Hello,

Getting around to getting my rebuild 1990 Honda Civic EF on the road (Will be participating in HPDE for now)

What are your recommendations on what to use? I've heard so far Mobile One 10w-40 for engine oil and Honda MTF for transmission fluid. I'm hearing not to use Honda MTF in these older model vehicles though as the new Honda MTF formula is only to be used in the newer Honda models.

Thanks.

 

Great question and welcome to the world of addictive road racing!

For fluids to use it is sort of up to you but I can tell you what I personally would use if it were me. I think if you are seriously tracking the car then I would suggest Motul for the vehicle. It's a great fluid ( can be expensive depending on if you stayed with 8100 or not) and I have really seen it change the life in some vehicles. For brake fluid, I still use ATE even from my early Honda days. For the transmission oil I would keep the theme of the Motul as well and you should see some great improvement in just gearbox whine and shifting feel right away. Good luck in an awesome platform

 

Thank you for the reply! Looking into the ATE brake fluid I've found many suggest 'Super Blue' which doesn't appear to be available anymore. However, I've found ATE TYP 200. Any comment on that fluid? Which Motul fluids are you suggesting for the engine and the transmission? Thanks mate!

 

ATE blue is not longer sold because DOT requires brake fluid to be amber in color. Its the same as TYP 200. it was nice to alternate between blue and amber because you knew exactly when the system was flushed. thats it, no big deal that its no longer sold. use the amber ATE, it works well on track and readily available.

honda MTF is still good, the blend changed many years ago now, but in my opinion and after using both blends on track and in street cars, its better. no problem being lightweight, its less friction, can flow to areas and coat surfaces better, thats what its supposed to do. ppl who think its a bad thing to be so light just arent thinking.

theres a history of debate about original honda shop manual allowing regular motor oil as transmission oil. that was written 30 years ago... motor oil has changed, additives change. honda came out with MTF because it no longer wanted new motor oil additives in their transmissions, and wanted transmission additives in their transmissions. makes sense? putting motor oil in your transmission doesnt make sense....

if you dont want to use honda MTF, then use motul.

mobil 1 is fine for the engine. theres better high performance oils out there but youre not going to find anything better at the auto parts store.

distilled water and Water Wetter (an additive you can buy) for coolant is recommended for the track. you dont want slick glycol antifreeze on the track if it leaks, or after a crash, for others to loose grip and marshalls have to clean up. but HPDE cars still use antifreeze since theyre daily driven cars, so its not mandatory unless the rules say you do. water is better than antifreeze for cooling anyway and even better with Water Wetter.

 

Personally would use honda mtf if there is no problem with the gears 2qts
but ive also used penzoil synchromesh 1.7qts for customers Acuras that were shifting roughly
they noticed a big difference and couldnt stop saying how they loved it