ATF in engine hoist?

[Daan]

Hi,

As the topic says, I was about to put the engine back in the car today, and the hydraulic hoist stopped working. I took it to bits, and I think the release ball valve didn't seal well, which I think I can solve. The oil was a bit dark as well, so I need to replace it. Will ATF work for this, or do I need to get hydraulic oil? And where do i get this round bicester?

Cheers, Daan

[Phil Hancock]

You should use hydraulic oil, something like ISO 32 grade. Any agricultural supplies, oil merchants or plant hire firm should be able to supply some oil. Manual hydraulic jacks etc use, IIRC, ISO 15 weight.

I think that ATF is equivalent to ISO 5.

[Jon White]

I've always used ATF in jacks and engine hoists without any problems.

Jon

[Dave W]

I used olive oil in my old hoist, worked well although I did replace it with hydraulic oil later. It did allow me to get an engine in on a Sunday afternoon though

Vegetable oil also works, just depends what's in the kitchen cupboard !

[nige90]

Used ATF for yonks with no ill effects.

[Night Train]

I used olive oil in my old hoist, worked well although I did replace it with hydraulic oil later. It did allow me to get an engine in on a Sunday afternoon though

Vegetable oil also works, just depends what's in the kitchen cupboard !

Any risk of veg oils damaging the seals?

Just thinking of the problem with biodiesel and some pipes and seals.

[cactus]

Hi Bit off subject but.....Will a Landrover tow an Antar?

[Henry Webster]

P A Turney's at Middleton Stoney would certainly have some proper hydraulic oil, but possibly only in much bigger volumes than you need. Any agric dealer should be able to help. You may even find that Halfords have some for topping up trolley jacks.

H

[Night Train]

Hi Bit off subject but.....Will a Landrover tow an Antar?

Of course it will, unless it's a Series 1!

[Dave W]

Any risk of veg oils damaging the seals?

Just thinking of the problem with biodiesel and some pipes and seals.

No, I would say that vegetable oil is comparatively passive. It's not something I'd use all the time anyway but works well and is normally in plentiful supply. My old engine hoist was, like most I suspect, one of those that became "communal" being passed from one person to another to the point where tracking it down was never easy. The seal around the control valve went after a couple of years so it would steadily drain it's contents between use. It got filled with just about everything with no detrimental effects. As far as I know it's still going strong although I've not seen it for about 2 years.

[missingsid]

Of course it will, unless it's a Series 1!

In which case it will pull 2

[Farmhand]

i have used atf before now, seems to work fine !

[TheRecklessEngineer]

Any risk of veg oils damaging the seals?

Just thinking of the problem with biodiesel and some pipes and seals.

The damage biodiesel (at least the horrible stuff most commercial producers cook up) can do to seals is due to excess methanol left over from the conversion reaction. Funnily enough, most homebrew stuff is better.

If it isn't damaged by diesel, it won't be damaged by veg oil.

[Bull Bar Cowboy]

Daan,

Your local car accessories place should stock 'Jack oil' ........ usually sold by 0.5 or 1L ........ there are several manufacturers, but I normally use Comma.

[Aragorn]

Anyone know why they say "do not use brake fluid" all over the jacks?

I have a 2tonne halfords trolley jack which had started leaking from the main ram seal when sat unloaded. It would lift just fine once you topped it up but every time i picked it up there was a puddle of oil under it, until one day i needed to lift a car and only had some DOT5.1 spare. I figured it would get the job done and the jack probably needed replaced so if it killed it then it didnt matter too much.

Since filling it with the DOT5.1 its not leaked a drop since...

I'm not sure why, or if its going to give out with a bang at some point in the future?

[RedLineMike]

Anyone know why they say "do not use brake fluid" all over the jacks?

I have a 2tonne halfords trolley jack which had started leaking from the main ram seal when sat unloaded. It would lift just fine once you topped it up but every time i picked it up there was a puddle of oil under it, until one day i needed to lift a car and only had some DOT5.1 spare. I figured it would get the job done and the jack probably needed replaced so if it killed it then it didnt matter too much.

Since filling it with the DOT5.1 its not leaked a drop since...

I'm not sure why, or if its going to give out with a bang at some point in the future?

brake fluid makes the seals swell up

its a top bodge on leaking PAS box's to get them through an MOT