OK. Listen up people. In the 60s oils were developed for Jet aircraft which operated in the extreme cold (like -50) at 35000 + feet and yet could handle the extreme operating temperatures ( 300 + degrees ) generated by the jet turbine engine, basically a giant blowtorch. These are what we now know as "Synthetic" oil or hydraulic fluid. I live in Northern Canada where in the winter I have experienced -55 degrees F. and summer temperatures of 120F. Cold Temperatures such as this cause oil not to flow where needed, to seals and bearings and bushings, and to seize or wear out or just break or don't function. Synthetic fluid continues to flow at these extremely low temperatures, therefore the components are lubricated, do not dry up, and do not break. As well the load on your starter is less, quick start without overheating your electricals. Very high temperatures (+80) have a similar effect on normal oil by causing it to break down from the engine/system heat into it's constitute parts and thereby lose lubricity. Synthetic oils do not break down inl heat, again all the parts are lubricated and can withstand the loads on them. I know it is much more money to run Synthetic fluids, but the savings in time, Repairs, and frustration is worth it. Synthetic fluid costs more, but your change intervals are longer, therefore it works out to about the same. When you first use Synthetic you will find everything starts to loosen up and work much easier. It is important to choose the right Synthetic for each load application. Here in Canada, Toyota now uses only their Synthetic at about $5.00/ quart on their vehicles since their research proved that it worked better, and they had fewer service recalls. I change my Synthetic every three months, my hydraulic fluid once a year. At -40 my Kubota starts every time and runs better than the day I bought it used. If you can't afford to use Synthetic all the time, just replacing one quart in your engine with Synthetic will cause wonders. All the best, lubricate and save on repairs.

My Dad(rest his soul) bought his horse new in 1983 and it still runs great! My mother and I use that tiller every year without trouble. We don't use as much as we used to but I just drained the original SAE 140 out of it and it did not look bad at all to what I've seen in my own years. Now I'll have to find some, but I will put the GL1 or GL2 in from comments above so thanks! BTW...the book says to use straight 90 or 140. No multi-viscosity oils at all. The comment above about the Kohler engines is spot on. They are indestructible and run like clocks(with a few misses here and there...lol...gas these days stinks!) but it is still running strong with no issues. Wish they still made machinery like that. Too many bells and whistles now a days.

Consult a repair manual or the user's manual about how to check the transmission fluid level for your vehicle. I am not familar with your vehicle, but the following is a general procedure that I have used for all the automatics that I have owned. Check the fluid hot. Some dipsticks may have hot and cold marks or holes in the stick. Automatic transmission fluid expands when heated. The fluid level must be measured with the engine running so that the torque converter remains filled. While in the car and with the brake on, move the gear selector through reverse and a forward gear, then back to park. Apply the parking brake and check the dip stick. The oil line may be difficult to see. If the stick picks up oil from the side of the tube when withdrawn, there may be splashes of oil above the full line. If the fill line is obliterated, put the stick back in all the way, and try again. Continue until you get a positive indication of the fluid level. This takes practice and some experience to avoid a false reading. Keep the upper end of the stick elevated above the bottom end. The stick does not have to be perfectly upright and may be lain down as much as 45 degees from horizontal. if the stick is allowed to go level or more, the oil line may creep up the stick or flatten out. When you withdraw the stick, keep a rag or waste paper under its tip to prevent dripping any fluid on painted surfaces. Transmission fluid harms paint. If you can't see the fluid line, rotate the stick to view its other side. In other words, keep fiddling with it until you get a reliable reading. You'll probably have to move the stick from under the hood out into better light to see the level (hense the need to catch the drips).

Well, a few months later and I thought I'd give an update. I may get some flack for our decisions, but they feel right to me. First, we decided to keep the Hyundai and get it fixed. Taking it to a couple of mechanics was on DPs to-do list (this never got done). Second, we had been working on some real estate tax problems and those were finally resolved. This resulted in enough cash for us to get started on the kitchen. Again, we already had most of the expensive stuff. A friend of DP is doing the work at a discount and DP is helping around work hours. I'm just complaining that the kitchen I've waited 2 years to get my hands on is finally being done without me ;) Soon after the kitchen decision, the fridge died, however we got a new one, great deal, at Sears Outlet. It has a couple of dents, but is bigger and much more efficient than the old one. And it works lol. One day DP took down the ceiling light in the kitchen. He reached up to the much larger than it should have been bundle of wires hanging from it and all of the cloth insulation crumbled off! Well. That answered that question. And why were there so many wires running through that fixture? Well, we no longer had any working ceiling lights on the first floor, and the outlets in our bedroom on the 2nd floor also stopped working. So, DP and 2 very handy friends replaced all that wiring. Since nothing was being added/removed/taken out it was safe. At the same time they split up all those things that were on 1 fuse into 4 fuses. DP has also bought a circuit box (?) load center (?) something like that and will be replacing the fuse boxes - again with experienced help. Because of the delay with the electric (3 electricians never showed up, must be plenty of work in Chicago) we (I mean they) had time to demo the plaster (not good enough to keep) instead of drywalling over it. Because we took it down we were able to insulate the exterior walls :) On to the AC. I find it extremely amusing that after saying Chicago only has a couple of miserable weeks a year, this has been an AWFUL summer already! Luckily we had decided to buy energy efficient window units. 1 on each floor keeps it just bearable. I still end up with cold showers some nights though. The whole pregnancy = higher body temp thing is apparently true. Last - back to the car. We got a great deal on a 2005 VW wagon. It's bigger, safer, etc. It's definitely a family car, not a "sport wagon" and I still haven't made my peace with that, but everything in due time ;) Baby could come anytime in the next 2 - 3 weeks, I'm due the 20th. The kitchen isn't done and the house is a disaster, but I'm not worried. My electric is safer, my car is big enough for the whole family, and I have enough AC to survive. We're stable financially and are both looking into additional income sources to be safe. As always, thanks to the great GWers for the rational advice!