[ramzey]

I posted yesterday about my 147 and the leak it has on the spirally black tube at the front left of the engine bay. Dave C said it was a power steering cooling coil, so I thought I had better check my power steering fluid levels, as I had never bothered to before. Sure enough, it is well below min..

I need to top it up and quickly! I've got a long trip on the weekend, I'll have the leak seen to with my cambelt in a couple of weeks.

Anyway, I am well confused as to what I shoudl use to top it up. The handbook says it needs "ATF Dextron II D LEV, SAE 10W" oil. Can I pick this stuff up, or an equivalent from halfords??

Cheers,

 

[jomor]

I m not sure if you should use specific alfa romeo fluid or not, but I can tell you this: when topping it, you should turn the steering left and right many times and re-check the level. You may need to top it two or 3 times while doing this. I had a leak problem when i was on a trip, and i used a steering fluid for topping it, bought from a local petrol station, just to do the trick and be safe on my trip. Then i replaced the fluid with stock alfa romeo fluid at the dealer, when i booked the car in for the leak repair. Check the fluid level as often as you can until the repair.

 

[No Dosh]

You can get ATF to that spec at Halfords.

 

[badgers_nadgers]

For my power steering I just use automatic transmission fluid available from most garages and certainly halfords. It's Dexron III though, so whether you specifically need Dexron II or not, I wouldn't know. I would imagine Dexron III exceeds II and so you can use that, but I'm no expert in these matters.

 

[No Dosh]

ATF = Automatic Transmission Fluid.

There is a compatability guide next to the bottles on the shelf at Halfords.

 

[ramzey]

cool, cheers peeps, will running low on power steering oil mess up my rack, also do you think it will be expensive to fix?

 

[ramzey]

One more thing, the level is just belwo min. the interval between min and max for engine oil is 1 litre, what is the interval for the power steering fluid? I'd imagine it would be a lot less.

 

[gazza82]

The bottles usually come in 1 litre and you won't need that much: it's going to be measured in ml.

I've had mine for two Alfa's now: on the older 75 I changed the steering rack and drained all the fluid and I've still got plenty left.

 

[ramzey]

ok, so I got some oil on my lunch break from halfords, it was from the "GEAR AND TRANSMISSION" section, checked the 147 chart they had, could not find a power steering section.

it is "castrol manual smx-s SAE 75W-85 GL3/4"

If I have to take it back I will, however it does not match what is in the 147 handbook:

"ATF Dextron II D LEV, SAE 10W"

Seems to be different, would it be ok to put it in??

 

[ramzey]

by the way, it says its synthetic transmission fluid on the front, my work mates say that its for yer gearbox, NOT power steering, may have to take it back, it is awfully thick.

 

[David C]

WRONG STUFF!!

You need ATF Fluid not Gear Oil.

Any Dexron II, III or IV ATF fluid will be fine.

Take it back.

 

[ramzey]

SuperDave to the rescue, cheers bud
They did not have Dexron 2, but they did have 3. Have to use that instead, I suppose 3 is better is it?

 

[David C]

Yes Dexron III is better than Dexron II.
You just need Dexron II or better, so Dexron III will be fine.

 

[ramzey]

just out of interest, if I ever completely run out of power steering juice, what woudl be the symptoms? Woudl it mess things up badly?

 

[David C]

VERY heavy steering (you will hardly be able to move it).
If you ran the pump dry it probably wouldn't do it any good.

Best to keep it will topped up.

 

[ramzey]

Overfillign doesn't hurt it like it does with engine oil right? Is it ok to go above max?

 

[David C]

If you overfill it will just eject it out of the breather tube.
Not much of a problem.

 

[baj2005]

Hey guys good thread here ... Im pretty sure I had a serious ATF leak a couple of days ago ... level is below min ... but warning light on dash is "Motor Control Failure" ... any idea is this related or caused by poxy lamda sensors etc ?