I have a '93 and a '97 Taurus SHO. Both have factory PS coolers. The '93 had over 120k on it when I got it. The PS fluid looked like coffee. It took almost a gallon of ATX fluid changed over a 3 month period to get the system clean enough to keep the fluid red. On the '97 I changed it at around 50k and it too was brown. Now I just do the turkey baster thing once a year. I also run a Magnifine filter on the '97 PS line.
anybody change their power steering fluid or run a filter?
- Thread starter montero91
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Emptying and refilling the reservoir evey 6 months should suffice nicely.
BTW,when I had my BMW which was an 03 with only 25k I did 3 pulls and refills to get it to a nice cherry red ATF color.The factor stuff was already pretty dirty looking and was leaving some deposits behind.
My current Toyota don't seem to be has harsh on the PS fluid.
BTW,when I had my BMW which was an 03 with only 25k I did 3 pulls and refills to get it to a nice cherry red ATF color.The factor stuff was already pretty dirty looking and was leaving some deposits behind.
My current Toyota don't seem to be has harsh on the PS fluid.
I flushed and changed the PS fluid in my car. The stuff in there was about 12 years old, smelled funny and was black. I did the deal where you disconnect the return line and let the pump flush it. I flushed out all the old crap with cheapo ps fluid from the local parts shop. After it started running clear, I then started filling the reservoir with a 50/50 mix of Valvoline Synpower and Maxlife. Works just fine.
I change all of my vehicle's power steering fluid yearly. I just suck out the old fluid with a turkey baster and replace it with fresh fluid. After a week, I repeat the process and call it good until the following year. Same for the brake fluid.
I use the exact same procedure.
I do mine every oil change.
The results are excellent.
I bought one of these, Oil suction pump to change the oil in my boat and now I use it to change a ton of other things. One is the power steering fluid in my vehicles. It works great and is fast. Works well with my lawn mower engines too. I change out the PS fluid every 20k or so. Been using Redline PS fluid and it seems to work well.
although not a direct comparison (but close) the number one reason for hydralic system failures is contamination, local or foreign. caterpillar has gone to a hydralic fluid monitoring system (simliar to GM's oci monitor) to tell you when to chage out the fluid. i've seen lots of nasty fluid come out of PS systems.
i installed a new pump,hoses, and gear on a 88 g20.
after a year on the new fluid it hummed,moaned,and chattered,steering effort went up.i checked it and it smelled nothing like when it went in.black as tar.
i flushed it with m1 atf and the symptoms went away.is still clean after 6 months too.
cheap fluid?
or are these systems hard on fluid?
a similar system on a 85 olds wagon was still clean after 200k+ mi and was changed only as pm.
retun hose was wet so the fluid change was more to open system for the hose swap.
after a year on the new fluid it hummed,moaned,and chattered,steering effort went up.i checked it and it smelled nothing like when it went in.black as tar.
i flushed it with m1 atf and the symptoms went away.is still clean after 6 months too.
cheap fluid?
or are these systems hard on fluid?
a similar system on a 85 olds wagon was still clean after 200k+ mi and was changed only as pm.
retun hose was wet so the fluid change was more to open system for the hose swap.
Kestas
Staff member
Probably went through a rough break-in that destroyed the fluid.
Kestas
Staff member
It just dawned on me that PS rack remanufacturers tell you to first flush the system with the return hose disconnected, turning the wheel from lock-to-lock after putting everything together.
Yep, my Camaro has a factory rinky-dink oil cooler for the ps system, but it still runs hottern'****.
After completely flushing and refilling, I've been keeping an eye on it, and as soon as the oil gets dark again, I'll repeat the flush/refill routine. I used good oil last fill, let's see how long it takes to get dark.
I've also noticed that the high pressure hose from the pump to the mechanism seems to be weeping a tiny bit of oil where the rubber hose goes into the metal connector. The leak is tiny, so it's no biggie, but I'm watching that as well.
Are replacement hoses expensive?
After completely flushing and refilling, I've been keeping an eye on it, and as soon as the oil gets dark again, I'll repeat the flush/refill routine. I used good oil last fill, let's see how long it takes to get dark.
I've also noticed that the high pressure hose from the pump to the mechanism seems to be weeping a tiny bit of oil where the rubber hose goes into the metal connector. The leak is tiny, so it's no biggie, but I'm watching that as well.
Are replacement hoses expensive?
hope you don't change your engine oil the same way, turkey baster out what can be reached and leave the rest of the old stuff?
Engine oil is exposed to combustion byproducts so comparing the two makes no sense. Repeated turkey baster changins are a good simple effective way to change a PS system with the benifit of the fresh fluid being able to do some cleaning and you removing that stuff or much of it anyway at the next change. I do it about 3 weekends in a row and even on my 190K daily driver I bought at 172k the PS fluid is rather clear.
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