Help changing all engine fluids for the first time on 302 68 mustang

Hello everyone,

I finally found my baby and brought her home this weekend. I want to replace all the engine fluids but i was wondering if you guys could give me some pointers or just things to look out for.

Also, could someone advise what type of motor oil i should use on my 302 1968 mustang? and how many quarts will i need? and if there is a recommended motor oil brand and oil filter brand?


I would really appreciate any kind of help.  

5 quarts of oil is required. Fram filters are good but any good brand will do.
With older engines that have flat tappet hydraulic lifters like yours you need oil that has a lot of ZDDP in it to prevent cam lobe damage. ZDDP acts as a sacrificial barrier between lifter and cam lobe. Shell Rotella T organic and synthetic have the right amount and can be purchased a lot of places inmcluding Wal-Mart. You can also use more expensive racing oil that has it too or just buy a ZDDP additive to add to any oil. Most modern oils did away with ZDDP a number of years ago to allow car makers to meet strict environmental standards. Most modern engines now use roller lifters that don't require ZDDP anyway. Old engines will suffer without it.
The viscosity rating for your car's oil will depend on the outside air temps it will see. If you live in a hot climate you can use 10W-40 or if in a very cold climate 10W/30. If in a moderate climate you can go with straight 30W.
I personally like Synthetic 10W-40 because I live in a place that can get really hot in the summer. Synthetic oil doesn't break down under high thermal loading like some organics can. You can also run synthetic oils a bit longer than organic oils too. Organics should be changed every 3000 miles while synthetics can go about 4000-5000. Always change the filter when you change the oil.
BTW: Congrats on your Mustang purchase. The fun begins now. Enjoy and good luck.  

jbirch, you really can put up some informative posts. I really appreciate the help.

oh and thanks. im going to need as much luck as i can possibly get.  

oh sorry, i forgot to mention in the previous post i read an article on mustang monthly about the real bad effects of changing a motor's oil from conventional to synthetic or vice versa. Since i do not know what the previous owner used in the engine before. im afraid i will add the wrong motor oil. Is there another way i can find out which type of oil i should keep adding? i am planning on using synthetic 10W-40 after having read your post. I live in miami and the temperatures here get hot pretty much year round.

Im sorry to make this such a long post but i was also wondering if there is anything i should look out for when adding more power steering fluid? is there a certain additive i may have to add similar to ZDDP for motor oil?

thanks again.  

Power steering fluid is pretty generic. Unless you have leaks just use any good brand and no additive. Just put in P/S resevoir to full line and keep it there.

If you warm the engine up and drain the oil out of the motor while it is hot and fluid you should be able to drain most of the old oil out. Replace the filter at the same time. Then go synthetic and stick with it. I've gone from oraganic to synthetic many times without any problems in Ford small blocks. We used to break-in a new motor and cam  by using 30W organic oil and then drain it out and start using synthetic and new filters after that. No problems there either.

Its your call which way to go. Just make sure your oil choice has enough ZDDP.   My bet is the previous owner probably used the more common and cheaper organic oil. Don't wory about the viscosity number they used. Organic is organic. If your engine has some miles on it and you are getting near the end of the engines useful life then why worry? If it is a newly rebuilt motor it hasn't used the previous owners oil choice for very long and synthetic could help increase engine life in the hot climate you live in.

I think you have nothing to lose by properly converting over to synthetic.
To be sure you feel good about doing the conversion from organic to synthetic make your first oil change (after converting to synthetic) at about 1500 miles. That way any old organic oil that remained in the motor will be diluted, held and flushed out with the first synthetic oil you put in. Then stick with synthetic after that and change oil filters each time you change synthetic oil at about 4K mile intervals.  

Hey, have any of u guys ever used mobil 1 high mileage oil 10w 40?

I'm not finding any bottles that say their oil contains zddp. I also looked at the Shell Rotella T oil but I do not find any indication that it contains zinc.  

Modern heavy duty oils with lots of ZDDP will be marked with the "CI-4" or "CI-4 Plus" on the API Service/Viscosity label. CI-4 and CI-plus will easily pass the API service SL gasoline performance test.
Shell Rotella T has approx. 0.140% content by wieght of zinc and 0.130% content by weight of phophorus. This is above the minimum recommended for our older flat tappet engine service and is a cost effective solution to the problem.
Pennzoil 20W-50 racing oil and Quaker State Q racing oil each have about 0.200% by weight of Zinc and approx. 0.180% by weight of phosphorus. More than the the average street driven motor will need under normal conditions ... and a bit more expensive too.  

I could be wrong, but I thought the old power steering system used Ford auto transmission fluid.  

The original Ford power steering unit used Ford lubricant C1AZ-19582-A in the power steering fluid resevoir. No additives required. Any power steering fluid replacement that is compatible with and recommended as a replacement for that fluid is OK including Ford type F auto trans fluid and Ford convertible top resevoir fluid among others.  

Thanks a lot for the help. I went with a conventional oil. valvoline 10W-40 that had "CI-4" and "CI-4 Plus" on the API Service/Viscosity label. The engine runs noticeably smoother and quieter.  

Im moving on to changing the brake and coolant fluids this week. Any tips or tricks to know about when bleeding the brakes and flushing the radiator?

sorry for all the questions guys but its my first time and i want to make sure i do it right. Shes my baby.  

Not sure how much experience you have with brake bleeding. Start bleeding at the right rear, then left rear then right front and finally the left front. Use NEW DOT 3 minimum or DOT 4 hydraulic brake fluid. Don't mix conventional brake fluid with other types.
Brake fluid absorbs water from the air. Use as soon as you open the can and dispose of any fluid that you haven't used after a couple of days. Water and air aren't good in the brake system for many reasons.
Brake fluid will eat your paint job so be careful not to spill any on your fenders.
Make sure you have collapsed the brake master cylinder cap gasket before reinstalling the cap on your newly filled master cylinder.
'68 (I think) and '69 Mustangs have an equalizer fitting in the brake system that will trigger a brake malfunction light if one end of the car has more brake pressure than the other. If that happens just bleed a little fluid out of one of the front or rear brakes to get the pressure to equalize. The light will go out when that happens and you are good to go.

Run a good cooling system cleaner through your engine per directions on can. Then
drain and flush. Then back flush. If you don't have a back flush hose attachment on your engine's heater hose to accomplish this (they have them at auto parts stores) remove the radiator cap and the bottom radiator hose and put a garden hose in the bottom radiator hose outlet. Wrap a rag around the garden hose to fill the gap and turn the water on. This will force water in the reverse direction up the radiator tubes and loosen any crud that might have lodged going the normal downward direction in the radiator. The water and hopefully the crud will come out the radiator cap opening when you do this.
Make sure your bottom hose has a spring inside of it while you have it off. The spring keeps the hose from collapsing under higher rpms.  

Thanks again guys. I will work on these soon.