hydraulic filter change interval?

[omarcrysis]

Hi everyone,
I have a car that has a hydraulic sway bar and and also hydraulic steering. they share the same pump but have two separate reservoirs and the fluid must be changed every 40k miles and the reservoirs are supposed to be changed as well as they have filters inside of them. unfortunately the filter cannot be changed so one must buy a whole reservoir for around 140 bucks (so 280, plus the fluid every 40k miles)

im wondering if anyone knows whether its possible to extend the 40k mile interval by visually inspecting the filter to see if its getting clogged at 40k miles or if the manufacturer is just trying to fleece the customers (not surprising considering the cost of the reservoir.

or is checking the flow/pressure, etc the only way to accurately test if its clogged?

as in, will a clogged filter be visibly dirty (they have white filters) or is it possible for a clean looking filter to not flow adequately?

the vehicle in question is a porsche. in the early 2000s they introduced hydraulic anti roll bars as an option on some of their cars.

 

[97prizm]

What is the vehicle specifically? I'm thinking a Cayenne as you mentioned hydraulic anti-roll bars. Is there a kit that you can mount an external filter? Unless the hydraulic system is breaking down I would think that 40k changes would be excessive.

 

[omarcrysis]

Yep its a 2011 cayenne, although there are a few other cars that porsche makes that have the same system.

there's no kit for an external filter that I'm aware of. most porsche owners probably just eat the 300+ cost themselves since they expect that sort of cost from one of these cars, but you'd be surprised how many of these parts are just volkswagen parts with a porsche label on them for 3x the price. just straight robbery hahah

40k does seem excessive, but the pump is 3500 plus labor so its hard to not be afraid of skimping on the maintenance

any idea on how to test it's filtration capacity? is it possible to visibly see when a hydraulic filter may be clogged?

 

[chorty]

I think VW Tig's for some years had a filter in their weirdo clutch engagement to send power to the rear when needed. I think that was in the 40k range? 60?

It's super stupid to remove. I ended up using VAGCOM/Ross-tech to run the pump and use hydraulic pressure to push it out. Straight up ******e design.

 

[omarcrysis]

Well, I got the filter out and took some photos. and the interval was actually 60k, my bad. still, 300 bucks is too much for 2 plastic reservoirs, 2 filters and 3 liters of fluid