jotto

Hi guys, went to take the vette to a local club meet here in the UK and found a puddle of power steering fluid under the pump. No obvious signs of leaking though...weird.

Anyway, my manual says to use GM power steering fluid but I wondered if I could top it up with some other fluid without causing any harm. All my other cars have used regular ATF but from what I remember, it was red. The fluid in the vette is a clear/amber colour.

As I dont have a GM dealer locally, I need a substitute. Some one has said I could use Dexron 2 or 3 but I want to be sure before adding anything.

Thanks.

camaroneil

hey jotto,
how's things goin' ???
you can use atf (dexron)
thats all i used to use in my other chevys and the corvette till i installed steeroids, then i started using proper power steering fluid, a friend who has a car parts shop got me it but i had to buy 12 bottles of the stuff,
can't remember the name, will check in the morning,
anyway, if ya just got standard steering, use atf,
natt

vabeachvette

Not to squash this link but good to see you UK guys on the forum, I am heading over to London in May and bringing my 73, looking forward to meeting some of you guys.

camaroneil

are you coming over for good????

vabeachvette

3, hopefully, fun filled yrs

camaroneil

what ya up to????
will ya be stayin' in london???

Maine Vette

Why not use power steering fluid rather than ATF? You can buy it at any auto parts store.

camaroneil

maine vette,,,
not in the uk you can't,
it's like trying to find hens teeth,
natt

jotto

Will check out the local auto shops tomorrow, Like I said, here the majority of cars use ATF for transmissions as well as the power steering.

Is all power steering fluid the same spec and can it be mixed?

Hey Natt, good to speak to you again...and you vabeachvette, you got the shipping sorted then? you gonna bring the jet in the picture as well??

77vetteuk

I replaced my power steering hoses/controll valve/cylinder this summer,removed as much of the old fluid as i could.

I refilled it with GM dextron II which i bought from my local Vauxhall (GM) dealership.I never noticed the colour difference 'till you mentioned it,this is deep red in colour.
When i bought it i asked for GM p/s fluid,the idiot behind the counter said they dont stock p/s fluid?The mechanic there said they always use ATF fluid when servicing etc.He offered me RED dextron II ATF fluid or GREEN ATF fluid?.I guessed the green ATF was maybee the ford stuff at the time, so i went with the red.
Maybee the green is actually the clear stuff? I dunno- but it wasnt dextron II.

I havent had a problem with the red stuff,but before i always topped up with USA GM power steering fluid (clear/amber colour) bought from CAS-AM in castleford,think you could get some mail order if you dont want to mix non original fluid,but i dont think it makes a difference.

camaroneil

the green stuff will probably be the citroen crap,
the stuff i'm using is "slick 50" power steering fluid,
it's clearish,
natt

jotto

Natt, Funny you should say that...
I was advised to go with Dexron II but when I got to the motor factors, the only power steering stuff they had on the shelf was the Slick50 stuff. Now Im not a fan of the slick50 additives but I thought as long as it gets me on the road for a while may be worth a shot. Will let you know how I get on.

I think the fluid is leaking from the front side of the pump. All hoses and unions seem dry. Is this a likely place for it to leak? Is there a good repair kit for the pump or is it just a case of bin and replace?

Will probably replace fluid with Dexron II when I do the repairs.

Twin_Turbo

most likely hydraulic fluid, I use that also. I have a castrol fluid, don't remember the exact name but it's for hydraulic cylinders and stuff.

marshrat99

I've used tractor hydralic fluid in a pinch before. In fact, come to think of it, I've still got it in my 95 Chevy PU that I put in two years ago when I burst a hose.

Ganey

Yes. The seals can be replaced.

Try to find No Leak made by Gold Eagle which can seal leaks.

UKPaul

jotto,
I use Dexron II in mine & it's fine.

vabeachvette,
The CCCUK Nationals are held in late June & would be the best place to meet up with other Vette-heads. What part of London will you be in?

C10 JDR

I got the proper GM stuff from here

http://www.cas-am.co.uk/

69Myway

I did some research on this recently. I drove my 69 to a car cruise in Old Towne. Just as I was backing the car in the return line blew off. I had dedicated clear in color Valvoline power steering fluid in the car and lost it all over the ground.

I was parked in the middle of a Couger club. I had no access to a store to buy more fluid. One of the couger guys gave me some Type FA (ford fluid) to fill it back up.

I filled it up and was able to get home with no problems.

I then started to become concerned since I had never put TYPE F in anything other than a ford transmission. Castrol has some great info on their website in pdf form that discusses all types of hydraulic fluids and what is different between them.

Bottom line is this. Trans fluid and hydraulic machine fluid share the same basic components. Trans fluid however has special modifiers that are designed for certain amounts of friction to be applied to the clutch packs. The Dexron II is a slick formula designed for the least amount of friction which generates smooth trans operation. Type F is a grabby fluid suited for the older Ford trans design and if used in a GM trans or late model Ford trans it will cause the shifts to be harder. Many drag racers put Type F in a GM trans to get more positive shifting.

In regard to power steering pumps non of this matters. There are no clutches in power steering system and all hydraulic and trans fluids have adequate lubrication properties.

SO, with all that said I am no longer in a hurry to drain the Type F out of my car because other than the red color now in it there is NO affect on performance.

Jim Shea

Originally in the 1950’s, automatic transmission fluid (ATF) was specified for both General Motors automatic transmissions and for power steering systems. But as vehicles got heavier, engines bigger, and temperatures hotter, the requirements for the two different systems changed. The GM Research Labs had a Lubricants Section that began testing and modifying the ATF formulation to improve the performance of the GM Hydramatic, Dynaflow, and Powerglide transmissions. They did this without much regard to the fact that the power steering system was using the ATF fluid as well.

So around the same time, Saginaw Steering Gear Division and Texaco tested and developed a fluid with lubricating and antifoaming properties specific for power steering. The fluid characteristics were formulated with particular emphasis on performance with respect to the ring, rotor, vanes, and the driveshaft bushing in the big Saginaw “P” model power steering pump. By the way, the “P” model was the only power steering pump used in all C2 and C3 Corvettes.

That is why some of the early power steering reservoir caps had ATF specified as the proper fluid to use. All the later pump caps and the owner's manuals have said to use "Approved Fluid". The GM power steering fluid is approved for use in any vehicle with a Saginaw power steering pump.

To be honest, all of the Saginaw power steering pumps adapt fairly well to all kinds of fluids. The pumps are marketed and sold all over the world and are used by many vehicle manufacturers who specify their own power steering fluids. Chrysler in the past has used a mineral oil fluid but changed to the GM fluid. Ford uses a special Ford ATF fluid. VW uses a European brand fluid called Pentosin. All of these fluids reportedly work well in their vehicles.

I have no idea who formulated the PS fluid that is sold at K-mart, Pep Boys, NAPA, etc. This isn’t to say that it is bad. However, the amber colored GM fluid is the only fluid that has been certified and tested in GM durability test vehicles for millions of miles. It also is the only fluid that have been durability tested in the Saginaw Steering Gear engineering labs for hundreds of thousands of hours. It is the only fluid that is tested and certified in all types and models of Saginaw power steering pumps.

The GM part number for a quart of power steering fluid is 89020661. The previous GM part number for power steering fluid was 1050017. Both fluids work equally well.

So if you overseas boys can't obtain the GM fluid, you most likely won't cause any problems with your other types of fluids.

Jim

camaroneil

jotto,
i've got some brand new seal kits i got for my system and never got round to fitting, i decided just to fit steeroids instead,
if i find them ya can have them for the cost of the postage,
let me know if you're interested,
natt