VT 5L Fluids

[Mirkz]

Hey everyone,

Had a bit of a scour through this section and tried a couple of searches, but for some reason wasn't coming up with anything, so here goes.

Looking to probably do a bit of a service on the car over the weekend.
I'm chasing advise/tips/info regarding the following if possible?

Oil - What oil would be good for a 5L with about 270,000kms on the clock ?
Will be doing the filter and washer obviously also.

Thinking about trying to do a flush on the trans also.
Is it just a case of dropping the bottom plate off the trans and letting it drain then doing it all back up and filling through the dipstick for the trans??
If so, what oil should I use for this and is there anything else I should look at replacing or that I'll need ? (eg. is there a gasket or anything on the bottom plate?)

Thinking about doing a brake system flush too.
Not 100% sure how to go about this, I've done brake system flushes ages ago, but it's been a good while since I've done one on a car.

Diff oil... is this easy enough to do myself? is it worth doing, and what oil should be used?

Probably gonna chuck some new coolant in it also, probably just top it up though cause I think I'm losing some somewhere (heater core?), so until that's fixed don't want to waste time with putting all fresh stuff in for it to just drop it or lose it somewhere.

Sorry for the long post and a thanks in advance for any help!

[kniever]

engine oil go anything really 20w/50 (personally i prefer penrite)

trans is a pretty messy job, you can buy a whole service kit for them at around $25 which includes filter

brakes are pretty easy to do but you really need 2 people to makes it easier (do a search on here, pretty sure theres a 'how to' for it)

diff oil is easy, very bottom bolt on the backing plate (it is also the biggest) is the drain plug, theres a bolt up higher on the backing plate that is just a bit off from the centre which is the fill plug, fill till oil starts coming out of that hole and replace the plug, i always use penrite limslip 90 be it lsd or single and always been good (there is also a diff additive you can put in for nice-ness LIMSLIP ADDITIVE 7098 - Penrite Oil)

if you end up doing coolant you may aswell do the thermostat at same time too

[Mirkz]

Thanks kniever appreciate the feedback, might look into that service kit for the trans to!

[Macca86]

Kniever pretty much covered it all there. I used to run Valvolene 15W40 in my SS when I had it but a 20W50 would be good as well. And yeah with the trans unless you have a hoist in a workshop to make it a little easier be prepared to get pretty oily and dirty. lol

[kniever]

Kniever pretty much covered it all there. I used to run Valvolene 15W40 in my SS when I had it but a 20W50 would be good as well.

i always ran 20w50 in my 5ltr and it ran good, he also has alot of k's so it will be good for him too

[Mirkz]

Appreciate the help.
Thought I may need a thicker oil due to the mileage etc.

Definitely would like to do my trans oil though, cause I don't think it's been done in forever haha.
Would call a trans place to get a quote to get it serviced, but I think it'd be too much hassle in getting the car there etc.

[accentstencil]

Changing the transmission filter and fluid is easy but it's almost impossible not to make a mess without a hoist. Beats my why they don't put a drain plug in the pan.

[Mirkz]

Filling the trans back up, you just have to use the dipstick to fill ? Or is there somewhere else?

[wrx884]

Kniever pretty much covered it all there. I used to run Valvolene 15W40 in my SS when I had it but a 20W50 would be good as well. And yeah with the trans unless you have a hoist in a workshop to make it a little easier be prepared to get pretty oily and dirty. lol

I use the same except 15W50 dura blend, i used 2 use penrite but found the tappers ticking noise was louder on this stuff not 2 say it wasnt any good but 4 some reason dura blend had hidden the tickin noise as such and havent changed since.

[wrx884]

dan while ur doing ur trans u should do ur corvette servo at the same time

[Mirkz]

LOL...maybe I should buy a corvette servo and wait till I get it to do the mod :P
Unless a corvette Servo is available on a local Auto1 store.

[Mirkz]

Are all auto trans the same on later model commodores?

I'd assume my 5L is the 4L60E ?
I'm looking at service kits, most are saying they're for use with VR through to VZ models or something no matter if they're V8 or V6.. ?