Oil/Fluid and Battery Questions

[FNG90-195]

My car is still at the shop where I initially saw it. It was a customer's car in for repairs over the winter (starter motor). I haven't brought the car home yet. Before I do, I would like to have the shop change the fluids, as there are no service records with it, or even a glove box manual to tell me what to use.

From reading a number of threads, I have determined that I will be using the Amsoil AMO 10W40, Bosch filter, and green antifreeze with glycol that meets GM 1825specs. (did I get all that right?)

Now for my question: what to use in the transmission and differential? what weight, and is it synthetic?

Also, I just thought - is there any kind of a filter or screen in the transmission?

I know I need to replace the battery as well, and I will use an AC Delco. Can you tell me the group and model # of the correct battery?

Anything special I should tell my mechanic before he proceeds? He has a C4 himself, and is pretty knowledgable, but I'm concerned there may be some special things to do or worry about. I've never had a car as advanced as this. I usually worry about replacing rotor and condensor and setting points!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. :)

Thanks

Mark

[Jagdpanzer]

Welcome aboard FNG and congratulations on acquiring the Z
Here are a couple of previous posts that may be of some help:

http://www.zr1netregistry.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4681&highlight=fluid+change

http://www.zr1netregistry.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4706&highlight=fluid+change

Regarding the transmission there is no screen or filter to worry about just drain the old fluid and refill it with Castrol TWS 10-60W from your local BMW dealer parts department and ignition system is all solid states so no points to worry about either.
The rear end you will have to pump out the old fluid with a hand pump through the fill hole then refill. Many of us use Mobil 1 75-90 and add a plastic bottle of GM posi fluid.
You got to like a guy who knows where he stands. You're in the right crowd here pal and you won't be known as an FNG for long.

[PhillipsLT5]

Be carefull on oil fill
will be about 8.5 qts with new filter
You wont get a real read for aprox 24 hrs
Talk to Bill B on Trans fluid & procedure
www.zfdoc.com

[FNG90-195]

Jagdpanzer

I appreciate the quick response. I checked out the threads and now know what to get, but I forgot to ask how much of each do I need? I think I read somewhere 8 qts of oil for an oil change, (is that right?), but I have no idea how much Castrol TWS 10-60W or Mobil 1 75-90 to get. I assume the GM posi fluid comes in a 1 L or 1qt. bottle? I will pick up all this stuff myself and deliver to my mechanic. It'll save me some time lying on my back on a cold concrete garage floor!

While I'm asking (more) questions, are there reprints of the glove box manuals available that will give me this information? It would also be nice to read up on what buttons do what, and when they should or shouldn't be pushed.

I don't think I would ever undertake a major rebuild, but I usually do my own servicing and brakes, suspension, etc. Is there a service manual out there that provides that type of information for someone who needs jsut about every step laid out for them?

Once again, any and all comments appreciated.

Thanks

Mark

[Z51JEFF]

The trans takes little more than 2 containers of fluid,dont know the capacity of the bottle and you want to look into a Helms FSM,Helms is the company.

[Hammer]

Welcome to our world.

Get the following:

2.5 gal - Amzoil 10-40 AMO Motor Oil (Leaves an extra qt or so)
Bosch 3401 Filter

3 Liters - Castrol TWS 10/60 @ BMW

2 qts - Mobil 1 - 75/90 Gear Lube

or (Since you are ordering Amzoil anyway)

2 qts - Amzoil - Severe Gear 75W-90
1 Bottle - Amzoil - Slip Lock Differential Additive

CAPACITIES
Engine, without filter..........7.6 quarts[1]
Cooling System, Initial Fill..........18.0 quarts

Manual Transmission, 6-SPD..........4.4 pints
Differential, Rear..........3.2 pints

1. Add extra oil when replacing filter. After
refill check oil level.

TORQUES
Oil Drain Plug.....38 ft-lbs
Manual Transmission
Fill Plug.....26 ft-lbs
Drain Plug.....26 ft-lbs

[ZR1Vette]

Welcome Mark...
Changing the coolant can be tricky on the LT5...does your mechanic know the protocols for doing this work... very different from the L push rod type engines.

How many miles on the ZR?

No 'screen or filter' for tranny.

Also add the slip diff additive first prior to gear lube.

[tomtom72]

On the trans fluid. zfdoc says to use this stuff and you can only get it at a BMW dealer. It is motor oil for an M5 I think? Anyway, it comes in liters and you have to buy three the first time round, you will only need two the next coupla of changes as it only takes 2.2 liters to do a change.

BMW P/N : 07-51-0-009-420 oil in NYC/metro area it costs $14.00 /liter
Castrol TWS 10w-60 synthetic motor oil.

[FNG90-195]

Thanks all. Between the web sites and threads and the information from everyone, I think I have everything I need. Michael, the car has about 47K on it. Regarding tricky coolant change, he has a machine that pumps out the old and pumps in the new after a flush. I think it hooks into one of the heater hoses. If the old stuff looks pretty good, I'll ask him to just flush with water before refilling.

Any idea if this type of equipment will deal with the tricky part, or are we still likely to have problems? If there is a good chance I will have a problem, I'll get him to test the old stuff first and determine whether or not it actually needs changing.

The car has been through a number of owners over the years (5 or 6 I think), and I have no idea what has been done to it, so I wanted to start fresh with everything if I can. Cheap peace of mind.

Mark

[ZR1Vette]

Mark.. look at this link>>

http://www.zr1specialist.com/HAT%20Web/articles/Filling%20the%20LT5%20With%20Coolant.pdf

[FNG90-195]

Excellent! Thanks Michael! My mechanic is leaving tomorrow for a one week vacation, but when he gets back (and the 6 inches of snow we just got is melted), I'll take all the parts/fluids and info. to him so I can get the car on the road.

[Ccmano]

Let's see we have a car that's been sitting for several months and has an otherwise unknown service history. I would highly recommend changing the fuel filter as well. It's a high pressure inline unit that is mounted under the car near the passenger side frame rail where it bends in at the front wheel opening. Any auto parts store will have one, it's nothing special and it's cheap insurance!
H
:cheers:

[jrd1990zr1]

Keep a watch on E-bay. You should be able to locate an owners manual and or a Helms service manual set.

:cheers:

[FNG90-195]

I was suprised to see this thread resurrected, but since it is, I'll take the opportunity to update everyone. I did change the fuel filter (thanks! :)), and found the 3 GM service manuals (main manual, elect. and LT5) plus the glove box owners manual here in Ontario at a very reasonable price from Ken McGee Automotive Literature.

The car is a 1990 with approx. 49,000 miles on it. I drove the car on and off over the summer, but was dissapointed to find out that the third gear syncro was shot, so could only shift from 2nd to 3rd slowly at low rpm, which took some of the fun out of it.

It's a long story, but I bought what I was told was a transmission out of a low mileage ZR-1 wreck that had been sitting on a shelf for a few years, figuring I would just have the transmissions swapped for less than the cost of a rebuild. Unfortunately it turns out the trans. is for a regular Corvette. It's a ZF-06 and according to Bill Boudreau the only difference between them is the length of the input shaft. The new tranny definately as a shorter input shaft than the original. Now I'm pondering what to do. We can't get ahold of the seller, so I have no recourse there. I could;

1. Try and sell the new trans., hopefully for enough to get my $ back. However, since the guy wasn't honest about it being from a ZR-1, I'm worried that it may not be a low mileage unit either, and I don't want to stiff someone with a bad trans. If I did sell it I could then get a synco kit for my original tranny but I would have to have them installed, and once it is opened up there may be damage to third gear or other parts as well.

2. Swap the shafts. Bill suggest this and apparently it can be done fairly easily by any shop familiar with these trans. This may be the cheapest alternative, but then I don't have the original casing and id plate, so if I ever sell the car and anyone checks numbers, it will appear that I have the wrong tranny installed. Also, this assumes that the new trans. is in good condition.

3. Have a local shop tear down the new regular trans. and check it for condition. If it's no good, I can sell it as a rebuildable unit letting the buyer know exactly what is wrong with it. If it turns out that the gears and syncros are good, maybe those could be put into my original tranmission as needed? Basically use the best parts from each trans. into the original case? From what I gathered from Bill, the internals are all the same. This option will let me know the condition of the new trans. before we remove and open up the orig. tranny. I'm leaning toward this option, but I don't know much about transmissions so I don't know if it is feasible or not, and would love to hear opinions/options from you guys.

I know the best way is to just remove my tranny and have it sent to Bill for rebuilding, but $$$ is an issue, not just for the rebuild itself, but there is the shipping, taxes, brokerage fees, etc. over the border, as well as approx. 10% on the US dollar, so I'm worried it will get really costly really fast. I'm looking for the most cost effective way to get the car on the road as a good fair weather daily driver.

I have been lurking a fair bit and absorbing as much knowledge as I can from all the informative threads on the go. As always, I appreciate any thoughts you guys may have.

Cheers

Mark

[Hammer]

Shoot a PM to Flin Ryan in Edmonton. He just got through having Bill go through his transmission on his '93 so he can give a good ballpark on total cost.