The type of fluid you add to your vehicle is critical to the performance of the cooling, brake and transmission system. Serious damage can occur if you do not use the exact specification of fluid recommended by the manufacturer. Due to the absence of specialist shops in many areas in developing countries, the vehicle owner must have sufficient information on the fluids to use.

Owners are advised not to use coolant only in filling the cooling system reservoir; the proper approach is to use a mixture of water and radiator coolant because of the anti rust properties in the coolant amongst other things. The ratio of water to coolant is usually written on the instruction label on the coolant container.

While earlier brake systems used the DOT 3 (Department of Transport, USA, Type 3) fluid, using this type of fluid which is commonly available in braking systems specified for DOT 5 fluid is not advisable.

The type of brake fluid required is written on the filler cap of the brake fluid reservoir, so confirm before adding any fluid to your braking system. The extremely high pressure generated by modern ABS systems makes it mandatory to use fluids that can cope without degrading and compromising the brake system.

Another area of the vehicle where the fluid type is critical is in the automatic transmission system. While some very high quality Automatic Transmission Fluids will serve for most vehicles built before 1998, certain latter day vehicles do not allow the use of any other fluid than that recommended by the manufacturer because of the nature of the materials used in the manufacture of parts of the transmission system.

Owners shipping vehicles to developing countries should ensure that they ship the vehicle with enough fluids to last at least three years; this translates to a few containers of the Automatic transmission Fluids and Brake fluids.

Always consult your owner manual when you need to add any fluids to your vehicle and remember that the following types of transmission types must use the manufacturers recommended fluid if you do not want to wreck your transmission:

Continuously Variable Transmissions (CVTs) , Sealed “Fill For Life” transmissions, Ford TYPE F ATF ,Ford MERCON® SP, MERCON® LV, MERCON® C,General Motors DEXRON®-VI ATF ,Nissan Matic K ATF ,Toyota/Lexus Type WS ATF

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