Power steering flush

G'day all,

A friend took his 2009 v6 Tacoma in for 60,000 maint. and dealer recommended " a power steering system flush".

Had not found that in any maint. schedule nor had it done on any Tacoma I've every owned.

Is this really a necessary evil or was the dealership "slid'en one by"? (cost $139.)

Thanks

 

They pulled the same crap on the 4runner here. I told them I had never heard of doing that and that my 2000 Taco still had the same power steering fluid in it that came with it. They said that the fluid in the 4runner was dark and it was time to change it and flush it. I think they changed something in them either the fluid or something is doing something to the fluid.

 

yes, you should for sure do it, get it done that is cheap. My dealership wanted to flush my windshield wiper fluid for $150 j/k

 

Another option is to skip the flush, but suction out the fluid from the res and just replace that. If you do that every 30k you should be just fine. Kind of like the difference between a trans pan drain and a flush. Your call on how far you want to go.

 

Just suction out your fluid yourself and replace. Flushing is never a good idea imo. For your rack or tranny

 

As others have said, suction out the reservoir and fill it back up. If you want it to be more complete, do this twice, but in between park on some dirt and turn your wheel lock to lock a dozen times or so.

 

Thats fine but there is always tons of garbage on the bottom of the reservoir. I removed mine to clean. I would suggest the same and its cheap.

 

This. Dirt or jack up the front of the truck. I did this myself a few weeks ago.

Suction, fill with new fluid, start truck and turn wheels lock to lock for a minute or two. Repeat.

 

Thanks guys I appreciate your time and the inputs.

 

I flushed and replaced the fluid in my truck at around 20000 miles.

Removed the fluid return hose from the rezzy, stuck it in a catch bucket, jacked the front end to lighten the weight on wheels. Removed rezzy and rinsed out the debris in the bottom. Reinstalled the rezzy and added a Magnafine filter.

Did not yet reconnect the return hose.

Added M1 atf fluid, started truck and kept adding fluid while a helper cycled the steering lock to lock a few times. Ultimately the return fluid was again red. Reconnected the hose to the rezzy.

Should last a while.

PK

 

The tacoma is exactly the same as this video

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg9Yjt__KHw

 

Great video. I was pretty confused why some members here warn not to flush but just suction and fill. It seems that you will not get as much old fluid out if you don't flush it like in the video. Sorry for my ignorance but which line is the return line? Also, anyone replace the power steering filter too?