Replacing all fluids

[jliuod]

Got a 2007 3.0SI a week ago and decided to change out all the fluids.
Ended up taking about 4 hours from start to finish.

Changed out the oil with Mobil 1 0w40 and a Mann filter. No drama there. I would recommend putting a rag around the oil filter housing. You will drip oil when you take the old filter out.

Replaced the stock manual transmission oil with Redline MTL. My fill and drain have the green O-rings on them. I had order new plugs, but I really can not see why it is a one time use plug. I save the old ones for the future just in case.

To the differential. Mine has only a fill plug. I have a Mityvac so I just vacuum out what I could. Turned out may be 0.75 qt. I refilled it with Redline 75w90 gear oil.

Next was the brake fluid. Again I use my Mityvac to vacuum out the fluid. I started with vacuuming out all the old fluid in the reservior and replaced with fresh fluid. Then started on RR, LR, RF, then LF. It took a lot more time to vacuum out the brake fluid the further away from the brake master cylinder.

I also decided to remove the CDV. The removal was uneventful. I left out the spring thingy(it is the H-shape spring that goes between the hard line and the plate that the metal cylinder goes through). Now on to bleeding the slave clutch cylinder. That was a bit challenging as the space was very limited to use the 7mm to open and close the valve. Again I used the Mityvac to vacuum out the fluid. Not much came out.

Well, I am not so sure if I feel any differently with the CDV gone. Maybe, just maybe the engaging and disengagin of the clutch is a bit more responsive. I will have to drive more to test it out. The shifting itself is much less notchy and very smooth with the Redline MTL.

Overall, I am glad I got all these done. Now I will not have to worry about it for while. I am planning to change out the oil every 5000 miles. I use the same Mobil 1 for my 2014 WRX and Subaru recommends to have oil change every 3,750 miles. Granted it is turbo charged. But oil change is cheap especially when you do it yourself. Why take the chance?

Additionally, I got rid of my stock run flats and replaced them with Continental Extreme Contact DW. All I can say is WOW! MUCH quieter and the ride is MUCH smoother. I got myself a plug kit, a jack, an air compressor and torque wrench plus a 17mm socket just incase I get a flat. Well worth the effort and cost to get rid off the run flats.

[Asianoak]

What are your thoughts on the redline mtl? I have an appointment to have tranny fluid, cdV and oil done with my Indy next week and he recommended against redline in the transmission. Says he's not had the best experience with it in the z4. Strange because it's been amazing in my auto 325xi. Seems like there are only limited reviews posted here as well and not many with long term or high mileage experience.

[jliuod]

Originally Posted by Asianoak

What are your thoughts on the redline mtl? I have an appointment to have tranny fluid, cdV and oil done with my Indy next week and he recommended against redline in the transmission. Says he's not had the best experience with it in the z4. Strange because it's been amazing in my auto 325xi. Seems like there are only limited reviews posted here as well and not many with long term or high mileage experience.

Too early to tell. I have used Redline products in the past with great results. Having said that, I did not use the Redline transmission fluid in my 2014 WRX as the general consensus was the Redline transmission fluid does not last in the WRX. Otherwise, I never had any issues with Redline.

So far, the shifting is much improved. The shifter now "glides" with almost no effort. Time will tell.

[Asianoak]

Look forward to a long term review from you... Or anybody else. Thing that scared me was Indy saying he actually replaced trannies that had been running redline. But, that could be because of harder driving conditions, or higher mileage or any other combination of events and not the redline itself. Just seems like very little info out there from the 3.0si guys so I'm always hesitant to try anything other than oem parts on the Z. Now on me E46 it was a whole other story since there was so much information available.

[papitosabe]

just saw a video the other day about how one should do an oil flush once a year as there is still some bad oil that is left in the engine and that is will mix a little bad oil with the new oil? Anyone hear about it or have it done and is it important to have done. I think the same was said for a transmission flush.

[gas-can]

Asianoak,

I replaced my stock atf in the mt about a year or two ago with the redline synthetic manual transmission fluid and it's been pretty good. I lost some of the rubbery feel that I had noted with the stock fluid. I can't remember that fluid in the winter (cold temps), but this fluid is a bit stiff when it's really cold (say around 20 faran and below). I think that's a given for any fluid though at those extremes. Once warmed up it's quite awesome.

I checked the fluid this summer and it was clean (that was with about 30,000 miles on it). Tbh, when I pulled the original atf, it was as clean as a whistle too....

Hope that helps,
-gc

[WestCDA]

Originally Posted by papitosabe

just saw a video the other day about how one should do an oil flush once a year as there is still some bad oil that is left in the engine and that is will mix a little bad oil with the new oil? Anyone hear about it or have it done and is it important to have done. I think the same was said for a transmission flush.

Sounds like a not so original plan to extract money by preying on peoples fears - not sure where you saw your video, but oil change shops love to promote this 'procedure' for every oil-lubricated assembly on your car.

There is very little contaminated oil left over during a proper oil change. That is then diluted to almost nothing in the new oil, and quickly run through the new filter you presumably installed at the same time. Short of tearing down the engine there is NO method that will get 100 percent of the old oil out of it - change your oil as needed and you've got nothing to worry about.

[Asianoak]

Originally Posted by gas-can

Asianoak,

I replaced my stock atf in the mt about a year or two ago with the redline synthetic manual transmission fluid and it's been pretty good. I lost some of the rubbery feel that I had noted with the stock fluid. I can't remember that fluid in the winter (cold temps), but this fluid is a bit stiff when it's really cold (say around 20 faran and below). I think that's a given for any fluid though at those extremes. Once warmed up it's quite awesome.

I checked the fluid this summer and it was clean (that was with about 30,000 miles on it). Tbh, when I pulled the original atf, it was as clean as a whistle too....

Hope that helps,
-gc

Yeah that helps, considering the 30k miles you have on it. Seems like most of the Z4M guys run Royal Purple in their manuals... Same tranny so perhaps that is the way to go. Debate seems to be whether it's the actual fluid brand that makes a difference or just the fact that it's fresh fluid. Mine has 74k miles on it so I'm sure that anything would make a positive improvement in feel, especially going into second.