Environmentally friendly, ie; interior Friendly convertible pump fluid

[schankdaddy]

I’m not new to this site, but I am new as far as posting threads… I have a 65 Dodge Monaco convertible made in Canada that I’m restoring and want to know if anybody knows of an alternative to transmission fluid for the pump cylinders of the convertible top?.. I want to stay away from tranny fluid because if there’s a leak, it has the potential to wreak havoc if gone unnoticed not to say some kind of fish oil or something else won’t, but it might be less of a disaster!… If anybody knows or has an alternative, I’d really appreciate a heads up… my bestest, Schankdaddy

 

[CBODY67]

ATF is better than brake fluid! Which is what everybody used OEM for years before atf.

GM built a particular convertible top fluid for the 1990s factory convertible cars. Particular part number, but I never did investigate it. Not sure what the more-recent Chrysler convertibles use, though.

In any event, DO check with the rebuilders of the hydraulic rams and see what oil their seals are compatible with! Same with the hydraulic pump. Key issue, compatibility . . . for long service life. Presuming you had the hydraulics refurbished?

Car looks great!

Just some thoughts,
CBODY67

 

[schankdaddy]

ATF is better than brake fluid! Which is what everybody used OEM for years before atf.

GM built a particular convertible top fluid for the 1990s factory convertible cars. Particular part number, but I never did investigate it. Not sure what the more-recent Chrysler convertibles use, though.

In any event, DO check with the rebuilders of the hydraulic rams and see what oil their seals are compatible with! Same with the hydraulic pump. Key issue, compatibility . . . for long service life. Presuming you had the hydraulics refurbished?

Car looks great!

Just some thoughts,
CBODY67

Hey CBODY67 thanks for your input… I did not get the Rams refurbished. I took the car apart in 2015 and left all of the lines and everything charged with fluid…. I bought new lines and recently got all the grime off of the cylinders and then blew out with air all the old fluid which looked to be ATF… cylinder seals look to be great and the ram actuates with air in and out just fine, but I totally hear what you’re saying. It really does boil down to what’s compatible with the seals…. thanks for the comment about the car. It’s coming along. Will be putting the front end back together where it will look like a car and then it’s time to start doing new electrical stuff… as you might notice from the pictures I am not keeping her original. She is getting updated with fuel injection electric fan fuel pump for said fuel injection disc brakes in the front and modern LED lighting… I have spent many hours looking into a sandblasting booth, standing in front of my bench grinder wire wheeling, and holding a Dremel tool in my hand, but it will be worth it when I’m done with it…cheers!

 

[halifaxhops]

I use tractor 303 fluid in all my auto trans and it is clear.

 

[Big_John]

I’m not new to this site, but I am new as far as posting threads… I have a 65 Dodge Monaco convertible made in Canada that I’m restoring and want to know if anybody knows of an alternative to transmission fluid for the pump cylinders of the convertible top?.. I want to stay away from tranny fluid because if there’s a leak, it has the potential to wreak havoc if gone unnoticed not to say some kind of fish oil or something else won’t, but it might be less of a disaster!… If anybody knows or has an alternative, I’d really appreciate a heads up… my bestest, Schankdaddy

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What you have is a hydraulic pump with a couple cylinders. Can't get much simpler than that.

You could put water in it and it would work, but probably not for long, but really you need a fluid that lubricates the working parts of the pump and keeps the seals in good condition. So really, about any hydraulic fluid that is the right viscosity would probably work, but what Chrysler has done is spec ATF for this. It makes sense, the ATF will have lubricating properties and has additives to keep the seals in good shape and it's readily available at any repair shop or parts store.

If you really think about it, you've said you haven't had to rebuild or replace anything... and that's after 59 years or 50 years if you want to go back to 2015 when you took it apart. That sounds like they made the right decision for fluid.

Really though, ATF is pretty benign... Brake fluid, like they used to use, will eat paint where ATF won't. Yea, ATF will make a mess... So would any other fluid. But the cylinders will probably leak into the body and if you have the plastic behind the door panels, it's not going to hurt them. The pump might leak into the area under the seat and I guess could eventually drip onto the carpet, but I'll bet the top will stop working before that. I suppose it could spray onto the seat back if the conditions were right... but I've never heard of that happening and if it's like my '70 300 'vert, there's a cardboard panel that would catch the spray.

So, if it were me, I'd use ATF (I do in mine) . Any hydraulic oil is going to do the same damage if it leaked, and maybe you would see the red before a clear fluid. There's no doubt it works and no doubt it stands the test of time. IMHO, you have less chance of a leak using what Chrysler spec'd than anything you might try.

Usually there's a label on the pump. This is from a '67 Dodge. Type A superseded to Dexron and you can go down the rabbit hole of what superseded that.

 

[schankdaddy]

I use tractor 303 fluid in all my auto trans and it is clear.

Ok good deal halifaxhops…

 

[schankdaddy]

Hey

What you have is a hydraulic pump with a couple cylinders. Can't get much simpler than that.

You could put water in it and it would work, but probably not for long, but really you need a fluid that lubricates the working parts of the pump and keeps the seals in good condition. So really, about any hydraulic fluid that is the right viscosity would probably work, but what Chrysler has done is spec ATF for this. It makes sense, the ATF will have lubricating properties and has additives to keep the seals in good shape and it's readily available at any repair shop or parts store.

If you really think about it, you've said you haven't had to rebuild or replace anything... and that's after 59 years or 50 years if you want to go back to 2015 when you took it apart. That sounds like they made the right decision for fluid.

Really though, ATF is pretty benign... Brake fluid, like they used to use, will eat paint where ATF won't. Yea, ATF will make a mess... So would any other fluid. But the cylinders will probably leak into the body and if you have the plastic behind the door panels, it's not going to hurt them. The pump might leak into the area under the seat and I guess could eventually drip onto the carpet, but I'll bet the top will stop working before that. I suppose it could spray onto the seat back if the conditions were right... but I've never heard of that happening and if it's like my '70 300 'vert, there's a cardboard panel that would catch the spray.

So, if it were me, I'd use ATF (I do in mine) . Any hydraulic oil is going to do the same damage if it leaked, and maybe you would see the red before a clear fluid. There's no doubt it works and no doubt it stands the test of time. IMHO, you have less chance of a leak using what Chrysler spec'd than anything you might try.

Usually there's a label on the pump. This is from a '67 Dodge. Type A superseded to Dexron and you can go down the rabbit hole of what superseded that.


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Big_John thanks for your input really helpful and really makes a lot of sense…. I guess I’ll just stick with automatic transmission fluid. Only reason I went down this rabbit hole is that I had a neighbor who had helped his elderly dad few years back, put some kind of environmentally friendly oil into his convertible cylinders, and he had asked me about it and I thought well if I have the chance to do that, it made sense especially after spending all this time and energy making everything perfect but like you had mentioned, my seals are in great shape and you’re right, that fluids been in there for many years…

 

[413]

Clean ATF cleans up pretty easily if it spills. The convt top fluid should stay pretty clean.
It's the burnt up ATF with clutch material from an old trans that is harder to clean.

 

[schankdaddy]

Clean ATF cleans up pretty easily if it spills. The convt top fluid should stay pretty clean.
It's the burnt up ATF with clutch material from an old trans that is harder to clean.h

Rodger that, ATF it is 413

 

[jmustian]

ATF is better than brake fluid! Which is what everybody used OEM for years before atf.

GM built a particular convertible top fluid for the 1990s factory convertible cars. Particular part number, but I never did investigate it. Not sure what the more-recent Chrysler convertibles use, though.

In any event, DO check with the rebuilders of the hydraulic rams and see what oil their seals are compatible with! Same with the hydraulic pump. Key issue, compatibility . . . for long service life. Presuming you had the hydraulics refurbished?

Car looks great!

Just some thoughts,
CBODY67

My pump has a tag on it that says ATF only

 

[CBODY67]

Brake fluid use pre-dates the change to atf.