Power Steering Fluid for Jeep Liberty 03

[Bert]

I have a Jeep Liberty 2003, the v6 engine. The power steering fluid is a little low, maybe a little over a centimeter below the line for cold on the reservior. I didn't see any leaks anywhere, underneath or on the ground. So of course I want to top it off. The owners manual says "Mopar Power Steering Fluid MS-5931". I have some older, maybe 5 years old, generic PS fluid that says it is good for Chrysler, Jeep, GM and Ford. Can I use that to top it off? Or is that Mopar PS fluid something special? Anyone know? Thanks in advance.

 

[dkcase]

I have an '02 Liberty.

I siphoned out as much as I could and replaced it with Valvoline Synpower Power Steering Fluid about a year ago. At the time I had noticed the level was down a bit, like yours.

Recently I wanted to do it again. At WalMart they no longer had the Synpower fluid. Rather than chase it to another store (I had seen it at Advance Auto) I picked up a quart of MaxLife fluid, and used that. The bottle says "... compatible with Ford, GM, Chrysler, and certain import vehicles." Their website says, in upper case, "Not recommended for Honda and Acura vehicles."

My important point is that I have stayed with "power steering fluid." I think I saw a poster say there was a TSB recommending that you use the ATF+4. I don't remember the details of it, and stayed with the PSF. I doubt the Chrysler PSF is anything special.

Functionally, there's no noise, or stick-slip, or any problems.

 

[Bert]

thanks. That is what I thought. I went ahead and just topped it off with the generic power steering fluid. Someday I'll get something else and replace it. In the meantime, I'll be keeping an eye on it.

 

[unDummy]

I would recycle that 5 year old PS fluid with old motor oil.

For just a topoff, use the OEM fluid or a MS-5931 equivalent PSF. If you research "insert any brand name" on company websites, you'll find that several meet MS5931. The spec will be on the bottle or on the product data sheet.

If doing a complete PS flush, I'd abandon the OEM fluid for a synthetic PSF or ATF.