ls1mike
$50 Site Donor 2026
All of my GM stuff with hydraulic power steering uses ATF.
ATF in power steering sump
- Thread starter RobbS
- Start date
03' & 06' Camry use Dex III. Use whatever Dex III I can get my hands on. Works fine.
My 92 toyota pickup had a bad pressure hose leak, I ran straight trans-x for probably 60-80k miles before fixing it.
My 2000 Jeep Cherokee says power steering fluid instead of ATF. Yet a 1993 Cherokee running the same pump and gearbox use ATF.
It is interesting. I first used it in 1992 at work.. We had an extremely large air compressor for the entire building pneumatic systems. We amped out the engine pulling 25 amps. We drained the oil and refilled with new oil and MILITEC1 percentage. After allowing some heat to activate the MILITEC1, we re-amped the motor and recorded 22 amps. Temperatures were down recorded on the outer casing.
30 years later, I have a ton of stories. The Focus has the manual transmission fluid, power steering, and engine with it. It's normal to use it sparingly. Í love the results
Yeah, To each, their own.
Again, I put a BlueTop box and O'Reilly pump in my neighbor's '00 TJ and used Dex/Merc. Works beautifully. Not a hint of a problem nor is there any reason to think there would be. Hydraulic fluid is hydraulic fluid and there's no voodoo in a recirculating ball box and Sag pump.
I've done the same on numerous 2nd Gen Rams.
Chrysler would say ATF+4 because it was "their" fluid at the time. Ford would say MercV because it was "their" fluid at the time. GM will say Dex VI. The pump says "I can't tell the difference."
Of course I'm not so cavalier on boutique or Euro marques, electric over (my JL), or Honda. There was also an earlier Grand Cherokee with a very finicky system -- might have also been electric over??
I've run ATF in every PS system since the mid 90s when I started working on things. Ford, GM and Chrysler. Still waiting for there to be a problem........
The biggest change was back around 2012 when I began switching all my vehicles over to full synthetic fluids such as Amsoil and now my group 4 based ATF. This made the biggest difference in pump sound when firing things up in the extreme cold.
The biggest change was back around 2012 when I began switching all my vehicles over to full synthetic fluids such as Amsoil and now my group 4 based ATF. This made the biggest difference in pump sound when firing things up in the extreme cold.
My first car ever was a 1980 Audi 5k (heavily used by the time it came into my possession) and it specifically called out Dexron for p/s fluid.
Back then I knew nothing of vehicles and went to the local Checker to get fluid where they informed me Dexron was just basic domestic ATF. Even as an ignorant college kid I was able to recognize this was awesome. (The vehicle also used a Frigidaire a/c compressor)
I later learned just how awesome when I had Type 44s that insisted on Pentosin and used "the bomb" -- a pressurized cartridge that helped provide assist to the typically German over-engineered "hydroboost" steering/brake system. Back then Pentosin was not just sitting on the shelf at Checker or AutoZone and I had to mail order it.....and the bombs failed with German regularity and could only be recharged by sending them off to specialty places.
Back then I knew nothing of vehicles and went to the local Checker to get fluid where they informed me Dexron was just basic domestic ATF. Even as an ignorant college kid I was able to recognize this was awesome. (The vehicle also used a Frigidaire a/c compressor)
I later learned just how awesome when I had Type 44s that insisted on Pentosin and used "the bomb" -- a pressurized cartridge that helped provide assist to the typically German over-engineered "hydroboost" steering/brake system. Back then Pentosin was not just sitting on the shelf at Checker or AutoZone and I had to mail order it.....and the bombs failed with German regularity and could only be recharged by sending them off to specialty places.
My 2019 Sequoia recommends ATF. Suck a few ounces out with my little Mityvac extractor every few oil changes and replace the same amount with Toyota ATF. So far, so good. No noise, no grinding, just easy turning.
