power steering flush

[Greg Lovell]

Hey, so I had my coolant flushed this week and they are saying that my power steering fluid is "dirty" and needs to be flushed. Is that something I can do at home or am I going to have to pay them $99 to do it?

 

[Mark Price 2]

This is how do it. 1 bottle Ford Motorcraft Mercon V Transmission Fluid/Power Steering Fluid. "Turkey baste" the fluid out of the reservoir. Pour in new fluid. Start truck and turn steering wheel lock to lock(all the way left and all the way right) a few times. Don't hold the steering wheel at lock for more than a few secs(ever). Lets say 2 secs to be safe. This cycles the fluid. Few days later of driving, I do the process again. One more time a few more days later. Maybe even one more time. You now have pretty much fresh fluid in the entire system. Some shops will "turkey baste" the reservoir and add fluid then call it "flushed" or "changed". (Same goes for "changing" the brake fluid.) Don"t waste your hard eared money. 5 bucks for fluid and 2 bucks for a turkey baster. I know of many that have never changed their PS fluid for the life of their vehicle and everything runs fine. I did this earlier this year on my 10yr old Trac. It was pretty stinky and dirty. Nice to know you have fresh fluids all around.

 

[Richard L]

FlexMy04,

I agree with maraprice73's recommendations. It's a very easy process and only takes a few minutes. Repeating the process after a few days of driving will probably replace about 95% percent of the old.



And just for the record, between you, me, and the lamp post...I have rarely if ever flushed or changed power steering fluid in any of my cars....and never had a power steering issue in any of them. I am 66 years old and have owned about 30 cars in my lifetime, and most had power steering....I have had vehicles with well over 165K miles on them, So if dirty power steering fluid was a big issue, they would have put a filter in the line.



There is certainly no harm in changing the fluid yourself, and it probably is a good idea to do it, but only if you do it yourself. By doing it yourself, you can save yourself some money and don't have to leave your car at a dealership or shop for a day.



...Rich

 

[Steve Krusich]

It only takes a few extra minutes to do a complete flush by adding about a 12" piece to the return hose(bigger hose) on the bottom of the reservoir so the additional length will allow you to reach high enough to pump the old fluid in some kind of container. Several lock-to-locks with engine off and front wheels off the ground with watchful refilling of the reservoir and the old fluid in totally gone.



You won't have to think about it again for a long time!

 

[Bob Floyd]

quicker way.. take off the return line to the pump.. rubber hose with a clamp... put a cap on the pump after it quits draining.. fill with clean fluid.. point hose to a catch can start the vehicle keep filling pump till fluid runs clean. turn off eng.. put the hose back on start eng fill to full line... your done... :banana: