PS Fluid change intervals?

[curls]

2004 Acura TSX w/ 97,000km (~ 61,000 miles).

I was wondering what the normal power steering fluid exchange interval was for a typical Honda. It's not listed in the manual or service manual (I have both), but the procedure is simple.

When should this be done, and is it like brake fluid in that it needs to be changed after (3 years) because of contamination from water vapour in the air?

Thanks,
Eric

 

[Kestas]

I've read many recommendations to change the fluid every 30K. Unlike brake fluid, which is changed mainly because of water absorption, ps fluid is changed mainly because of wear contaminant debris in the system - and to a minor extent - the fluid oxidation and shear breakdown.

 

[TooSlick]

All lubricants degrade due to heat/oxidation, even if they're not exposed to combustion byproducts. Oxidation/evaporation will thicken the lubricant and make it eventually turn acidic. A change interval of 50k miles for PS fluid - or 100k miles for a full synthetic - is an excellent idea. Adding an inline filter is also very beneficial for extending the life of the PS pump.

TS

 

[curls]

Sounds good. The OEM Honda PS fluid is recommended, and Honda uses special fluids anyhow, so I'll pick up 2L of the stuff (or whatever my service manual says, I can't remember the amount right now).

The procedure is really simple (disconnect return hose, turn wheel lock-to-lock a few times until fluid stops coming out, reconnect hose, add fluid until at max level, turn wheels again, top-up.).

Total time is like 15-25 minutes including fetching a beer.

Cheers,
Eric

 

[JHZR2]

A LOT of people dont ever replace the fluid, and their PS systems run for a LONG time.

I have an MB and BMW, both of which have open sump PS reservoirs, so that you can look at the fluid, with the car on or off. At 30k miles, the fluids look clear and new, even in the bMW which has a nonreplacable horsehair filter (the MB has a replacable disc filter, and it always looks clean).

I think of it this way... An auto trans sees tens to hundreds of kilowatts of power transfer constantly, and has 6-10qt of fluid for lube. A PS system sees 1-3 kilowatts of power for moving the wheels, and has nearly a quart of fluid for itself. The degradation rate for a PS system lube is not that high, and so long as it gets up to working temperature and doesnt get contamination, itll be fine for long periods of time.

Because of this, I think of PS fluid as a "when I have time" fluid change. If I dont do it every 30k, oh well, no biggie. If I do it ever 20k, OK, its not a pricey change. If I dont have time and do it at 60k, it really isnt the end of the world, the way id think it to be with an auto trans in my car.

So remember to do it, dont sweat the interval, and use Honda fluid ONLY.

Do be careful running it empty though. My MB pump always got very unhappy, and frothed LOTS of air into the remaining fluid in the pump when it was run nearly dry. That's a major pain to get out of the rest of the system...

I like to either have the input hose in a bottle of fresh fluid while draining the old oil and having the wheels turned (2 person job), or else suck all the fluid from the sump, top off, drive in circles both ways a number of times, dran again, refill again, repeat, repeat.

good luck!

JMH

 

[ConfederateTyrant]

Curls, I prefer to do a full flush to switch to a full synthetic power steering fluid (or synthetic ATF if it fits the recommendations), then I plan to drain the reservoir every year, and replace with new fluid. I don't do much driving, so it'd probably be overkill, but if I did more driving, then I'd drain the reservoir every 10,000 miles.

I'm not sure if there are any synthetic power steering fluids for Honda/Acura, but a 30,000 mile flush is the usual mileage recommendation from most quick lube shops, and a lot of users on here have stated that 30,000 miles is a good recommendation.

 

[MN Driver]

When I bought my 95 Geo Prizm when it had 139k miles the worst fluid in the car was the PS fluid. The service manual claims it never needs to be changed but the Dexron III fluid that it uses was no longer red, it was jet black even though the service manual says it doesn't need to be changed. The turkey baster method won't work because the opening is too small so I bought a flavor injector and I suck as much fluid out as possible and refill it all the way to the top and then suck it out until it reaches the level it should be at. I had done this once, did my daily driving and did it again. After the second time I was able to see some resemblence of red fluid. I have done it five times so far and the fluid looks like it is mostly changed as it is only slightly darker than the new fluid. I've used two quarts so far and once the third quart has been finished up I will probably just do a pump and fill every 10k miles(which is more than every 6 months) unless it isn't maintaining its clear bright red appearance. My 2002 Grand Am was starting to get darker at about 30k miles and I started to use a turkey baster on it at about 40k miles and did that twice every oil change until the quart was gone which was 4 reservoir changes by then it was pretty close to clear fluid(A semi-synthetic version of the GM-type).

 

[jaj]

There is a pretty reliable rule-of-thumb for the "turkey baster method" and it goes like this:

"If you put twice the fluid capacity of the system through by pulling out and replacing a fraction of the total at a time, you will reduce the original fluid content to about 10% of the total"

This rule of thumb applies to transmissions, diffs, ps pumps, etc. It's an approximation but it's good for replacement fractions between 10% (12% remains of the original fluid) and 40% (8% remains of the original fluid).

For example, the owner's manual for my wife's car says it holds 1 liter of PS fluid. After I've opened up the reservoir on consecutive Saturdays and pulled out and replaced 1/5th liter each time, by the time I've used up the contents of two one-liter bottles of Dex III, the system has 11% original fluid and 89% new. Pretty close to what you get with a full fluid drain and refill.

Cheers
JJ

 

[Mr Nice]

When I had a Mustang, I just pulled the hose off the PS pump and had someone start the engine and simply 'pumped' all the old fluid from the reservoir. Reinstalled the hose and then added fluid until it was at the Max line on the reservoir. Drove around my neighborhood and checked the fluid level.

Drain and refill every 3 years. Can't get any easier than that.