PS Fluid and wtf Toyota

So this beautiful sunny Saturday I decided to do a P/S fluid change at 60K miles on my not so beautiful and mostly beat to shit turd gen. I think it's a good time to get it done and why not, since the fluid is cheap and it takes half an hour to do it.


some things to note:

- This is a second steering rack on my truck, the first one failed at 30K miles (with P rated 265s!!!) and Toyota installed another one, so basically this rack got only 30K miles.
- I am now on 35s, but rack never had leaks, nor fluid level ever went down and had to be added.


First thing first, I open owners manual to check what fluid Toyota recommends and we are seeing it's the Dex II or III



So I go to the nearest NAPA and grab 2 bottles of ATF fluid that many here seems to be using. Says Dex III compatible so must be fine.



After disconnecting return line, turning wheels while engine off and making sure reservoir never gets empty I complete full flush and have clean atf fluid coming from return line. I put all back together, top it off, keep the remaining atf fluid in the truck and heading our to catch some MTB trails out of town. It's close to 2 hour drive for me so I get there and start feeling steering being stiff at turns. After pulling to a parking spot I decide to quick check on the fluid level and see how we are doing there, to my surprise the reservoir is completely empty. I start looking around to locate where the leak is, and what do we see there. It's leaking right from the rack on the driver side...

(picture was taken while being on the jacks after I got back home).




So I start thinking, the rack never leaked before, I never had to top up the fluid and the old fluid was full when I started messing around with the flush. What could caused the leak? Maybe 35s... but it didn't leak till today... So I top the fluid again, go out for a mtb ride and then head back home.

Got back home and checking on the fluid




I stop at the nearest automotive shop and grab few bottles of unnamed P/S fluid and complete another entire flush of the system. After taking for a long drive again I check the fluid and to my surprise it's almost all there, still a minor leak, I would figure the seal got fucked by ATF fluid, so now I'll add stop-a-leak additive and just SAS this poor taco after...





TLDR. Don't use ATF fluid, get actual power steering fluid. Prove me wrong.


Taco pictures at the end, I am also Mr. June on Calendar

 

Been running Maxlife ATF for 3 years....with a suck and fill of the reservoir at every oil change (5k mile intervals)

 

I used toyota atf in mine. That was at 100k miles, 5k later and I havent lost any.

 

This caused your problem:


It's a low viscosity fluid more similar to Toyota WS than Dexron III. In fact, many use it to do A750 transmission flushes...

The Toyota D3 I used lasted the remaining life of the truck (all of 3.5 years)

 

https://www.napacanada.com/en/p/VAU...Transmission+Fluid&keywordInput=valvoline+atf

says DEX III and "prevents leaks", guess they should've said causes leaks...

 

I just flushed mine with that same fluid at 95k miles. Haven’t noticed any ill effects. It was recommended in quite a few other threads.

please link where I can get dextron II or III...

 

I always have just done the reservoir empty and fill rout on my cars.

 

I'm suspicious of a fluid advertised to be interchangeable with both Toyota WS and Toyota IV:
https://sharena21.springcm.com/Publ...2d889bd3/3fa3136a-09bd-e711-9c12-ac162d889bd1

My local Toyota dealer has Toyota-branded "D3" fluid on the shelf. Cheap, too, like $6 a bottle.

 

NAPA was closer to me, guess next time I am going to make an extra mile to a dealer.

 

i just looked at advance auto and found this:

https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/carquest-oil-fluids-dexron-iii-mercon-atf-automatic-transmission-fluid-1-quart-cq420/8130008-P?searchTerm=Dextron%20III

I might go ahead and grab a gallon and flush mine again.

 

So moral is the rack is more or less fine and it was just the fluid?

 

More or less sipping now when it didn't before

I think it's safe to say that using valvoline atf fluid is a NO GO on these trucks.

 

It’s possible the fluid you used before the switch damaged the gasket in some way or there could still be enough ATF still sitting on or around the gasket for the new oil to slip through

 

For others reference, Toyota number is

$20 00718ATF00 Dexron III Transmission Fluid - 1 Quart

00718ATF00

 

Possibly, I flushed the system with over 3 quarts of P/S fluid and it was coming out clear from return hose.



Either way it's done, just sharing here my findings with those that plan on doing it in the future.

 

Or C0BBAATFD31L north of the wall. Gotten cheaper than I remembered. Now 4.71 pesos a bottle at Toyota list pricing.

 

Did the dealer give you a warranty invoice when they replaced the rack at 30k? Does it show which fluid they used at the time?

 

Yeah... I've read both horror stories and praises with Maxlife ATF being used as ATF. I've used it in previous two slush boxes but as said above, it's an LV fluid and causes leaks for some. Its "compatible" but it is not a genuine Dexron. It smells horrible and pours like water. Hopefully no damage to pump running it dry and seals not swollen by additive package In it.

I believe something like this would've been closer to stock fluid: https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/VAR...0VDGx1FF1Cw9UzBmu04yEyEiI__DCGFEaAmSNEALw_wcB

 

This all could have been coincidental too. I certainty don't want to bog down in a pissing match about Maxlife. But there are countless threads and forums all over the Internet, including Bobistheoilguy site where ML was used in Toyota power steering systems. Not once have I heard of an issue...until today.

It could have been the rack was going to take a dump no matter what fluid went in. It just happened to be when you put in ML