Ok about 4 months ago I had AMS change all my drivetrain fluids. They used MT-90 in the tranny, lightweight shock proof in the TC, and heavyweight in the rear diff. with the redline additive. I went to AMS because they obviously know there stuff but it was also much cheaper to change the fluids with them as opposed to the dealer who wanted nearly $500 to do the job.

I've had zero issues with the combo so far. To be honest i do not feel a difference with the way the tranny shifts. Car feels like normal. Now I hear 50/50 mixed opinions on using anything other than the stock fluids in the drivetrain. I do not want to experience any future issues because the car is basically stock besides a catback. (I would like to keep my warranty.... )

I know that AMS and Shep both recommend redline but I think I may have made the wrong choice. I park in a nice heated garage but I also live in Chicago where the winters can get pretty nasty.

I would like to hear some honest facts (NOT OPINIONS!) from anyone. If AMS, Buschur, or Shep can chime in, it would be appreciated!

 

Good luck getting actual facts

 

Not sure anyone has collaborated and analyzed any data on bad drivetrain variables in the last 4 years. AMS and Shep are definitely trustworthy and if Buschur chimes in confirming, then there you go. 3 out of 3 should be enough to ease your mind.

 

Here is some unbiased factual info, take it for what its worth.

I tried the Redline combo in the driveline of my 04 GSR for the first fluid change. I used their MT-90 w/additive in the TC and their 75w-90 in the trans & rear. (i'm pretty sure thats what I did, I'd have to check my notes to make sure I got the items right). Either way it was what they recommended, fluid wise, for an EVO driveline. I purchased the fluids from a well known vendor here on the boards.

After 6k miles and about 1.5 months my driveline started to get louder and louder. At that time I did a lot of drag racing which is probably the most shock you can put on your driveline so it will test the protection capabilities of your fluids. I flushed it all and noticed a large amount of metal shavings on the drain magnets of both the TC and trans. THere was a little but not much on the rear.

I made the switch back to diaqueen in the TC and tried RP 75w-90 in the trans. I forget what I put in the rear, I think it was 75w-90 but I have to check my notes. After about 3-4k miles of abuse I flushed my fluids again but this time noticed very little to no metal shavings on the trans drain maginet but there was still a decent amount on the TC. Not as much as before but enough to make me want to try something different. So this time I filled the TC with Redline HEAVYWEIGHT shockproof (pink stuff) and put the same weight RP 75w-90 in the trans.

At my next flush about 3k miles later both the trans and TC drain magnets looked great, no metal shavings on either. That was about 40k miles ago and its all I've been using since. I tried one more time to put the mitsu diaqueen back in the TC to see if it made any difference but again when I drained the fluid there was metal shavings so now I stick with Redline HEAVYWEIGHT shockproof in the TC and RP 75w-90 in the trans religiously.

My car currently has 84k +/- miles with 200 +/- drag passes and haven't had an issue. On average I flush my fluids between 3-5k, almost at every oil change. I just had my driveline freshened up by Shep a couple months ago and he said my internals looked better then some EVO's he has seen with 12k miles. I contribute that to the type of fluid I use and the frequency I change it.

 

^^^nice post. good experience info.

 

redline mt-90 no mix in my trans so far so good..stock in the tc and rear diff

 

I'm not worried abput the transmission as much I am the TC and rear diff. It's funny how AMS and Shep recommend it but Buschur doesn't. It's hard to tell what is ok and what is not because of the mixed views. Evo's are much more complicated than the old dsm's.....

 

T/C and rear diff, Diaqueen. For trans you can use RL.

 

exactly my point use the OEM stuff in the TC and diff....

 

Im the other way around, I use factory trans and TC stuff, but redline in the rear diff.

 

I think that everyone can see why it is so confusing. The answers are mixed even with the responses I received in this post.

 

different shops choose different fluids because of sponsership... if they try it and its good and if their dealer gives them a good price they will say X brand allthe way!!" if they try a different brand and they get good results and a good price they say " Z Brand all the way!!"

normally all fluids as long as they are the recomended thicknesses will work fine...

stock fluids are all non synthetic and they try and call them cool names like Diaqueen.. its still basic 90Wt oil with lsd addittive...

do the basic flushes depending on how you drive ur car to keep the oil doing its job and you will be fine.. just make sure you get the recomended thicknesses..

 

mt-90 for me...

 

ive used blue (light weight) in trans, and Red (heavy) in TC and not had one prob im sure thats what AMS uses in their shop car, its what Dan bajalis used to use and prob anything that has come out of ams, has the Blue/red combo,

 

I am currently running Royal Purple in the car, in every part:

Engine Oil
Tranny Fluid
TC
Rear Differential

Now, when I first did my service on the car, a full service (Fluid change) I noticed that when I pulled the plugs out they looked like a 70's fro with metal shavings. That was the first service, so I image alot of that was from the factories initial assembly. Since then all fluids have been changed with Royal Purple and I have yet to see enough metal shavings on the magnets to worry me at all. I am happy with the Royal Purple because it made my shifting slightly smoother, the TC wines like it always has from the factory (Wined the day I drove it off the lot) so no difference there. After the first Royal Purple change, I, out of paranoia, changed all of them again about 4,000 miles later because I wanted to see the condition of the magnets. To my surprise, there was so little shavings on it that I used it again. Next change was about 9,000 miles later, and same result, so little metal shavings that it's in there for good now.

I wish I knew all the weights off the top of my head... Maybe tomorrow I will edit this post and add all of them in...