[MarkHalliday]

Well this is my first post, so hello.

Erm, i've had an interesting weekend to say the least. Friday night my brakes failed on my oldsmobile while doing about 100km's on the highway. Not sure what that is in miles i'm canadian. Luckily enough i was able to slow the car down enough before they blew out before i hit someone. Anyway, I had the car taken to the shop and would have cost me around 1000 dollars [other problems with the brakes as well not just the flexor hose that blew] to fix so i scrapped it. [Was a beater]. So now i find myself in a situation with not much money and i am forced to put my 85 stanger on the road in the middle of the winter [eep!].

I am in the process of flushing all the fluids in the car. I was thinking of switching to synthetic oil for the engine, transmission [T5 WC] as well as the rear-end. Can i simply just drain whats in there now and fill it with a synthetic oil, drive it for a bit then drain and re-fill again to get most of the petro and old gear oil out? I am fairly technically inclined but was thinking of just getting it done professionally to avoid the hassle.

Anyone have experience doing this themselves?

[tmoss]

There's no need to drain after putting in the synthetics. Just put in the new synthetic oils after draining the old oils out.

[MarkHalliday]

Thanks for the reply Tom. What weight should the tranny and diff oil be, 75w 90?

[tmoss]

The trans fluid has no weight rating and I don't recall seeing one on the Mobil 1 synthetic gear lube I just put in with my Trac-loc rebuild. I'm sure it does have a weight rating but I don't think you have choices in weights for the synthetic stuff. Actually, the lighter the better as long as it does the job - less drivetrain losses from moving the heavy lubes.

[GhostDog 5.0]

I just changed my differential oil and used 80w90 synthetic.

I used a gasket with blue silicon "gasket maker" on the side where gasket meets the differential cover. Driving two days later, I havent noticed any leaks (take that Vortex!).

Anyone know if there is right/wrong gear oil for your climate?

Ford could not of put the fill plug in a worse place on the differential. Before you go nuts looking for it, it's on the passenger side, on the upper part of the differential. You will need an extension. I used a 1/2" ratchet with an adapter to 3/8" because it was so tight and I could not fit my break bar in there. Good luck if you have tail pipes. I have mine cut right after the muffler and it was frustrating.

[tmoss]

My fill plug is on the driver's side just above the web bracing - hard to see as mentioned.

[GhostDog 5.0]

Yeah, your other right

Drivers Side