WARNING: The following are the rambling thoughts of an oil maniac and his tale of changing the power steering fluid. Reader discretion is advised.
Today I changed the power steering fluid of my Renault Clio, the manual doesn't specifies a replacement interval but I thought that 50,000 kms was a good number; the manual calls for ATF Dexron II or Mobil ATF 220. I went to the dealership and played the dumb and asked for "power steering fluid" they told me: "there is no such thing, we use ATF" he handed me a bottle of Renaultmatic D3 Syn, that didn't have any specification approvals or any useful info, plus at $17.00 USD per quart seemed too expensive.
I went into research mode and found that the Renaultmatic is a Dexron III equivalent. So I knew that I needed a Dexron II or III approved oil, but the problem is that the licenses for those no longer exist, and you need to trust in the oil company that the oil passes those outdated specs. The only valid specification is Dexron VI which officially is backwards compatible with the previous specs but in power steering systems some people recommend it and some people don't, including GM for their own systems.
Armed with this information I went shopping, first to Walmart, then to other auto parts stores, and to the Chevrolet dealership. But I didn't find anything that satisfied me. All the ATF that was available was from dodgy/backwater brands that didn't inspire any confidence, some photos below, sorry for the quality, I took them in a hurry since I was expecting to hear: "mommy, why is he taking pictures of the oil bottles?"
I thought that I could find a better quality Dexron III in the Chevrolet dealership but they only had Dexron VI at a similar price as the Renaultmatic.
By then I was on my way to the Renault dealership when I tried one more store and I found Valvoline Dexron VI ATF at $7.50 USD per quart.
Now I had two options:
1. Trust in the backwards compatibility of the Dexron specification and use an officially licensed and approved fluid with the latest spec.
2. Pay an outrageous price for the dealership fluid, that, although it is of good quality, it only conforms to an inferior specification.
I went for option number one and I bought 3 quarts of Valvoline, yes, it could be a mistake but only time will tell.
I returned home and removed all the fluid for the reservoir, (0.6 liters from the listed capacity of 1.1 liters) the fluid came out totally black, I refilled with new fluid. Started the engine and moved the steering around, then suction again all the fluid and refill with new once more.
The second time that I remove the fluid, it came out black but at least was somewhat translucid, I didn't took a picture because it started to rain once more and I went back into the house, then the power went out and I am writing this in my phone to pass the time.
By my intrepid calculations now I have about 80% of new fluid in the system. In the weekend I will use the remaining fluid to get to 98% of new fluid so it can go for another 50,000 kms.
So: what do you think? Did I make the right choice or it will come back to haunt me?
Today I changed the power steering fluid of my Renault Clio, the manual doesn't specifies a replacement interval but I thought that 50,000 kms was a good number; the manual calls for ATF Dexron II or Mobil ATF 220. I went to the dealership and played the dumb and asked for "power steering fluid" they told me: "there is no such thing, we use ATF" he handed me a bottle of Renaultmatic D3 Syn, that didn't have any specification approvals or any useful info, plus at $17.00 USD per quart seemed too expensive.
I went into research mode and found that the Renaultmatic is a Dexron III equivalent. So I knew that I needed a Dexron II or III approved oil, but the problem is that the licenses for those no longer exist, and you need to trust in the oil company that the oil passes those outdated specs. The only valid specification is Dexron VI which officially is backwards compatible with the previous specs but in power steering systems some people recommend it and some people don't, including GM for their own systems.
Armed with this information I went shopping, first to Walmart, then to other auto parts stores, and to the Chevrolet dealership. But I didn't find anything that satisfied me. All the ATF that was available was from dodgy/backwater brands that didn't inspire any confidence, some photos below, sorry for the quality, I took them in a hurry since I was expecting to hear: "mommy, why is he taking pictures of the oil bottles?"
I thought that I could find a better quality Dexron III in the Chevrolet dealership but they only had Dexron VI at a similar price as the Renaultmatic.
By then I was on my way to the Renault dealership when I tried one more store and I found Valvoline Dexron VI ATF at $7.50 USD per quart.
Now I had two options:
1. Trust in the backwards compatibility of the Dexron specification and use an officially licensed and approved fluid with the latest spec.
2. Pay an outrageous price for the dealership fluid, that, although it is of good quality, it only conforms to an inferior specification.
I went for option number one and I bought 3 quarts of Valvoline, yes, it could be a mistake but only time will tell.
I returned home and removed all the fluid for the reservoir, (0.6 liters from the listed capacity of 1.1 liters) the fluid came out totally black, I refilled with new fluid. Started the engine and moved the steering around, then suction again all the fluid and refill with new once more.
The second time that I remove the fluid, it came out black but at least was somewhat translucid, I didn't took a picture because it started to rain once more and I went back into the house, then the power went out and I am writing this in my phone to pass the time.
By my intrepid calculations now I have about 80% of new fluid in the system. In the weekend I will use the remaining fluid to get to 98% of new fluid so it can go for another 50,000 kms.
So: what do you think? Did I make the right choice or it will come back to haunt me?
