Power steering fluid maintance

lol, a friend, family member, neighbor, ect

 

Usually I'm not that blessed when its time to do Auto work these days. I usually try to figure out how to do things safely solo.

 

You can still do it by yourself. You'll just have to go back and forth between filling the reservoir and turning the wheel. It won't take very long.

 

I was at 27,271 mi. Definitely dark but probably still "fine". Still, doing it early should hopefully help prevent issues later on.

 

I did the flush by myself in about an hour total. Just have driver window open so you can turn the wheel. Going lock to center basically empties the reservoir so you'll be filling it a lot.

 

Here is Team Oil Drop from the Maintenance Map.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O0tbvbl_co

 

I think I would do it your way. In my case if it took the hose off i would end up with some issue like a leak

 

Chalk it up to a fluke, bad luck, or maybe you didn't let someone into traffic that week, but there's no secret sauce required.
As per the owner's manual, DEX III or equivalent.

I've been running Supertech for a combined 350K+ in my 3 Toyotas.

Anyone know what they fill them with at the factory? lol

 

i have never changed the p/s fluid in any vehicle i have owed...
i have had to replace a hose or two on older classic 40 year old cars but never on daily drivers....
which one was 13 years old with 150k mile and had the same fluid in it

 

Thanks for the reminder. I just went out and changed mine today at 43k miles.

 

I had 1990 Dakota for 23 years, i would once in a while suck the fluid out with a turkey baster and replace, just beacuse.
when it got old the fluid was pretty ugly, especially the brake fluid.

 

i think alot of stuff that is put in owner manuals is there to make money for dealerships by fear

 

That's the video I was referring to in the original post. I've used his videos before they are good simple and to the point.

I did get the Valvoline Dex/Merc in a gallon. When I ordered for pick up Walmart didn't have Supertech in stock in enough quarts or gallons so I got a gallon of valoline fluid for $21.

I agree keep the job simple with less to f up.

I'm all ready for tomorrow.

 

Well all done. I pulled all the fluid out of the reservoir and refilled it once before driving around a bit to warm up the oil for an oil change. Did one more round of drain fill and drive then did the oil change and did it 2 more times for a total of 4 times. The fluid looks way cleaner now. I have plenty of fluid left i can do this a few times every oil change if I want. Was pretty easy.

 

Easy peasy and a peace of mind for a while. The syringe makes it really easy and clean. Works great for filling diffs if you just buy the fluid I a gallon. Going to use it on TC and Transmission spill when it's time. Great you did this sooner; not like it'll hurt the rack.

 

I'm going to say that Toyota buys their oils and fluids in bulk from who ever supplies the fluids to their specs at the best price. when you buy in the quantities to fill many thousands of newly built vehicles a year even fractions of a penny per quart mean something.

 

As an alternative to raising the front and turning the wheels I do the following.I block off the return line at the reservoir, hook up a 12 volt oil change pump to the return line and then draw the fluid thru the system while adding new fluid to the reservoir. The old fluid goes into a catch bottle of your choice. Have found that the addition of a magnefine in the return line has also been very effective in keeping the fluid clean.

 

Raising the full front end on the jack point (second gen anyway) allows making an easy full travel stroke of the rack in each direction. I used surplus ATF fluid in an attempt to flush the components a bit - so I did it more than once. The big question is - how would the system get contaminated anyway? On my wife's Dodge Charger the factory PS fluid eventually chemically failed the rack piston. The morons at the dealership kept telling her the ordinary PS fluid was "dirty" and needed changing. Changed it twice with recommended fluid. Replaced rack when it it would not steer the same in both directions. Rack failed again. Second time was the charm and we dumped the vehicle.... My Dodge truck instead used ATF (specified in the manual) and it stayed clean - start to finish (165K miles at trade for the Taco). Ordinary PS fluid is simply NOT the equal of the ATF. Imagine the difference in required seal protection of fluid in an auto trans - and the temperature stability.

The Valvoline ATF I put in the Taco still looks like the day I changed it several years ago.

 

Every now and then, I draw out the old fluid from the reservoir with a turkey baster and then top her off with some fresh stuff. Been doing it this way on multiple vehicles over five decades with no issues.

 

This is exactly how I have done it for years. I use the Maxlife fluid in almost everything. I don’t know the difference in it and the blue bottle.
A buddy of mine that owns like 25 transmission shops told me about it years ago and I’ve never had an issue with it as it’s ratings cover so many applications.