Hydraulic oil

[Ring Owner]

Just finishing off the installation on my rebuild and need to look at filling up the trim tab/tilt and trim and power steering pumps.

Without going the hassle of having to pick up the Quicksilver or Seastar fluids, can I use normal power steering fluids from Halfords? I had a look yesterday and there is a huge range of synthetic and non-synthetic oils. Any recommendations?

[Frenchbruno]

Hi,
You can find hydraulic oil with a spec very close to seastar oil at the next citroen car dealer , the reference is = LMH OIL
exemple here:

Comma L.H.M. PLUS 1L

Avoid DEXTRON 2 or dextron 3 in seastar oil pump as the viscosity is a bit higher, and the inside checkvalves don't react fast enough with this oil, you feel to have a heavy steering system with DEXTRON on seastar pump.

for the lift or tab pump using oildyne pump, I use hydraulic oil 46 viscosity for years.

for the trim pump, per Mercury informations:
Quicksilver power trim and steering fluid #92-90100A12. If unavailable use 10W-30 or 10W-40 motor oil

be careful, better to use oil with anti foam additives

other possibilities for sure from other members.
Hope this helps!

[Ring Owner]

Thanks Bruno, will have a look at my local Halfords tomorrow