Coolent, Oil, Power stering fluid recomendations

Hi - Got my windstar 96 on the road - so far so good
what is the best oil I can use for my windstar
-What brand oil
-What brand coolent
-What brand power stering fluid
-What brand transmision fluid
-What brand brake fluid

Whats the best-?

OK.....I have a'96 3.8L with 145K miles on it.
Different years use different fluids at certain locations.....this is for 1996.

Oil....recommended is 5W-30, FORD TSB approves 5W-20.

Coolant, Ford does NOT recommend "Dexcool". If you go go "long life" you MUST flush out all the regular coolant....the New Prestone stuff claims to be compatible....I do not know...so you would have to read up.

For '96, the Power Steering Fluid MUST be a "Type F" fluid....not the regular "Power Steering Fluid" that you find at the store.

Transmission Fluid..... MUST be MERCON....not MERCON V. They have differant frictional charactoristics.....Mercon and Mercon V are specifications....not brands.

The FORD brake fluid that is specified for the '96 Windstar has a "dry boil" temp of 550 degrees F.
This is higher than the DOT 3 or DOT 4 Specification.
I don't know why....just passing along the official info.....


Now....what I use.....MY OPINION.....

Oil, Mobil 1 5W-30....Walmart sells it in a 5 gallon container.
This gives me MUCH better cold flow....and is rated to take the heat also.
Oil Filter, I use Wix. There are many other good brands out there also....I prefer to stay away from the $2.50 Fram (or whaterver their cheapest one goes for nowadays). The Wix is supposed to have a better anti-drainback valve....and a better bypass valve. Some of the NAPA brand filters are WIX. Purolator is also popular and well recommended.
I change my oil every 3K miles.....with the oil that I use....that is overkill.... I feel it gives me a lot of extra safety margin.

Coolant, I use the standard Prestone Yellow / green stuff.....Ethylene Glycol stuff. Comes in a yellow bottle. I checked their website and they list the FORD specification number for it.
Should change at least every other year. I do not use chemical "flush" as I am still on my first head gasket. The head gasket on the '96 is supposed to be improved over the '95. But can still fail....and a cause of this is very narrow spacing between passages by a back cylinder....and the coolant can "wick" in there and cause the head gasket to fail. Also, the "Front Cover" ....AKA "Timing Chain Cover" gasket....has a tendancy to leak....very expensive to have repaired....(A lot of Labor). Mine developed a very slight seapage....and I have a "stop leak" stuff in the coolant that has kept this under control.

Power Steering Fluid. I use Redline Power Steering Fuid.....a synthetic that should take the heat that seems to cook the power steering fluid on the Windstars. The Redline stuff has the actual FORD specification number on the bottle...that is called out in the FORD owner's manual. I would change yours at this point. To find a retail location in your area....go to www.redlineoil.com Then click "where to buy"....they will have you enter your zip code. Call the listed dealers to be sure that they carry the Power Steering Fuid. I had to go to a racing supply house.

Transmission Fluid. I use Mobil 1 Mercon....Autozone carries it.
This is also a synthetic. Flows real nice in the cold weather....and takes the heat. FORD says to change the tranny fluid every 30K miles for normal service.... 21K miles for "severe" service. I drop the pan.....wipe out the residue (which is normal)...and change the filter. Ford does not list the filter as a regular change item....but....I do it anyhow. The gasket on the neck of the filter tends to stick in the hole in the tranny.....I used needle nose pliers to bend it and pull it out.

An Auxillary transmission cooler is highly recommended. The transmission is a high failure item. So extra TLC will pay off here...in terms of fluid changes and the cooler.

I use the Motorcraft Brake Fluid. There are other brands that meet the higher temp. rating that is specified in the FORD specs....but....again....It may mean another trip to a racing supply house. Make sure that you use a DOT 3 rated fluid.
Also, I found that a normal "Brake Job" that you have done at the shop does NOT include bleeding the brakes.
I bled mine....I used the hand "vaccum" pump that you can buy at Autozone for about $25 (US). The first few bottles that I pumped out of each wheel was the color of coffee. Brake bleeding at each wheel is done just as a non-Antilock Brake car would be done. I did not mess with the antilock braking unit. This would require connecting to a computer....(dealer). The Antilock Brake unit should be fine. The fluid goes bad at each wheel....so bleeding at each wheel will flush out the bad stuff.

I also run a good quality fuel system cleaner through. I use Redline Complete Fuel System Cleaner. They carry it at Advance Auto Parts....I saw it at a Autozone also. I have also read good things about the Chevron "Techron" Fuel System Cleaner. Check / replace your air filter as needed....and don't forget to change the fuel filter once in a while.....The fuel filter is under the car....in front of the driver side rear tire....on the inside of the frame member.

Spark Plugs. The spark plugs are rated for 100K miles.
For replacement, you need to use DOUBLE Platinum. That is....BOTH the center and "ground" electrodes are Platinum "enhanced" This is because the spark goes from the center electrode to the ground electrode on one side of the engine.....and on the other side of the engine....the spark goes from the ground electrode to the center electrode. In other words....a Positive spark on one side of the engine......and a Negative spark on the other. So on one side of the engine.....the ground electrode gets most of the wear. Last I knew (may have changed in the past year) only Autolite and Motorcraft brands are double platinum. I used the Motorcraft. Mine were still working just fine at 135K miles.....and the dealer told me that they were fine....I replaced them anyhow....and as I suspected.....they were fine.... except that the gap had grown wide....which puts additional stress on the system.
Autozone carries the Motorcraft plug. I would stay away from the Bosch plugs....as they do not seem to be a good match for the Windstar....and do not have the double platinum.

Also...check the "serpentine" belt from time to time.....look for cracks and glazing. Is easy to change. 15mm wrench on the idler pulley bolt....and pull (clockwise rotation). There should be a sticker on the underside of the front lip of your hood that shows the belt routing.

Thank you! Im new to the windstar. Im usually a gmc guy. You know one fluid fits all kind of stuff.
I can see why there are so many people with problems with these vans. You have to be so specific with your liquids. Thanks again- great solid info

Wiswind, You and I think a lot alike, my 96 has 140,000 miles and I haven't changed head gasket or tranny. I got the van with 18K miles on it, I use mobil1 synthetic oil and tranny fluid. I do 6-8K miles
on the oil, use Fram heavy duty filters, change tranny fluid and filter
20-30k miles. I added a tranny cooler right away. I did have the engine
backfire once, cause a weak battery didn't crank it good, torn the rubber elbow for PVC line, and damaged intake manifold gasket, thought it was head gasket, but was just intake manifold. I too added Bars heavy duty stop leak for timing chain cover weap. I change coolant, and thermostat, every 2 years. USE NAME BRAND THERMOSTAT.

I should bleed the brakes, I have never used an injector cleaner, guess I should. I had a lot of power steering pump noise years ago, I stuck some Prolong snake oil, and some slick 50 type stuff in there, nothing seemed to happen, but it just got quieter over time. But maybe they have help slow wear on rack and pinion.

I baught a failsafe thermistate yesterday- it is supose to fail open
if it fails---( Is this true (or gimmick))? Thanks for all the great info.