PS pump sealant

[Pottree@domain.elided]

Il dottore di Matteo mentioned successfully using a PS sealant to treat a 
leaky Milano PS system (I suppose leaky is redundant as they all do that, so 
it's said).  Ours went completely south, perhaps as far as Florida, and was 
replaced, but there's still a very slow drip which I believe (by intuition 
more than anything) is due to imperfect (shrunken, cracked?) seals and/or 
hoses, even though all are new (within the past 2 years).  I top up the 
reservoir with about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of PS fluid perhaps every 3 or 4 months 
(mileage doesn't seems to make much difference).

It's been my observation and experience that's it's a very bad idea to use 
fluids other than those specified by the factory.  For example, the PO of the 
Milano complained that the car "eats" master cylinders, which need replacing 
every 25K miles.  This is less than a quarter of the life of the somewhat 
different master cylinder on the GTV-6, but still... and looking into it I 
discovered the PO was somehow dissolving the system by using the wrong type 
of fluid.  Haven't gone enough miles since the last replacement to prove the 
point absolutely, but it appears sticking with the factory spec has solved 
this mysterious hunger.

The Milano's PS system was designed for Dextron II fluid, of course now 
improved to Dextron III.  R&R or replacement is a lot of work (costly for 
what I consider an unnecessary system but which my tiny wife who drives the 
car deems vital, but I editorialize) so I don't want to hurry up the demise 
by using nonstandard fluid, even if it takes a little bit of searching out.

Now to the sealant.  A quick shopping this past weekend revealed only one 
brand available in 2 shops: STP, which from the label appears to be a 
combination of sealant and fluid.  But, the fluid is not labeled as Dextron 
III.

The big question: will this damage the rubber bits in the system?  What brand 
did you find, Fred?  Was it sealant alone or in a cocktail with fluid?  And, 
am I being silly by trying to slavishly follow the factory recommendations to 
avoid problems?

I think this is the kind of universal question that affects us all, and 
doesn't even specifically have to do with power steering.  Any ideas or 
experiences relevant and welcomed.

Charlie, Los Angeles

GTV-6
75

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