Fluids

[MrMike]

Hey guys,

I'm basically a track noob looking to change all his fluids before going out. I am ok paying for premium fluids if they are actually higher quality.

For brake fluid I landed on Castrol SRF, a bit pricey but guaranteed to last me a season.

My concerns are with Transmission and Rear Axle fluid.


For the Rear Axle fluid (3.31, non-Torsen) I found some info indicating that Motul, Amsoil and Redline are good options.

Any reason I shouldn't assume the Redline 75W85 is of equal quality to the 75W90? I'm currently leaning that way as the factory fill is 75W85.

I see kind of a love/hate thing for the BG Ultra Guard. Anyone spent some miles with that in their trac-lok diff?


For the transmission fluid (Manual, MT-82) I was looking at BG Syncro Shift II, Motul DCTF or Amsoil DCT. All list Ford standard WSS-M2C200-D2.

Motul seemed more available, but wasn't listed as "recommended" on their site so I reached out to them and the conversation was... weird. They recommended 109464, told me they didn't sell it when it's on their shop, and linked me to some weird store called newparts.com. I asked them if 109464 and 105786 were the same, and they told me they were not because 105786 was GL4 rated for off-road use (???).

Does anyone know about the Motul DCTF? The back/forth with their CS kinda made me want to abort mission and just buy more Motorcraft XT-11-QDC.

A lot of Mustang drivers seem to use the BG, but I've read some dissenting opinions about it's use long term. Some on Mustang track forums, some on oil forums, etc. Same as the diff fluid, anyone here beat on their transmission with BG in it?


Thanks in advance for any help.

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[galaxy]

1st world problems, right? And I mean that in a good way. I may get flamed for this, but there really are toooo many great options. There’ll always be someone who doesn’t like your choice and/or had a bad experience with it. There’ll always be someone who swears option A is the best and nothing else will matter. A lot of times, threads like this don’t even end up helping because of the breadth of recommendations you’ll get. Hell, someone will be along here shortly to throw in an option you didn’t even ask about, lol.

I know that wasn’t alot of help, but here’s what works for me and it’s never swayed me wrong. The absolute best thing I ever did was make a brand choice and then it became brand loyalty after that. No matter what, I choose my brand offering for that component and move on with my life. It has served me extremely well. It’s great that you are trying to make an educated decision. It also doesn’t help that you still have to make a brand choice between some great options, because again, you really can’t go wrong. Between what you’ve listed, Amsoil, Motul, and even MC, my vote is pick a brand and send it from bumper to bumper.

 

[MrMike]

1st world problems, right? And I mean that in a good way. I may get flamed for this, but there really are toooo many great options. There’ll always be someone who doesn’t like your choice and/or had a bad experience with it. There’ll always be someone who swears option A is the best and nothing else will matter. A lot of times, threads like this don’t even end up helping because of the breadth of recommendations you’ll get. Hell, someone will be along here shortly to throw in an option you didn’t even ask about, lol.

I know that wasn’t alot of help, but here’s what works for me and it’s never swayed me wrong. The absolute best thing I ever did was make a brand choice and then it became brand loyalty after that. No matter what, I choose my brand offering for that component and move on with my life. It has served me extremely well. It’s great that you are trying to make an educated decision. It also doesn’t help that you still have to make a brand choice between some great options, because again, you really can’t go wrong. Between what you’ve listed, Amsoil, Motul, and even MC, my vote is pick a brand and send it from bumper to bumper.

Yes exactly, this is totally a first world problem. You get it.

I originally wanted to do the same brand front to back! It's very satisfying to do that.

I ran into a couple problems with that:

• Castrol SRF is so good and convenient in that it will last me an entire year compared to using MOTUL RBF660 which is closer to 4-6 months.
• Redline does not make a transmission recommended for the MT-82.
• For engine oil my plan was to go with PUP because it's easily available. MOTUL Oil seems to be meh and a pain to get compared to Motorcraft Full Syn. Motorcraft Full Syn is reasonable from RockAuto. Amsoil engine oil is a lot of money.

 

[Ewheels]

As for your question about oil weights/viscosities....you want to run the thinnest oil you can get away with without overheating it. Start thin, if your temps get too high, go thicker next time.

If it helps, this is what I have been using for 5 years now in HPDE and Time Attack.
Engine: Mobil 1 0W40
Trans: BG SyncoShift
Diff: BG Ultraguard 75W90

 

[MrMike]

As for your question about oil weights/viscosities....you want to run the thinnest oil you can get away with without overheating it. Start thin, if your temps get too high, go thicker next time.

If it helps, this is what I have been using for 5 years now in HPDE and Time Attack.
Engine: Mobil 1 0W40
Trans: BG SyncoShift
Diff: BG Ultraguard 75W90

5 years of running the BG fluids? Annual changes? Still the original MT-82 all good?

If you've been beating on them that hard for that long, maybe I should just get the kit from opmustang and get it done. You have way more experience than I do and they're holding up for you.

 

[Ewheels]

5 years of running the BG fluids? Annual changes? Still the original MT-82 all good?

If you've been beating on them that hard for that long, maybe I should just get the kit from opmustang and get it done. You have way more experience than I do and they're holding up for you.

Yes, all 5 years with BG fluids; changing once a year at around 5-6 track days a year. Still original trans.

 

[EFI]

My concerns are with Transmission and Rear Axle fluid.

Honestly, don't be. As a novice you won't be pushing the car so hard that those will really come into play. It's good to be proactive and stay on top of them, but don't fret too much what you put in as long as you change them out frequently.

Once you get more experience and pace, then you should worry about going with the most premium of fluids.

 

[bnightstar]

This is my go to list beginning of track season:


Oil: Motorcraft 5W20
Brakes: Motul RBF660 (will be switching to Castrol SRF this season but worried about clutch master).
Trans MT82D5: Motul DCTF
Diff Track-Loc 3.55: Motul 75W140 Gear Competition (this includes the modifier).

All of this were good for me for the past 5 seasons. My CHT temps are slowly going up every season currently the highest I have seen is 242F. So eventually some modern day cooling will be needed or at least higher viscosity oil.

Hope this helps.

 

[MrMike]

Yes, all 5 years with BG fluids; changing once a year at around 5-6 track days a year. Still original trans.

Whelp that's surely more than enough for me, thanks.

Honestly, don't be. As a novice you won't be pushing the car so hard that those will really come into play. It's good to be proactive and stay on top of them, but don't fret too much what you put in as long as you change them out frequently.

Once you get more experience and pace, then you should worry about going with the most premium of fluids.

Thanks, I figured I was doing some overthink here. As long as whatever I put in is good for the season I'm happy and it seems like all the "good" fluids will do that regardless of what I pick.

This is my go to list beginning of track season:


Oil: Motorcraft 5W20
Brakes: Motul RBF660 (will be switching to Castrol SRF this season but worried about clutch master).
Trans MT82D5: Motul DCTF
Diff Track-Loc 3.55: Motul 75W140 Gear Competition (this includes the modifier).

All of this were good for me for the past 5 seasons. My CHT temps are slowly going up every season currently the highest I have seen is 242F. So eventually some modern day cooling will be needed or at least higher viscosity oil.

Hope this helps.

Thanks.

Full synthetic Motorcraft 5W20 or the standard synblend?

For your Motul DCTF, can you tell me what the part number / whatever is on the back of the bottle?

Yep, I really like diff fluids including the limited slip modifier.

I've seen a few options for external oil coolers, but sounds like I'll have no problem for some time then.

 

[bnightstar]

Full synthetic Motorcraft 5W20 or the standard stanblend?

For your Motul DCTF, can you tell me what the part number / whatever is on the back of the bottle?

Yep, I really like diff fluids including the limited slip modifier.

I've seen a few options for external oil coolers, but sounds like I'll have no problem for some time then.

The Motorcraft 5W20 in Europe is rebranded Castrol Edge 5W20. This is what is factory fill for the Gen 2 cars and this is what I'm feeding her.

The Motul DCTF don't know what the part number is but that's what it's said on the bottle it actually fullfil the Ford specification as well.

 

[MrMike]

The Motorcraft 5W20 in Europe is rebranded Castrol Edge 5W20. This is what is factory fill for the Gen 2 cars and this is what I'm feeding her.

The Motul DCTF don't know what the part number is but that's what it's said on the bottle it actually fullfil the Ford specification as well.

That is really interesting. Quick Google confirms, you guys have a different oil standard there even though it's the same 5.0: WSS-M2C948-B which is full syn 5W-20.

 

[xcm77]

track
-----
engine: Ravenol DXG SAE 5W-30 but any full synth will do
diff: same as while DD'ing (see below)
brakes: same as while DD'ing (see below)
MT-82: same as while DD'ing (see below)


DD
---
engine: Shell Helix 5W-20 (this is a blend not full synth mind you)
diff: Ravenol DGL SAE 75W-85 GL-5 LS (if your diff overheats, you might want to look into 140 (ie. 75W-140))
brake: Motorcraft DOT 4 LV
MT-82: Ravenol MTF-2 SAE 75W-80

tips for the track
---------------
- set lug nuts to proper torque
- fill engine oil to max level
- check engine coolant, fill to max
- make sure you have good or new-ish brake fluid (do a small flush before hitting the track?)
- change engine oil (+ filter) after 4H of track use or 800km (ie. 1H of track use = 15-25% oil life depending on how hard you're pushing it)
- mind your thread (heavy braking zone devour tires)
- optional: have used oil analyzed by a lab (this will tell you the real status of your engine)
- optional: take a windows laptop with FORScan with you in case your dash lights up like a Christmas tree (lol been there, done that -- the last thing you want is a check engine light while doing 200km/h in Eau Rouge, Spa)

 

[sms2022]

I swapped the motul “off road” fluid into my mt82 and like it

 

[nbjeeptj]

I use Motul 660 in the brakes change it out about every 6 months with a little of it blead off and replaced at each track event prep.

As for engine oil I use 10w30 Amsoil race oil and only swap it when the computer tells me to. That monitor does not go by miles it uses some kind of algorithm and it ends up being about 500 track miles. I have had a lab test the oil after letting it go to the oil light comes on and they say I am good to go.

As for the MT82 and the rear end they have Amsoil in them that went in last summer during our month off from NASA events so I plan to replace it at one year and have it tested to see if that interval is ok.

There are all kinds of change intervals suggested out there but I like real data to support the idea, so that why I went with the longer duration and test plan.

 

[GrayMater22]

I use Motul 660 in the brakes change it out about every 6 months with a little of it blead off and replaced at each track event prep.

As for engine oil I use 10w30 Amsoil race oil and only swap it when the computer tells me to. That monitor does not go by miles it uses some kind of algorithm and it ends up being about 500 track miles. I have had a lab test the oil after letting it go to the oil light comes on and they say I am good to go.

As for the MT82 and the rear end they have Amsoil in them that went in last summer during our month off from NASA events so I plan to replace it at one year and have it tested to see if that interval is ok.

There are all kinds of change intervals suggested out there but I like real data to support the idea, so that why I went with the longer duration and test plan.

I run the same oil and have never had issues, it seems to take the abuse and still maintains its integrity.

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