douglastheduke

i have recently acquired a project '86 5k. i was told that it takes very specific fluids. i need to know if that's true or not. i was told that only red or yellow antifreeze is the only kind that won't eat the seals. i don't know if that's true or not. Also, i need to replace the power steering pump, and i don't want to spend $24 a litre for the stupid fluid. Are there any alternatives to this $100 a gallon crap!?!? if you can help me, that would be great.

treehunter

I've been using the latest yellow "guaranteed for use on all cars" stuff from Prestone with no problems. Getting around the expensive Pentosin issue is a tougher call to make. Some folks have had good experiences with higher quality steering fluids like the Mobil or Amsoil stuff which already costs over $10 per liter so I would just bite the bullet and pay the man for the real stuff.

Where is your pump leaking from? You may be able to get away with replacing the O-rings instead of the whole unit.

The best cheapskate manoevre I've come across was on this 5ks I just bought: No belt to the pump. Manual steering ain't so bad but without power brakes it's another story.

moving violation

If you use something else you'll be asking for it.

heavyiron

I have personally used Mobil synthetic ATF for a year and i haven't added a drop to the system.Even when the temperature dropped to -30.The car is not garaged,either.Regular ATF,forget it,it will blow the high pressure side of the pump as their is a very tight restriction on that line.That Mobil 1 is rated to flow down to -52.Up here in Canada Canadian tire has it for $7.99/litre.So far the Audi Gods don't mind red in the reservoir.As for the antifreeze;i've had no problems with the regular stuff.
Cheers,
Steve