotive Manufacturers Association (ACEA) sets them in Europe. "ACEA standards reflect a wider complexity of the offering of engines on the market right now," says Ilerve Blanquart, VP Automotive of Motul North America. "On top of that, manufactur­ers have introduced their own standards, most of which start with the ACEA standards, and go further in specific tests to solve specific problems and address specific issues."

In the U.S., the API adopts one standard for all engine oils. "For example they are work­ing on ILSAC GF-4, and the problems they are running into is that this oil will be too thin for a lot of older engines," explains Blanquart. "In Europe, they decided from the beginning that they would not adopt a lin­ear standard - rather a standard for each type of application -- gas, diesel, turbo, etc."

European vehicle manufacturers keep tight control over which lubricants they allow to be used in their vehicles. Inner-company bureaucracies are in charge of keeping the approved lubricant lists up-to-date with the latest requirements, and a few companies apply some of the regulations to North America. European aftermarket service stations must stock different lubricants for different automobile brands. Sometimes different models put out by the same manufacturer require different lubricants.

Do-it-yourselfers are less prevalent in Europe. Qualified repair shops, franchised or tightly controlled by the vehicle manufacturers in order to dictate the type of oil being used, typically perform most of the oil changes.

The high quality oils used in Europe allow Europeans to enjoy longer drain intervals. However, when European vehicles are exported to the United States, the concept becomes distorted.

"There is in general a longer drain associ­ated with the higher tier oils in the European system," remarks the oil industry source. "So the thought process is - if we don't allow the longer drain in North America, consumers should be able to get by with APl spec oils - but it leaves manu- facturers open to the type of problems Mercedes-Benz recently experienced."

A recent class?action lawsuit brought forward by owners of certain

1998 through 2001 Mercedes-Benz vehicles claimed they weren't informed that synthetic motor oil was required in order to take advantage of the extended drain intervals afforded through the use of the vehicles' Flexible Service System (FSS). Many using conventional oils experienced pre­mature wear problems, and the settlement cost the company over $32 million.

"The long drain indicator used by Mercedes is predicated on using Mercedes-Benz-approved oil, which is a very top quality synthetic oil," explains the oil company source. "When those vehicles came to the States, somehow dealerships weren't impressing upon the consumer the need to use the right oil. And whether or not the dealers were doing so, some consumers were putting in regu­lar API spec oil, resulting in problems."

Although synthetic motor oils are general­ly of higher quality than conventional oils, not all synthetics can meet the stringent European specifications. "A good quality synthetic could solve the problem," says the source, "but in the case of Mercedes-Benz, for example, you're dealing with an extreme­ly high-spec oil. Not every synthetic is going to meet that spec. Some only meet the baseline API specs. Just because it's a synthetic doesn't mean it's a top tier product.

"Shop owners must keep in mind that there are numerous special requirements for European vehicles and that they shouldn't always be knee-jerking to the stuff in the big tank. If you call Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, or VW, for example, they should be telling you that their vehicle needs ACEA spec products."

Although it's easy to assume that the more expensive the vehicle, the better quality the lubricant it needs, that's not always the case. For example, the mid-priced Volkswagen TDI requires a very specific, high spec lubricant.

Reply to
David Reid

Great article, David. It doesn't apply to the 25 year old engine in the '89 200, however. One thing left out of the article was that the MB FSS specifies oil changes between 8,000 and 12,000 miles. A bti of a stretch for grocery store oil in anything. Lexus found themselves with similar problem recently. The 3.0 V6 engines would sludge up and expire when service was extended over 10K on regular oils.

Reply to
JPF

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