Fuel induction service and power steering flush

My Tacoma just hit 50k on odometer was told at Toyota I need fuel induction service and power steering flush I need help how can I save myself bucks and do it myself??

 

Well . . . . in all my years, I've never done a power steering flush. Did you mean "Fuel Injection" service?? Just run some cleaner through the system, and call it good. I can't imagine what a dealer will charge you for all that. It will certainly be a bunch.

G.

 

I've never done a power steering flush but I have swapped out the fluid. You just need something to suck out as much of the old fluid as you can from the reservoir then refill it with new fluid. Start the truck and turn the wheels side to side for a few minutes and then repeat until the fluid is clean. I will usually do it again a week or so later depending on how dirty it was just to make sure it's still clean. It's not a flush but at least it will have clean fluid in it. As far as the fuel injection cleaning I heard it wasn't needed on our motors because they are direct injection but I could be wrong.

 

I haven't looked at the Taco yet, but the easy way was to remove the return line. Put that in an empty bottle while adding some fresh stuff to the reservoir while the motor is running.

 

At the GM dealer I work at, we’ve nicknamed these unnecessary services “wallet flush.” I would put some fuel injector cleaner in your tank and call it a day. JMO.

 

I agree, but I did have the PS fluid gum up on our 90s Dodge. I read up that PS fluid swaps were now a thing. After much flushing, it was fine until the rack seal blew out a couple years later.

The cars that we had since required Pentosin PS fluid and had flush intervals. Easy enough except the fluid was expensive. I won't even get into the Volvo Owners Manual that was wrong for 5yrs saying that ATF was needed when it was really supposed to be Pentosin, which is incompatible with everything.

I do miss the worry-free days of ATF in the PS.

 

https://i.imgflip.com/xfk8y.jpg

 

run a couple tanks of chevron gas through the truck. as for other service read your manual and see if its listed as necessary maintenance. If not then its your decision to send somebody else's kids to college on your dime.

 

from my understanding direct injection is the reason you would need a flush.. In non direct injection motors the injectors sit near the valves and when spraying fuel the fuel would hit the valves on the way into the cylinder. This is why adding a injector cleaner in the fuel would help break down carbon deposit build up. with direct injection motors the fuel sprays straight into the cylinders, from what I've read this in itself helps reduce some of the carbon build up, but when you add cleaners to the fuel tank the only thing being cleaned is the top of the piston not the valvetrain. Making sure the pcv system is working properly should also help reduce carbon from building up. who knows weather the motor actually has any build up with 50,000 miles. only way to check would probably be with one of those camera scopes. I've just run a cleaner through the gas tank once a year, and I fill with premium fuel even though its not required in an attempt to keep the engine internals clean. as far as the power steering goes I'd say its not a big deal. some people will syphon out what they can out of the reservoir and refill with clean fluid the way I've flushed my power steering fluid in the past on other cars is to disconnect the return line for the power steering and crank the motor over while adding fluid to the reservoir to keep it full. keep doing this until fluid coming out of the return line is all clean.. If It was me I wouldn't pay the dealer..

 

Just a note. The OP has the 4cyl. A top end clean should not be an issue if using decent fuel.

For the D4S 3.5l, we have two sets of injectors, port and DI. So, we shouldn't need to worry about the intake valves and there is some automatic cleaning process for the DIs.

+1 on the PS swap.

 

Direct Injection causes carbon buildup, our Trucks are pretty cool as they also has a cleaning cycle that occurs at idle.

 

http://e-dole.com/wp-content/upload...best-anti-drug-slogans-posters-and-quotes.gif

 

thanks for info I didn't look to see what motor OP has. Post was mainly just general information as to why direct injection motors may require service or flushes. I think the issue was more prominent when direct injection first came about. were as modern direct injection motors are setup to address the carbon build up issue

 

You beat me to it. I just read that we have both injectors and that is supposed to help with carbon build up. So adding a fuel injector cleaner would be beneficial to help everything stay clean.

 

Honestly, if you stick with quality fuel (Top Tier), I don't think that injector cleaner is needed? My back story there is that all our EFI cars seemed to need cleaner every 6mo or so. They would stumble, hesitate, and such, where injector cleaner would do the trick. Then, Chevron's Techron came along. I just started pumping there religiously and never had to touch injector cleaners since.

Just recently, I caught the cheap gas bug at Costco ($0.40/gal less plus an extra 4% back using their Visa card). It's noted to be Top Tier and has been working well in the Taco and my motorcycles. I'm sticking with that until I feel otherwise. My wife did say that Costco fuel felt weird in her Forester XT (2.0l DiT). She's sticking with the local 76 station since the Chevron closed to make way for a train station.

With all that and DI becoming the norm, I am wondering if standard fuel additives have caught up with Techron and we just don't have to worry? I rarely drive the Forester, but I don't notice any problems and not using any cleaners. It is straight DI that uses some vanes in the intake to tumble the incoming air. It is a great motor neutered by a craptastic CVT.

 

Unless the dealer is taking out the injectors and putting them in a special machine to clean them (LOL... NOT) you're better off just using;

Seafoam


http://www.google.com/search?q=seafoam

The PS flush is just as others have described above.

Both services are dealer wallet flushes.

 

Fuel induction it’s supposed to clean the injectors I believe and saves you gasoline

 

I thought it was a self cleaning engine.

 

Haha I said this exact thing at my 20k this morning when my SA mentioned I needed the fuel induction cleaning.... I just looked at him and said he should know me better by now.

 

"Fuel injection service" usually consists of them dumping a can of

$25 BG 44K Fuel System Cleaner Power Enhancer 11oz.

BG 44K in your tank and charging you way too much for it.

If you drive your truck regularly and fill it with brand name gas then using fuel system cleaner is more or less a waste.