Thread: Power steering fluid

Originally Posted by Graeme

Do you happen to have a reference for this? I can't find such a recommendation on the Castrol website.

Sorry Graham, answering Justins question I meant Caltex, not Castrol. I took a pic of the label



Cheers, Erich.

My experience was the same as TimNZ the bottom hose on the PAS pump was loose.

This happened today. See my post here:

The Kelvinator springs its first oil leak

I've used Penrite PAS Fluid:

http://www.penrite.com.au/files/0B25...AS%20Fluid.pdf

based on a search:

http://www.ew2.lubesinfo.com/framese...1205&langid=16

Tim, getting that kind of stuff sent in is very costly. If I can get it via Caltex then I don't incur freight charges (2L of hazardous goods - can't just post it). Can't even pick it up when I fly out for a holiday

So the PS reservoir is still the same old POS. No surprise really.

Originally Posted by Blknight.aus

I think someone needs to explain to ford about landrovers greening policy...

I think that ford is doing it wrong...

They sold it to Tata it might be curry paste or something

Originally Posted by Bundalene

Sorry Graham, answering Justins question I meant Caltex, not Castrol. I took a pic of the labelCheers, Erich.

Hi Erich,
I was referring to Pedro-the-swift's comment about Transmax Z, which IIRC is made by Castrol.

I have MTF94 but use Syntrans these days.

Forgive my ignorance, JC may be able to answer this. But why are we using cold climate fluids in most of the mainland. I would have thought this would be for Europe, may be Tassie and the Alpine areas.
Surely there is a compatable alternative that is much more readily available?? OK may require flushing initially but would surely be better long term.

Originally Posted by CraigE

Forgive my ignorance, JC may be able to answer this. But why are we using cold climate fluids in most of the mainland. I would have thought this would be for Europe, may be Tassie and the Alpine areas.
Surely there is a compatable alternative that is much more readily available?? OK may require flushing initially but would surely be better long term.

Valid question, makes you wonder what they run in Africa too. My ambient temp up here rarely drops much below 18C in winter and that's for an hour or so over night only

Finally found the technical data on the Texaco stuff:

https://www.cbest.chevron.com/genera...PDS2807674.PDF


The specs are very similar to the Penrite PAS Fluid I posted above

Originally Posted by CraigE

Forgive my ignorance, JC may be able to answer this. But why are we using cold climate fluids in most of the mainland. I would have thought this would be for Europe, may be Tassie and the Alpine areas.
Surely there is a compatable alternative that is much more readily available?? OK may require flushing initially but would surely be better long term.

The old PAS 14315, and the newer PAS 33270 that replaces it are a semi-synthetic fluid (not sure exactly what the bases are, they won't tell me) that was formulated by Texaco UK for the ACE and PAS systems. It incorporates a couple of friction modifiers to inhibit groan and squwark in steering systems too.
Being semi-syn it has a high VI which makes it suitable for low and high temps.

I use Transmax Z to replace it in power steering systems, the feel is very close to the OE fluid and there are no noises in operation, whereas most off the shelf ATF's change the feel of the steering compared to PAS 14315 and aren't exactly quiet.
IMO the Transmax Z will cope better at the high temps that you will get off road when swinging from lock to lock compared to PAS 14315. Nissan Patrols incorporate a power steering cooler to combat this.
Redline's recommendation for Holden and Ford PAS systems when used for racing and rallying used to be MTL, to combat fluid boiling.

Transmax Z also meets the GL4 gear oil spec, although it doesn't mention this on the published spec sheet. It's a very robust, relatively high viscosity PAO/ester ATF.
There are a number of very good ATF's out that would probably fill the bill, but the Castrol is the easiest to get and probably the most cost effective.

Pedro and I discussed about it's suitability in the ACE system and he tried it and has been using it for a while now. <edit> it's green too

As has been noted in a couple of the posts above, a couple of the oil blenders are now offering fluids they claim are close to the original PAS 14315.