PSF for 2005 Camry

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Just bought a 2005 Camry that is certified and has 49K miles. I am looking for maximum longevity and will begin changing all the vital fluids. This car calls for Dexron II/III as the power steering fluid. Considering that Dex II/III is an obsolete spec, what should I use as a replacement PSF?
 
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1478264&fpart=2
Originally Posted By: unDummy
PSF's tend to be poorly cooled, rarely filtered, and rarely changed. I would step up to a full synthetic ATF that mentions DexronIII or Mercon on the bottle.
If you are cheap, I would minimally use a MerconV.

Someone mentioned that Nissan switched to DexronVI in their PSF's. Hopefully, Toyota will do the same. An easy to find store bought ATF is better then some silly dealer-only poor-performing PSF.


M1 ATF is mentioned a lot here. Some people here including myself used Dexron VI.
 
Any full synthetic ATF that mentions the dexron spec would be a worthy upgrade.
 
Originally Posted By: RedDart
Just bought a 2005 Camry that is certified and has 49K miles. I am looking for maximum longevity and will begin changing all the vital fluids. This car calls for Dexron II/III as the power steering fluid. Considering that Dex II/III is an obsolete spec, what should I use as a replacement PSF?


Lets not get carried away here. Get some decent Dex III and do a few flushes. I drained the reservoir of my 94 Camry 3X with 1 QT of DEX III. The factory fill worked just great for the first 217K miles, so some DEX III should work fine for the next xxx miles.
 
Originally Posted By: hate2work

Maximum longevity? This is what I would use for PS fluid and for ATF fluid.

https://www.amsoil.com/catalog.aspx?code=ATFQT-EA

Here's a good write up on how to change it...

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19334
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As others have mentioned a good synthetic Dexron III works great. I like D4. Flushed both of my toyotas with it. Very robust fluid. It works out good if you buy the fluid in bulk as you can use it in the transmission as well and stick to one fluid.
 
Gentlemen,

Thanks for your replies. The fluid that is in the reservoir looks like conventional PSF because it is dark amber (or brownish?) colored. It may be well used Dexron but it sure is not red.
 
Originally Posted By: RedDart
Gentlemen,

Thanks for your replies. The fluid that is in the reservoir looks like conventional PSF because it is dark amber (or brownish?) colored. It may be well used Dexron but it sure is not red.


Don't worry about the color not being the same as atf. Trust us and get some good syn atf and do the flush as per the link I posted earlier, then use the leftover atf to do a drain and refill on your tranny. Your car will love you for it :)
 
Toyota Factory fill is not red, even though it says to use ATF.
Ever since 2005, I have never seen a Toyota that has red fluid in the reservoir, even though it says use ATF.

I think there is some cheap hydraulic oil that is close enough to ATF as the factory fill. That stuff turns foul very quickly.
 
Its just ATF without the dye in it, so it appears to be plain hydraulic fluid. Mine was nasty at 30K! After running the RL the same amount of miles it is still bright red.
 
Mobil 1 Mercon V ATF (Mercon is a Ford name for Dexron), it is recommended for PS that called for Dexron 3. I am replacing PS in my Isuzu with it now (12 oz at a time with a turkey baster). Old PSF was dark red with a light burnt smell (52K miles on it). I already can tell a difference in steering, after 24 oz. My Tacoma is next, and I will use M1 ATF again.
Full flush might be better, but turkey baster works fine, makes less mess, and a whole lot easier to do by one person.
 
Did a drain and refill on all 3 of my toyota's at around 21k miles with Valvoline dex III ATF. Every vehicle now steers easier than it did before. Old fluid looked and smelled horrible.

Our GMC Van only has 12k on it, and the steering is notchy so i may end up doing that soon as well.

How often should i do the D&F method?
 
3Toys, I'm surprised you didn't use the Amsoil atf, I mean looking at your sig line :)

Timeline on the drain and refills I'm not sure about. I would imagine a few miles with several turns would mix it fairly well. Why not just do the complete change?
 
Would there be any problem running regular PSF instead of Dexron III in a late model Toyota PS system?
Walmart carries Prestone and ST varieties. Would these work just as good as ATF for a Toyota?
 
If the system requires ATF, use an ATF.
If the system requires PSF, use a PSF.

Would there be a problem? Usually not but there are too many PS systems out there. Some will tolerate wrong fluids and others will work perfectly fine.

I'd stick with a full synthetic ATF in my PS systems requiring ATF. PS systems are usually undermaintained, unfiltered, not cooled too well and need all the help they can get. I avoid generic PSF/ATF.
 
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