It's time to change the fluid in my WER damper and I need oil that is slightly heavier than what it came with (5wt). Is it ok to put 7.5wt ATF in my damper? The manual recommends using fork oil, but I'm in a pinch and I need to know if this will work and not harm the internals. Yes, I could go out of my way and buy fork oil (which I'd rather do) but I am in a desperate situation.
ATF works fine. You might want to run your adjuster a little further out to account for the heavier oil.
After you get the old fluid out, an easy way to fill the damper is to immerse it in a small tub of ATF and activate the arm until all the bubbles come out. It's a little messy but it is much easier and faster than dripping the fluid into the hole with a squeeze bottle.
If you change it yearly when it isn't so dirty just suck it out with a syringe. Then fill it with the syringe and 7 wt fork oil works good. You can run the adjustment screw 1 and a half turns out.