Is changing this fluid even necessary? It's kind of unheard of unless the car has like 150K+ Miles.Who recommends doing this?

 

i did mine at 90,000 kilometers

if my rear axle didnt bounce so much like its bent id do it again but i wont until it grenades

 

Id just not be in a hurry to change it.

Wait till you have a cold and can't smell.

Trust me. You don't want a sense of smell doing that job.

 

Well I wont do that myself...Go get it done somewhere

 

Another Question,When does Power Steering fluid need to be changed? (if ever)

 

this is just my personal opinion on this subject.

engine oil - 2,000 to 3,000 miles

auto trans - 25,000 to 30,000 miles

manual - 50,000miles

coolant - 30,000 miles or 2 years

power steering fluid - 25,000 to 30,000 miles

differential - 15,000 to 20,000 miles

brake fluid - 20,000 to 25,000 miles

some of this may be insane to some, but i just feel that it doesnt cost that much to do this every year or two or so, why the heck not? just because the fluid isnt turned black or solidified yet, doesnt mean you can wait. i have never had anything fail premature because i changed the fluids too much. i have worked on way too many cars that have parts fail premature because the customer didnt change the fluid enough. so you spend a couple hundred bucks a year, you spend more on smokes, booze, car parts, video games, or any other addiciton you may have, lol.
i also feel you should change your belt every couple years or less if lots of miles are put on it. air filter, every year, or more if you live in dusty conditions or lots of miles.

just my opinion, think what you want about it.

 

Yep, changing fluids more often is not a bad idea.

When you get into discussions about using a T5 behind a powerful V8. Most of the guys who said they had no problems had changed the fluid at every or every other oil change.

As long as you can afford it, change it...
When I had my 2nd gen I changed the oil about every 2 weeks as it was free. I also beat the peepee out of that car.

 

I haven't heard of changing brake or power steering fluid before...how would one do that???

 

Drain all teh fluid, and flush it REALLY well. Compressed air and a blow gun work REALLY well for flushing the lines out!

 

you should change p/s and brake fluid because theyre fluids just like anything else. they get dirty and break down after useage

 

has anyone done a decent "how to" article on that? or is it pretty much self expalnatory? (sp?)

 

Brake fluid absorbs moisture. Over time this will cause rust in hard lines and calipers. Heat from the brakes also causes the fluid to break down. Starts to look like mud if it has been really neglected. Change the fluid per the maint. schedule or sooner and you won't have these problems.

Don't know about PS fluid. None of the manuals say to change it, but it sure sounds like a good idea. I change mine when I do the brake fluid.

 

Changing the brake fluid's easy if you've got a Mityvac; it's a handheld vacuum pump that attaches to your bleeder screws at each caliper/wheel cylinder. The full "pro" set with all the attachments is a bit over $100, but Mityvac also sells a "just for brake bleeding" kit for $30. (One place to find it is http://www.eastwoodcompany.com )

So it'd go something like this:

1. Raise car, remove tires, take the cap off the master cylinder

2. Put a brick on the driver's seat along with a note saying "don't touch this brake pedal!!"

3. Siphon the old fluid out of the master cylinder (m/c) reservoir with a turkey baster (big eyedropper used for cooking) or the Mityvac itself. Only leave a bit of old fluid filling the holes in the center of each reservoir side.

4. With a clean cotton (not paper towel) rag, wipe down the inside of the m/c reservoir to remove all the dirt. And don't use a solvent on the rag!

5. Fill the m/c to the top with new brake fluid.

6. Start at your passenger side rear wheel. Attach one end of the mityvac's tube to the bleeder screw, put the other end's tube into a collection container. Loosen the bleeder screw a bit with an open ended wrench. Pump the Mityvac until you see clean fluid spurt out into the collection container. Close the bleeder valve, THEN remove the Mityvac tube.

7. Check the level of the master cylinder, top it off if necessary.

8. Repeat steps 6 & 7 for the rear driver's side bleeder.

9. Repeat steps 6 & 7 for the front passenger's side bleeder.

10. Repeat steps 6 & 7 for the front driver's side bleeder.

11. Make sure all the bleeder screws were tightened!

12. Put the m/c cap back on. Remove the brick from the driver's seat. Test your brake pedal, it should still be firm! If not you made a mistake and left a bleeder valve open somewhere... and you're now screwed, because that let air into the system, and you've gotta bleed the system "for real".

13. Put the tires back on, lower the car to the ground, etc etc

So basically, you're bleeding the brake system without worrying about removing any air from the lines. Since you work on one wheel at a time and never touch the brake pedal, the chance of air getting into the system is pretty darn slim.

Before you do this job, inspect each bleeder screw to make sure they have the rubber caps over the tips... those prevent the bleeders from rusting up.

I don't know about p/s fluid, either. An easy way is probably just to unbolt the p/s pump bracket, remove the p/s pump cap, and turn the p/s pump upside down over a catch can... then refill it with new fluid and bleed it out. (Bleeding a p/s pump is easy; car on the ground, fill p/s reservoir, turn car on, turn wheels all the way to the left, wait a bit, turn wheels all the way to the right, wait a little bit, repeat that twice, done!)

I try to change my rear axle oil once a year... but I stuff cotton up my nose, that stuff makes me dry heave!

 

Wow! How many miles on that oil when you change it, and why so often? Hmmm...maybe there's something wrong with my axle??? I didn't think the oil smelled bad, there was an odor but it wasn't very strong, or stomach turning...

 

The smell affects people differently... some people deal well with ATF... I don't. Gear oil smells more like puree of rotton egg to me, so I'm with Tom on this one.

 

LOL, to me, the stuff smells like cat ****! I'm not sure how many miles are on it when I change it; I do my major tuneup once a year.

 

I'm changing mine tomorrow. I usually change them out about once a year on my daily drivers with posi or locking type rears. I drive them hard and high speeds so I like fresh oil on the bearings and clutch cones.

I also need to pull my axles on the Camaro and change out the 12mm x2.5"ARP studs for the 1/2"x 3" arp studs and lugnuts to match the fronts I just installed with the new brake setup. I like all for corners to match and I could not get away with the 12mm's on the billet GW aluminum hubs. They were already machined for a 1/2"x 1.5" .532 knurl so I upped them to the 3" long .568"knurl.

PITA that I now have to pull the axles each time I swap studs because of the internal parkingbrake setup I have now. It was much easier to pop them out for new ones every few years with the old stock style backing plates.

Anyone need internal pictures of anything just let me know and I'll shoot them while I have it apart.

Ps- this is Vsixtoy
Dean

 

Though if your gonna make a habit of changing your axle fluid. Id buy or make a axle cover with a drain plug. Your still screwed on the fill but it would be much easier if they put in a drain plug stock.

 

Easier to fill if you get one of these. The aluminum cover disapates heat better also

 

ok??? so now one is going to explain how to change the axle fluid ???? on a stock third gen?

 

Get oil drip pan and place under rear diff.

Remove 10 bolts holding on rear cover plate- oil will run out as you pry the pan off with a small tap of a hammer after bolts are out- If it hasn't been removed for years it will need persuasion.

let drip dry for a little while and then wipe off excess in bottom with a lint free rag just before installing new gasket with black RTV and then retorque bolts to about 15lbs.

remove 3/8" square drive plug from right rear side of diff and pump in gear oil until it is level with the filler hole- it'll start to run back out the hole when full.
(IMPROTANT NOTE: If you have a POSI rear then you will need to add a small full bottle of anti-slip posi additive from GM or any autoparts store- then fill the diff with gearoil as state above.) Only if you have posi, open rearends do not require this additive.

Replace filler plug.

you are now finished.

 

if you can get a pump of some type to get the fluid in there that is best. i had to use a turkey baster last time. i guess the ultimate way would be to fill one of those old school oil cans with the pump with gear oil and do it that way. unfortuantly this was not an option for the Tony.

also, in lue of using RTV (which will need to be scraped off later) you can buy premade gaskets from your local Napa, schucks/checker/craiger, vatozone, knechts, truevalue or any other auto supply store. thta is what i did. i hate scraping RTV of of the mating surfaces.

 

wow i didnt even remember this post till i read through it again, lol. id rather scrape RTV off than a gasket, it comes off much easier than a gasket does. with that gasket crap, you spend forever w/ a scraper/razorblade trying to clean it all up (unless you have a grinder disc of some sort). with RTV one sweep w/ a blade and its off, then a lil roughing and cleaning so the new stuff sticks and whammy, youre done.

 

Use the gasket and moisen each side of it with RTV- Its the way it SHOULD be done- it the proper way.

 

A guy I used to work with got hungry whenever he smeeled gear oil from diffs. He said it smelled like french fries...ewwww.

 

Yes, the majority of automakers recommend it in most cases anywhere from 5/yr 50Kmi to 10yr/100kmi as I recall. A few consider their units to have 'lifetime' feels. A traditional standard duty hypoid gearset calls for 80W90 or SAE90 meeting API GL5. (check your manual, trucks may use up to 140.) Synthetics will be 75W90 and that's fine too.

A limited slip unit such as GMs Posi-trac calls for a special friction modifier additive that is commonly included in about 98% of the gear oils on the market today. Mine isn't limited slip unfortunatley but these days it's almost impossible not to get the additive whether you want it or not (fine for standard axles too). The GM brand gear lube is of course available - most is made by Havoline FWIW.

Unlike some other automakers my '84 Firebird didn't have a drain plug so the rear cover had to be removed. Many automakers include a magnetized drain plug - others might include a magnet inside the unit to pick up metal shavings.

On a brand new car I think it's a good idea to change it once very early on to remove the initial metal shavings common to a new gearset and after that ever 5 or 10 years or whatever they recommend.