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What hydraulic oil do I need?

Updated: 23 October 2026

You are in front of a jack that will not reach the sill, and the amazon.co.uk Hydraulic Oils list offers jack oil, ISO 32, a 20 litre pail and a green car fluid on the same screen. What hydraulic oil you need is the family printed in the manual, then the grade, then a pack you can finish. These notes use the ten listings captured on 21 October 2026. A qualifying purchase through our links can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you. The bottle table sits on the [hydraulic oil comparison](/hub/diy-supplies/hydraulic-oil).

You are in front of a jack that will not reach the sill, and the amazon.co.uk Hydraulic Oils list offers jack oil, ISO 32, a 20 litre pail and a green car fluid on the same screen.

Our top picks

Comma Comma CHF 11S central hydraulic fluid, 1 litre

Best overall

Comma Comma CHF 11S central hydraulic fluid, 1 litre
8.4/10about £14.10
View offer
Carlube Carlube hydraulic jack oil, 500 ml

Rank 2

Carlube Carlube hydraulic jack oil, 500 ml
9.1/10about £8.41
View offer
HMT HMT ISO VG 46 hydraulic oil, 20 litres

Best value

HMT HMT ISO VG 46 hydraulic oil, 20 litres
7.8/10about £65.49
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Four fluids, not one oil
  2. 2.Grade only after the family is right
  3. 3.Pack size against the tank
  4. 4.Cells on the listing you should ignore

Four fluids, not one oil

The shelf in this comparison is four chemistries, not four sizes of the same oil. ISO hydraulic oil is the workshop can with a VG number. Jack oil is the 500 ml bottle for trolley jacks, bottle jacks and, on the Sealey listing, cranes. Central hydraulic fluid is the car bottle: Comma CHF 11S, or Liqui Moly 2500 where that oil is named. Bicycle mineral oil only appears because the search mixes it in. Comma’s 4.8 from 690 reviews fits a car that already specifies CHF 11S. Carlube’s 4.7 from 679 fits a jack. Neither number is a reason to pour one into the other. A spongy 2-tonne trolley jack needs the small jack-oil bottle, not HMT’s 20 litre pail. If the plate prints an ISO number, that choice is ISO 32, 46 and 68.

Grade only after the family is right

You only choose a viscosity grade when the sheet prints an ISO VG. Pirtek’s UK guidance says most of the jobs they see are 32 or 46. MA Hydraulics treats 46 as the usual moderate-temperature start, 32 where the oil runs colder, and 68 where it runs hotter or works harder. A higher number is a thicker oil, not a better one. Jack oil in this set prints 10W on the viscosity cell. A retailer line that Carlube or Sealey meets ISO 32 is shop copy, not a fact on the listing. Forest Master, Oxdale and Hyundai do not share one splitter grade, so you read the plate. The jack-shaped version of this decision is oil for a trolley jack.
Comma Comma CHF 11S central hydraulic fluid, 1 litre

Testsieger

Comma Comma CHF 11S central hydraulic fluid, 1 litre
8.4/10about £14.10
View offer

Pack size against the tank

Pack size is the third question. A 500 ml bottle tops up a trolley jack. It does not fill a tank of about 14 litres, and it does not justify a 20 litre pail so you can decant a cupful. Silverhook’s 1 litre at about £10.45 is the small ISO 32 top-up. The 5 litre can at about £23.98 is about £4.80 a litre when you will use several litres and can store the rest. Price per litre compares oils only inside one grade. If the splitter plate says ISO 32 and the tank takes about 4 litres, the 5 litre Silverhook can matches that job better than a 20 litre ISO VG 46 pail.

Cells on the listing you should ignore

Use the title and any ISO VG bullet. Ignore the cell that contradicts them. On Silverhook’s 1 litre can the title says ISO 32, a bullet says SAE 10W, and the SAE J300 cell says 20W-40. Follow ISO 32. On the 5 litre can the title says 5 litres, the unit count says 4,540 ml, and part number SHRH4 does not match model SHRH5. The two Silverhook ASINs share one 4.7 from 961 review sequence. Count it once. HMT’s pails show 35 fl oz and weigh 18 kg. That ounce figure cannot be a 20 litre pail. HMT 68’s viscosity field says 1, which is not a grade. When the cells disagree, read the sheet rather than averaging them. Brake fluid, ATF and engine oil are not fallback hydraulic oils. Oil on the floor is a seal or a hose, not a thin grade.

Common questions

Do I need ISO 32 or ISO 46?
You need the number printed for that machine. ISO VG is viscosity at 40 °C, about plus or minus 10 percent, not a quality ladder. ISO 32 is thinner from cold, ISO VG 46 is the temperate grade often cited in the UK, and ISO VG 68 is thicker. Do not invent a grade from an SAE cell that says 10W.
Is jack oil the same as hydraulic oil?
Jack oil in this set is a 500 ml bottle with a 10W cell and no ISO VG on the amazon file. ISO hydraulic oil is the can that prints 32, 46 or 68. They can share a shelf and still be the wrong substitute unless the jack sheet allows that ISO grade.
What does HM or HLP mean?
HM in ISO 11158 is anti-wear mineral hydraulic oil. HLP is the nearby DIN 51524-2 wording, and the test lists are not identical. HMT 68’s bullets claim both. That is a listing sentence, not a checked data sheet, and it does not override the grade on your plate.
Is CHF 11S ordinary hydraulic oil?
No. Comma CHF 11S is central hydraulic fluid for the cars whose handbooks name it, about 19 cSt at 40 °C on Comma’s UK page, not an ISO VG pail. Liqui Moly 2500 is a different named oil, and the file does not call it CHF 11S. Do not mix either with jack oil.
Why are two bicycle oils in a hydraulic-oil search?
Yiezio (B0F1FHHJHH) and the unbranded pack (B0CF1G56CR) are mineral oil for bicycle disc brakes. Amazon ranks them under Bike Oils. They are in this comparison so you can see them and leave them out of a jack. One reviewer put the unbranded oil into a DOT system. A Yiezio reviewer said the oil looked red. Neither fact makes them ISO 32.

Related pages

Best hydraulic oil

Hydraulic oil

Hydraulic jack oil for a trolley jack, 500 ml only

How to top up hydraulic jack oil and bleed the air

ISO 32 vs 46 hydraulic oil is viscosity, not quality

Sources

Public UK sources and the amazon.co.uk listings compared on this page. Prices and stars are the 21 October 2026 capture. Updated 22 October 2026.

  1. GOV.UK: vehicle and oily wastes (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  2. HSE: hydraulic injection injury (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  3. MA Hydraulics: hydraulic oil cross reference (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  4. Sealey 2100TB instructions (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  5. Comma: MVCHF central hydraulic fluid (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  6. Fuchs UK: TITAN CHF 11S (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  7. Oil Care: waste oil (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  8. Bosch Rexroth: mixing limit (retrieved 22.10.2026)