Mobil DTE-13M

[ben swann]

Bernie,

It would be nice if the issue would not be confused by throwing in a
bunch of extraneous information that does not help.

The issue is/was - Is there an less expensive alternative to the
Pentosin brand mineral oil used in the power steering system.

The answer I and others have provided is that yes there is (caveats
excepted) - Mobil DTE-13M is sufficiently similar in properties to the
Pentosin brand at act as a suitable alternative and available at a
fraction of the cost.

Not to confuse things - I merely stated that when the power steering
rack is on its last leg anyhow and spewing its gut that even power
steering fluid will get you home.  This was to refute the assertation
that use of anything else than Pentosin might cause accidents,
explosions or other cause for liability.

Just trying to help others keep fat wallet syndrome under control.

Cheers!

Ben


----- Original Message -----
From: Bernie Benz <b.benz at charter.net>
Date: Thursday, July 3, 2003 3:03 pm
Subject: Re: Mobil DTE-13M

>
>
> > From: ben swann <benswann at comcast.net>
> > Date: Thu, 03 Jul 2003 13:40:38 -0400
> > To: b.benz at charter.net, C1J1Miller at aol.com
> > Cc: 200q20v at audifans.com, quattro at audifans.com, benswann at comcast.net
> > Subject: Re: Mobil DTE-13M
> >
> > 4) I agree it is a good idea to fix leaks or problems and was not
> > advocating using a substitute to keep trickling along until a
> > catastrophic failure occurs.  On that note - with failing rack
> > inevitable, my recent experience is that any ps-fluid will get you
> > there, and even power steering fluid bought at a convenience gas
> > station permitted adequate operation for close to 1000 miles at
> which> time the rack was replaced.
>
> Any fluid is better than no fluid, I agree.  But conventional PS
> fluid is
> ATF, designed for high shear tranny service, and suitable for the
> lowerpressure vane pump type PS systems but it does not have the
> lubricityrequired for our higher pressure piston type pump
> systems.  Engine oil might
> be a better emergency substitute.  The pump is the component
> requiring a
> Pentosin type fluid, the rack could care less.  The only dynamic seal
> subject to high pressure in the rack is the rod seal and IMO its
> failuremode is pressure related (ie full pump pressure against the
> rack stops being
> the no no) and not to screen passed entrained color particles in
> the fluid.
> (Further IMO, it is a cheap, poorly designed special ZF seal for
> this app,
> having replaced several over the years.)  So flush away, you may
> be stirring
> up trouble!
>
> Bernie
>
>
>