My 1990 Jaguar XJ6 Sovereign has a power steering leak (surprise surprise). The problem is that Jaguar requires that I use their Hydraulic Mineral Oil in the system and nothing else. The other problem is that a one liter bottle costs $14. Yikes! Do I really need to use that? According to one XJ40 owner it isn’t necessary … if you have removed the Self Leveling Suspension (SLS).
According to the Haynes manual, the ’88, ’89, ’93 and ’94 models use ATF in the power steering systems. The ’90, ’91 and ’92 models with the steering system combined with the self leveling rear suspension systems use some sort of liquid Kryptonite that can only be purchased on a dark street corner from a guy named Vinny, and paid for with unmarked bills …. and lots of ’em!
My question is: If the self leveling suspension has been converted to standard suspension parts, is it still necessary to run the Castrol hydraulic fluid, or is it OK to use ATF? All the sources I’ve viewed go into detail about converting the suspension back to standard parts, but no one mentions the fluid requirements after the conversion.
THE REPLY:
Yes the fluid can be drained and replaced with DEXRON. I have a 1992 XJ6 and I removed the SLS and front pump/solenoid block from my car. I capped off the small return port on my reservoir and filled it with DEXRON. No problems since 1998.
http://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/xj40-25/question-~-xj40-power-steering-fluid-50800/