Power Steering Fluid

Hey Everybody,
Does anybody know what is a good interval to change out your power steering fluid?
Thanks in advance,
Paul

 

I just did mine at 72k miles yesterday and it needed it, used Valvoline max life ATF, easy to do and I recommend doing

 

I did mine at 100k, should of been done sooner. I used valvoline max life atf full syn.

 

It seems one of those things that gets neglected and only gets changed when there is a failure of the pump one of the lines or the Rack gets removed for some reason.

I would look in the FSM but need to get out the door for work

 

How do you do that?

 

Id do it every 50k

 

Since I do my trans drain/fill every 30k, the PS also gets a partial refresh every second time (60k). I don't try to do the whole system, just the reservoir.

Generally it's not actually needed. It has no where near the strain of a transmission. And when components of a PS system fail, it's from wear that keeping the fluid changed would have been very unlikely to prevent.

I have seen situations in performance driving (not in trucks) where small capacity systems got hot enough to foam, but that was easily solved by replacing the OE fluid with a synthetic.

 

On mine, turn the wheel all the way to the left. Turn off the engine. Use a turkey baster with a hose on it. Suck out all that you can. Now turn the wheel all the way to the right but don't start the engine. Suck out all you can. Now fill to top of res, start engine and turn half way. Turn off engine and refill. Start engine turn all the way to left. Fill to low mark and start engine, cycle wheel back and forth. Check level, leave at low and now go for a drive to warm up. Now top off. Done.

 

Hey Everybody,
Thank you for all of your replies and advice.
Take it easy,
Paul

 

Change the fluid??

I jack up the whole front end, remove the return line from the rez and point/route it downward into an oil change pan or whatever is available container wise then grab a tire and manually turn the wheel back n fourth and.that will purge put the old fluid without having to start the motor and make the pump whine, then just as needed pour fresh ATF in till you're satisfied its clean enough.


And to those that still use or think you need to use power steering fluid DONT! The system requires ATF! While back i was having warranty issues with a high pressure line, ended up having to deal with it like 3 times before it was right. But anyways everytime they put power steering fluid in it and the last two times i made sure to tell them not to do that!! You think ATF ever made it in there out of thise 3 times!!?? Shit no! Had to purge and replace myself each time. This was no rinky dink or new shop either! Maybe a small shop woulda done better though actually....

 

Changing the ATF was the best thing I've ever done to that truck since I got it. It turned like a new damn truck after I flushed it.

Here's a before/after:



Oh and I overflowed the reservoir while flushing the system, so I spilled ATF all over my driveway. I got bored so I turned it into modern art.