I was wondering what brand/type of oil you suggest I use in my unmodified 99 AU wagon?

Just had a look on Fuchs Australia site and they recommend Titan CFX 10w30
Some people have had their cars suffer bearing failure with the recommended 5w30 oil
In my tickford I use Fuchs Titan Super GTO 10w30 which is an ultra high performance oil.
The only reason I used fuchs was I couldn't afford to pay $125 for the redline oil equivalent at the time
So far I am extremely happy with the oil even though it's made from
PAO (polyalphaolefin) base stocks which I believe amsoil, mobil, castrol and the other major brands are made from

Poly ol ester is the best in my opinion, here is a good site (although biased towards amsoil which although a top lubricant) doesn't stand up to redline

Http://www.performanceoiltechnology.com
describes all the different basestocks used in lubricants

According to the (genuine, as near as I can tell) service receipts I got with it my cars been running Shell Helix Plus 15W-50 semi-synthetic for at least the last three years. Seems alright, runs smoother than my folks GLi (which is 5-6 months younger) but there are more factors involved in that than just the oil type making it a less than fair comparison.

as long as its a good brand mobil shell ect and right viscosity. then the oil will be fine if u cange it every 5000 to 8000 then there is no need to buy the preformance oil's that are $50 a ltr. as ur car is stock. would be a waste of money

Thanks all - service due in a couple of thousand which I want to do the basics myself - I like my mechanic but he is a little on the expensive side. Might just stick it in for service every 10k to him for a checkup only and to check things I don't know enough about (like everything!!!).

Another question too - I assume with these sealed AU transmissions they just drain and fill when they charge me $135 + GST for a 'transmission service' or are there other things they actually can check??? So if it feels like its running ok, then shall I just do a drain and fill myself too?

well usually thats all they do maybe they check faults.
u could do it urself but its not the easyest thing to do if u dont have a hoist. as u will have to pull pan off to change filter and then some how pump new oil in the run it though gears and then top it up again. id reconmend just let them do it

I have used and about 80% of people on the site have also used HPR Penrite 10 or 15. I have used it for the last 18,000 KM and I have found it quitens a lot of engine rattles that I use to have when using other oils such as CASTROL MAGNATEC which has been proven to be as good as a Budget priced Oil.

Yep Penrite HPR 15 here in my EL 6cyl fairmont.
no complaints at all...

Isn't 15W-40 the viscosity recomended by Ford?
I'm using a Penrite Duel Fuel one...
Just get any major well known brand that has the right viscosity. I chose Penrite by going with the one with the highest price tag (not necessarily an accurate way of finding the best)...

yep 15w 40 for EA to EL and 10w 30 for AU and BA.


just pick a major brand and get the viscosity. ie: don't put HPR15 or HPR10 and an AU or BA

I use castrol formula R 5w-30, which is just the recommended viscosity. I change it every 5000km which i guess you more or less have to do with oil that thin, can't say i've had any problems yet, car has 110,000km

you don't change the oil because it's thin. AU and BA engine are built with tighter clearences so need thiner oil to get the right lubrication.
you change the oil every 5000 because of all the crap that gets in it. from the blow by gases and metal on metal contact between parts.

i change mine every 5000 with a new filter every time aswell

It's worth finding out if they are draining it or flushing it. Most places will drop the pan off, drain the tranny fluid and replace the filter. It's OK to do this but at the end of the day, there's more dirty fluid sitting in your torque converter that what is being drained from the 'sump' of the transmission. Flushing is fairly messy business.....

I'm pretty sure they only drained it for $135 + GST, which is why I am thinking of finding a decent mechanic - since its done 220,000 with an unknown history, and the trannie fluid was pretty black, I'm thinking they really should have flushed it - even if they charge more....I'm pretty sure they charged me $195 to do my misses Honda to flush it. Getting a bit steep I reckon.

Anyone know of a decent mechanic that doesn't charge like a bull in the Sutherland Shire of Sydney??

you can flush it your self. and if you are careful it's not messy

you need about 20L of fluid so buy a 20L drum of it. you'll need a drum pump for it as well,
and empty 20L drum of some kind,
1 metre of hose of some kind that fits over the end of you cooler lines to the rad.
and a friend.

do a pan change first and fill the tranny back up.
undo both of the cooler lines from the rad and put a 1/2 metre of hose on each one. then put both hoses into the empty drum,
start the car for a few seconds to find the hose that comes from the the tranny. (the one with fluid comming out)
leave that one in the drum.

get the other hose and push it on to the end of the drum pump so you can fill the tranny from the cooler line.


get your friend to sart the car and move the shifter through all gears.
while he is doing this you need to pump new fluid in. (fast)
continue doing this until the fluid comming out is clean.

then put all the cooler lines back on run the car again and check the level.
then drive it until it's hot then check the level again


i just did this the other week on my dads AU tonner. i should have done up a doco with pics.