General steering box oil

[caz360]

just going through my 500F and wanted to know what type of oil I should use to top up the steering box?

 

[tjmra]

Manuals I have state SAE 90 EP gear oil, so that's what I used.

Joe R

 

[caz360]

thats great thanks!

 

[timgarman]

Yep, that's what I used too. But mine has a leak I note from another thread that they commonly developed leaks which were hard to fix. But using a thicker oil might fix that. As long as it's not so thick that it doesn't flow around all the moving parts easily.

 

[Bambino]

Over the years I've had great success with a mixture of high temperature grease and SAE90EP oil for steering boxes - particularly those with unfixable leaks.

The mixture is approximately 1:2 grease to oil to about a viscosity of honey. It is still thin enough to penetrate and lubricate, but thick enough so it doesn't drip out quite as easily.

Chris

 

[fiat500]

I don't know how essential the EP additives are in the box, but you could try the straight 140 SAE as goes in many cars of an earlier era shich had poor or no positive sealing.

 

[gordinir8]

My box is leaking oil and I noticed that a well known and serious dealer with 500 parts sells overhauled boxes filled with grease instead of oil. After a short search on internet I found that switching to grease is a common practice in order to eliminate leaks on old cars. Doesn't look bad idea to me but can i fill the box with grease without removing it from the car? I think that the filling plug is not enough.
Thomas

 

[Paolo66]

Just my opinion Thomas but I wouldn’t use just grease. Its too viscous (thick) and the friction required to overcome it could cause problems. Potentially you could end up with a locked box especially if you packed it with too much grease. I mixed a molybendium grease with a sae90 oil in a 50:50 ratio to give me a fluid with the consistency of runny honey.
I couldn’t get my filler plug out but even if I could its just as awkward to fill as the gearbox unless you’ve got a syringe or similar
Damian

 

[Toshi 975]

Had similar problems with my old '37 Talbot and '47 Sunbeam Talbot steering boxes. We ended up using Shell Retinax semi fluid grease but I see that Penright now sell a specific semi fluid steering box grease

 

[gordinir8]

Had similar problems with my old '37 Talbot and '47 Sunbeam Talbot steering boxes. We ended up using Shell Retinax semi fluid grease but I see that Penright now sell a specific semi fluid steering box grease

That Penrite looks exactly what I am looking, Unfortunately can't find it locally. I have a product we use on similar aircrafts applications, boxes with rotary actuators etc but I am not sure if will cause any damage because it might attack to metals alghough i belive it will be ok. Any opinions on this?

https://www.rocol.com/products/aerospec100-low-temperature-aerospace-grease

 

[Paolo66]

You should be alright with that Rocol stuff Thomas. Its only 12 cSt vicosity which is relatively thin. Cant do any harm giving it a go

 

[gordinir8]

It is like child food actually, thick enough to leak from a propeller hub spinning at 1050 rpm that has damaged seals so I guess it will be just fine in my car. I will try and drain the oil without removing the box and fill it up with this stuff.
Thomas