It's for a 1990 240DL - the Chilton's on one page says type F ATF and on another page it recommends Dexron II. Which one do I use. There's a slight seep or leak and I want to fill it up until I have time to track it down. Thanks.

My 240 power steering cap reads - use power steering fluid
My 240 owners manual reads - use ATF
My 240 Green Specs manual reads - use ATF Type A, F or G
My 240 Haynes reads - Dexron II

Looking a Dexron there is a lot of backward compatibility with problems in orig Dexron resolved with by Dexron III.

I also read that given the power steering system vs the transmission the special additives in Dexron for the transmission do not apply to the power steering. Heat and friction do not seem to apply but the reduced hygroscopic quality of Dexron III would seem to be a benefit.

Not finding a "do not mix" anywhere except as it applies to transmissions.
--
1988 244 DL; B230F; LH-2.2; Manual 5-speed (M47)

Hi,

My choice is to go with what the cap says. Simple.

Power steering fluid is a blend of mineral oils and additives.
When it comes to lubrication a petrochemical institution decides will work “safely” for many reasons and long term.
I feel more confident that a hygroscopic quality was in the mix as well.
I never have been comfortable of Dexron’s habits of having to continually upgrade to keep their market share.
I use what’s recommended because I’m not one to out guess what’s in these systems.
What I do recognize is marketing and royalty shares, used to influence the making of deals.
Saying use “power steering fluid” is about as generic as it gets.
No NASCAR branding is the one and best product I choose because NASCAR doesn’t make a product to begin with. It’s strictly a branding and hype corporation. IMO.

The manufacturer of the pump made the cap and from there on down they should have a better idea of what is going to be attached to it as far as hoses and seals.
All three are part of the whole industry to begin with.

Power steering’s as a whole are probably the overlooked or ignored.
A neglected system on interval maintenance schedules by owners.
Only beaten out only by rear differentials because of the accessibility.

What do you do about the oil in there? No message outside.
Minimal recommendations for them, except check the level?
It’s a Standard manual procedure all my life.

Cannot say I have ever seen much on them for a mileage to change its oil?
If it gets submerged, think about it is all.
Naturally for recreational Boaters, There’s a vent on top.

Yep, It’s a quiet market, so has NASCAR stuck a flag on there with a certain brand? (:-)
I have one or two bottles for years and that’s been it for everything I have owned.
Probably overdue (:). Change it and get a leak is what I hear.

Phil

Hi Phil,

Use Type F. Synthetic Type F is better.

TRW pump like you and I have use Type F. Most 240 owner manuals indicate Type F.

https://www.motorcraft.com/us/en_us/home/our-products/chemicals-and-lubricants/transmission-fluid/type-f-automatic-transmission-fluid-and-power-steering-fluids.html

Do NOT use the composite power steering fluids. These fluids at essence Dexron, Mercon, Mopar. Like the Dexron you use in the trusty AW7x.

Use Type F or one that meets the Ford Type F specification in the pump. Maybe ask the dealership? Turbobricks?

1988
https://volvornt.harte-hanks.com/manuals/1988/1988_240/88240_03b.htm

1990 owner manual indicates ATF
https://volvo.custhelp.com/app/manuals/OwnersManual/om_id/1304

1991
https://volvo.custhelp.com/app/manuals/OwnersManual/om_id/1253

Type F only in 1991.

1991 says Type F. It is a TRW pump yet the reservoir and pump are conjoined again.

It is the hydro-static friction the power steering on our Volvo use best. THe Volvo doc is wrong at times, like M47 fluid. We may not be able to ask their engineers. Volvo shop mechanics are probably all retired.

Don't blend fluids. I read Dexron / Mercon / Mopar.

I've been told use the fluid that came in the power steering system is what you use.

Also, after abiding Haynes, I put Dexron III after loosing the belt and spinning the pulley until the fluid was out. Both rack seals failed in about six months and maybe 4k-7k easy miles. The pump is removed and it is manual steering. I wrote it up here. Use the same synthetic Type F in M47 II.

Don't blend Type F with another fluid.

I use the Amsoil SuperShift synthetic that states the fluid is Type F and Allison C4 spec. Redline has a Type F synthetic as does Mobil 1.

Hope that helps you!
--
Beh.

Hi Kitty,


Thanks for the information but it wasn’t my post. It’s an old thread drudged up by tbb2.

I was just suggesting to not get caught up it trying to second guess what the petroleum industry works to simplify.

Phil

Hi Phil!

Sorry not to pay attention.

Hope you, your family, your fur babies,and RWD Volvos are cool, safe, and happy!

Bruce
--
Beh.

Hi,

Oh we are cool and happy. That’s why I’m up in my northern coastal house. We stay in the high sixties and low seventies all summer except when I’d tries to get past 80 a couple times a summer.
I saw where you are farther North now. Is that Washington state?
Bet you’re more than glad to be out of Missouri or that suburb of Northern Texas about now.

My cars stay pretty much under garage setting but occasionally, when I need more room, one will go under a shade tree. It makes me feel better even though I don’t work on them there, due to the stigma that comes alone with doing all my own work ….? (:-)
No sense paying someone else to guess or figure out a diagnosis, by trial or error, on the hour nowadays.

Yep the posts we make or help we provide can get taken in many different ways.
Denmark’s smells of strange things done elsewhere, can come to an experienced Swedish car owner.
Example:
I got a call from a relative’s friend that has a clothes washer down.
Problem:
The Amana has a agitator that works and it pumps out but no spin cycle available.
Diagnosed within a 45 min. service call as a bad bearing but no write up given on site but will be by email, later. No one paid yet.
Bill to follow on-line and advised to get a new washer there in the home.
The present washer is only six years old.
That’s not old IMO. I have a Maytag, bought in 1974, that’s outlasted my Ford F-100 with only 180k.

She decided to get another recommendation for diagnosis by networking.
it’s now quoted as a bad motor? I asked, but it runs?
Hello, So it’s not reversing or no second speed? Depending on Amana ‘s maker what goes on.
A relay to reverse the leads or a timer that does it?
The Windings stay the same, when working, IMO.
Jeez, possibly only a failed lid switch or one that’s caked up with soap junk?

I think I have taught a few in-law relatives to think. Probably why I got called.
If they’re really industrial like, I have fix things by using FaceTime with them but I don’t know this friend.

Go figure on what you would do using our BB armchairs of intellectual prowess, as it’s probably a simple thing.
(:-)

Phil

Totally not on the subject but then Type F or Dexron has been covered thoroughly. Machine man, you wrote--"Denmark’s smells of strange things done elsewhere,..." made me think of what my Danish born friend Gert (a Volvo factory trained mechanic) told me about a common shrub in Denmark that makes the whole country smell. Shopping centers here in the USA use the same shrub as decoration in the malls--fewer problems of theft. :-) -- Dave

Hi Dave,
Sorry I saw your post but I got derailed in writing a response.

Yes you are correct about the discussions around type F and Dexron fluids being extensive.
I see Dexron brand as a attempt to get in on Type F’s market share for years now.
The Dexron fluid, in itself, isn’t that bad but the problem lies with where it’s being used.
There is a consistent change of materials and techniques being used and with that process even Ford has had to change some.

Sales or marketing will tell you anything to move products and that’s where the problem lies, is with half truths.

My reference to a smell in Denmark is a very opened ended phrase thrown about where I grew up. In the southeast, naturally they bend everything to suit the moment as I have learned by living elsewhere.
Like with the Dexron fluid, it depends on where you put it.

Denmark references to “smell” is one that can easily misconstrued.
I looked it up for more detail here.

https://www.patrickkphillips.com/grammar/the-story-behind-the-phrase-something-rotten-in-denmark/

I heard the term as “maybe there something “rotten” in Denmark.” I don’t about shrubs but there are lots of tulips variations in Amsterdam. I visited a very large garden there, back in the late seventies.

My source was https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip.

The shrubs in malls and reducing crime? That’s a new thought.
I wonder, if some pheromones from a bottle have results if released.
I wonder, if the Malls or Victoria Secret have a budget built into their shop lifting security or even mood music for customer enhancements. (:-)

Phil

Someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought I read somewhere once that Dextron has better anti foaming, but at the same time I also heard it's thinner.

Although I have no idea how this would effect the power steering???

--
My 85 760Ti, and her name is Veronica...

While it may be true that some old Type F had less antifoam (as did old Dexron), the new F's are fine. And actually viscosity doesn't matter too much....in fact the F may protect the rack gears a bit better, but I use Dexron (syn of course) with no worries.
--
http://www.fidalgo.net/~brook4/oilslubesfilters.html

I changed the fluid in my steering last week, I used type F, but only because I still had some kicking around from when I did the auto on my 240.

I know there are some makers that make fluids designed for power steering now, and I hear they improve the feel, so I'll probally get some of that next time I come across it.

It's worth doing the magnet thing if you have not done that yet, I dunked a magnet on a string in my tank before I did my fluid, it's somewhat disturbing how many tiny metal bits come out on the magnet.
--
My 85 760Ti, and her name is Veronica...

I think the real story is that it does not matter. The old Volvo recommendation was for Type F, because at the time that was what was used in the auto trans, so I guess they figure owners would have that around. Later, in '84 I think, the auto trans went to Dexron, but I believe most shops continued to use Type F in the steering unit, maybe out of habit. Probably Type F is tradition, so that is what most dealerships continue to use in the steering rack. Others on the Board use Dexron, but I have used Type F trouble-free for twenty years and do not plan to change now!

It matters not which type. Either will work as will a mix. Only functioning as a "hydraulic fluid" more or less. The frictional ATF qualities do not matter a rat.

I do say use synthetic for life. Amsoil ATF is the best.
--
www.fidalgo.net/~brook4

Use Dexron. The BEST is Mobil 1 Synthetic ATF.

Is the steering rack different on 200's than 700's? I used Type F in mine according to the manual but supposedly in the steering system it's not a big deal from Type F and Dexron.

Of course, Mobil 1 synthetic ATF is optimal. :)
--
Kenric Tam
1990 Volvo 740 base sedan (B230F)
My Volvo 'Project'

Consult the owner's manual to be certain, but I believe all use the Dexron fluid.