Steering box oil

[AUSMHLY]

Hello all,

I just finished replacing my steering wheel.
I lost a bit of steering box oil in the process.
What oil should I use to fill it back up?

From the photo on the Moss page, it looks like they sell Penrite steering box lubricant. What is Penrite's weight?

Is there any oil I can get locally?
How about either of these.
Valvoline 80W-90 gear oil.
Castrol HYPOC C 85W-140 gear oil.
Or what brand-weight would you suggest?

Cheers,
Roger

 

[GregW]

I have Penrite in my steering box. It is thick stuff, won't go down a funnel. Next time I top off, I'll set the bottle in hot water to melt it a little. I had gear oil in previously, and had a leak, Penrite didn't leak.

 

[John Kuzman]

After changing the shaft seal on my BJ7 steering box, I decided to fill the box with Penrite. I went to the local farm supply store and purchased the largest livestock syringe available. I filled the syringe with the Penrite and injected it into the steering box. It took four syringe fills to top it off and worked great.

 

[Cutlass]

Just put Penrite in the other night. It comes with an attached plastic tube, which is too short. I inserted a piece of extra fuel line, into the plastic tube, which made the job easier. The bottle will squeeze, but that stuff is very thick. It's really a grease, not an oil. It won't drip or flow at room temperature. I heated the bottle with a heat gun, which did help some.

I did have a question, though. Does the box have to be topped off in order to ensure proper lubrication?

 

[Randy Forbes]

I use gear oil (RedLine 80w/140__same as for my BMW's differentials, so it's always on hand).

If you truly fixed the leak, the gear oil won't drip out...

 

[MarkA]

After a rebuild of the idler, I used Lucas 85/140 Gear Oil in both the idler and the steering box. Neither leaks...

Not knowing anything about Penrite but... Is there a chance that when too cold it will squish out from between the gears and not provide adequate lubrication?

 

[GregW]

When does <span style="font-weight: bold">that</span> happen in San Diego? :laugh:

 

[MarkA]

Well you know ... I did have to put a jacket on yesterday. It got down to 50 degrees. Almost had a snow day for the kids!

 

[GregW]

Whoa! I hope you've installed tire chains, snow sounds imminent. :laugh:

 

[MarkA]

We don't need no stink'n chains! ... We drive Healeys

 

[GregW]

To answer your question, the Penrite will get thicker as it gets colder. Their application sheet says the normal ambient temperature range is 0°C- 80°C Penrite

 

[MarkA]

Thanks for the link. I guess I could have looked that up...

I didn't realize they had a special steering gear box lubricant.