Folks - CHECK YOUR PS!

[B320i]

Today's little effort...

Doing a partial change of the PS fluid in my '93 Bimmer. This stuff is supposedly "Lifetime Fill," much like the transmission and possibly the differential on the car. So I'm dealing with fluid up to 21 years old here... Great.

A year ago, I went to check the PS levels, and found the fluid was very thin, and very black. I ordered some Redline D4 ATF and simply haven't had the means to change it till recently.

I got a fluid transfer pump, pumped out the older stuff, used some of the new stuff to "flush" the pump, then added new ATF into the reservoir. Now, it at least has a pinkish tint to it.
The stuff I drained out stank to high heaven...

A do have a slight PS leak that shows up on the driveway every so often. So this will probably exasperate the leak. Still - I'd rather have a little bit of new fluid in there to keep the system properly lubricated and clean...
In time, I will slowly exchange the fluid. But for now, this should be enough, and I'll see if the leak gets worse or not before proceeding.

Anyway - the lesson is, please change your PS fluid. If it stinks, doesn't look a nice cherry red (i.e. blacker than the night sky). PLEASE CHANGE IT!

 

[hotwheels]

I use Pentosin CHF 202 in my Corrado. It looks like NyQuil. I've been changing the fluid every 5 years since 1999. My P/S is still working fine without abnormal noises or morning sickness.

hotwheels

 

[SwedishRider]

I have a vacuum extractor that I'm using to evacuate the PS reservoir once a year. I then refill with fresh PS fluid in the appropriate amount. Seems to be working as the fluid looks great and I am not experiencing any problems.

 

[19jacobob93]

Just added some MoS2 to my PS fluid the other day and so far it has made it quite a bit smoother! Just like it did my engine. The reason I added it is because I also have a slight leak and I thought the MoS2 with it's plating effect would slow it, the same way it reduced oil consumption to zero in my engine. I will degrease the bolt on the reservoir where it has the very slow leak and monitor it to see how fast the leak returns

 

[dave123]

Old lesson stick around you will learn more You gotta love a Newbie.

 

[berniedd]

There ain't no such thing as lifetime fluids.

 

[mjoekingz28]

Originally Posted By: berniedd
There ain't no such thing as lifetime fluids.


What about freon? Or battery acid?



OP, which exchange pump did you purchase?

I have two myself,one i only now use for brake and clutch and the other for oils.

 

[LoneRanger]

How do you drain ps fluid, do you have to use an oil extractor on the reservoir or is there usually a plug on the rack somewhere?

 

[CourierDriver]

I just add MMO to the PS, works great,,,I have never replace a power steering unit,,,guess I have been lucky.

 

[JHZR2]

Did you just suck out of the reservoir? Some bmw reservoirs have an integrated permanent filter. I know my 91 does, but the fluid stays fine in it. It is indeed smart to service all fluids over time.

IMO lifetime per the OEMs means 60-100kish miles and around 8 years (which for a typical car doing 12.5k/yr is about that.

 

[Whitewolf]

Pentosin CHF 11S is an approved fluid for that application. Personally I would advise using that rather than just guess what might be suitable.

 

[tc1446]

Don't most cars simply use ATF fluid in the PS?

 

[Whitewolf]

Originally Posted By: tc1446
Don't most cars simply use ATF fluid in the PS?


Many do but there are quite a number that do not.

 

[RF Overlord]

Originally Posted By: berniedd
There ain't no such thing as lifetime fluids.
Bingo.

The concept of ATF or PS fluid, or even rear diff fluid, being "lifetime" is a marketing gimmick to make the sheeple think that car is better than another as it required "no maintenance".

When we bought my ex's Mercury Marauder in 2007, with 87,000 miles, it had a PS whine and the fluid was very dark. I flushed it with plain Mercon (as called out in the owner's manual) and it promptly quieted down. I've since done a quick turkey-baster drain & fill of the reservoir at every other oil change and the car now has over 195,000 miles and the fluid remains clean and the pump remains quiet.

 

[B320i]

Originally Posted By: mjoekingz28
Originally Posted By: berniedd
There ain't no such thing as lifetime fluids.


What about freon? Or battery acid?



OP, which exchange pump did you purchase?

I have two myself,one i only now use for brake and clutch and the other for oils.


Just a simple handpump from online, eBay (or "FleaPay") for about $25, shipped. Granted, not the best thing for the application (it dribbles a little) - but given that it won't be used more than every couple of years at the most, I don't see the point in investing big bucks for one.

Originally Posted By: Whitewolf
Pentosin CHF 11S is an approved fluid for that application. Personally I would advise using that rather than just guess what might be suitable.


There are two types of fluid used, depending on your vehicle. Vehicles fitted with the self-levelling rear suspension use a Pentosin proprietary fluid. You can't use the ATF in that. My vehicle is "only" a 320i. You also cannot use the Pentosin stuff (Non-ATF) in vehicles without SLS systems. In either case, using the wrong fluids will cause problems.

The cap on the reservoir says "ATF OIL ONLY" - so thats what I used, and of course, I posed a question on Bimmerforums to doublecheck. A quality synthetic like Redline should be alright, and probably overkill.

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Did you just suck out of the reservoir? Some bmw reservoirs have an integrated permanent filter. I know my 91 does, but the fluid stays fine in it. It is indeed smart to service all fluids over time.

IMO lifetime per the OEMs means 60-100kish miles and around 8 years (which for a typical car doing 12.5k/yr is about that.


Yes, this has the integrated filter. For now though, a partial change won't be too harmful. In the future, I might consider a new reservoir/filter, but for now, I think it will be alright.

Lifetime can mean whatever you want, within the eyes of the manufacturer. I take it to mean: "Until it fails," which can mean 1mile or 300,000. Its just a big game of chance!

In the near future, I'll be changing out the Differential and Transmission oils, which I assume are also unchanged. At this age, and with 120K miles, its due. And following a traditional schedule of every 30K miles, its due as well. So might as well change it.

 

[ThirdeYe]

In my past cars and current cars, I just siphon out some of the power steering fluid from the reservoir and refill it once a year. Much easier than doing a full change.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: RF Overlord
The concept of ATF or PS fluid, or even rear diff fluid, being "lifetime" is a marketing gimmick to make the sheeple think that car is better than another as it required "no maintenance".

To a point, yes, but read this. In addition, on the taxis, coolant was left in until component failure, and differential fluid was never changed, with no differential failures in over 25 years and many taxis on the road.

In my personal vehicles, I do things a little bit differently, since downtime for maintenance isn't such an issue to me, and it takes a lot longer to accrue the mileage. So, I do a suck and refill on PSF every once in a while, for instance.

 

[RF Overlord]

Originally Posted By: ThirdeYe
I just siphon out some of the power steering fluid from the reservoir and refill it once a year. Much easier than doing a full change.
...and that's ideal, IF you are starting from new. Many of us acquire cars that have not been properly serviced by the previous owner(s) and should have a full exchange...after that, periodic drain & fills are all that is necessary.

 

[Leo99]

Originally Posted By: berniedd
There ain't no such thing as lifetime fluids.


People on BITOG say this often but I've yet to see any data to prove it true or false.

Are there data to show that changing out so-called lifetime fluid extends the life of the systems compared to systems were the lifetime fluid was never changed?

To state that you changed out your lifetime fluid every N miles and it runs great doesn't prove anything because it may have still run great on the original fill.

 

[HTSS_TR]

The two fluids most drivers never change are PSF and brake fluid, Looking at the reservoirs of even high end cars such as BMW, MB ... they are as black as ink on 10-15 years old cars.

In California many drivers never change coolant fluid either, because many manual states that antifreeze is needed to change, and almost we never have freezing temperature here.