Hi Matt,
Most agree that the oil for our shocks is motorcycle fork oil, 20 or 30
weight, since their forks are shock absorbers too. Still, since you have
a leak, the ATF is a good idea. One of the ingredients is supposed to
swell rubber seals, which could prove beneficial in the case of a leaking
shock.
I know the stuff swells rubber. Two years ago, a jiffy lube or
equivalent poured ATF into #1 daughter's Civic master cylinder. That
swelled the rubber in all the brakes, the proportioning valve, the hoses,
the MC ---about $1400 of repairs, as I recall. When we drained the MC,
we found the ATF in red balls of fluid in the DOT3. The Honda service
manager tells me that he gets three or four cases of that each year.
BTW, the brakes worked just great. It locked up all four of them so
tight that the winch dragging the Civic onto the service truck's platform
strained to get the Civic off the pavement, skidding it until it got to
the metal ramps that we wet so the tires would have less grip. I
usually did my own oil changes and fluid checks before then---now it's
Always that I do them.
Bob
On Mon, 05 Jan 1998 14:43:35 -0500 Matt Kulka <Matt.Kulka@hboc.com>
writes:
>Having bought my 'B with a leaking front shock, I was going to fill it
>back up and see if it was a fast leak or a slow PO. As much as I dug
>through my Haynes, I couldn't find what sort of oil to top up the
>shocks
>with. Do the veterans agree with using ATF?
>
>Matt Kulka
>'74 B - only mildly shocking at this point.
>
>>>> "Mike Gigante" <mikeg@vicnet.net.au> 01/05/98 02:58am >>>
>
>ATF and power steering fluid are the same thing - I use ATF.
>In fact ATF is also perfect to use in lever arm shocks.
>ATF, PSF, and shock oil have the magic anti-foaming additives and are
>almost exactly the same weight.
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Stuart Hellis <health4u@connect.ab.ca>
>>Am I the only person using Power Steering Pump Fluid? I was taught
>that it
>>was the best all-round oil for the dash pots, especially in extremes
>of
>>temperatures...
>
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