Power steering fluid
#1
Instructor
Thread Starter
Power steering fluid
I went to a new dealer today for service and she said everything checked out except my power steering looked dark and needed to be changed for $160. Is this right? Does it even need to be changed if its dark? Thx
#2
Lexus Test Driver
Rip off. I you wanna change it just get Mobil 1 synthetic ATF and a turkey baster, suck out what's in the reservoir and replace with fresh fluid. Start the car and repeat a handful of times until the reservoir fluid stays bright red. Very easy to do.
#3
simple drain and fill. take a syringe with a short piece of tubing. and suck out all the ps fluid from the reservoir then add new ATF fluid. I used Mobil 1 ATF synthetic fluid. if it's real dirty, I do this procedure on a regular interval, say 3k, till the fluid stays like the fresh fluid.
#4
beat me to it. you're a faster poster.
#5
Moderator
Like previous poster have said this is a super easy DIY - just be sure to use good quality ATF fluid per the manual. Suck out the old dark fluid from PS reservoir and refill, drive the LS around for a little, and repeat a couple of times until the fluid starts to show nice red color again. It is not necessary to totally flush the system in most cases so a few PS drain and fills maybe every other year will preserve the entire PS system.
#6
Lexus Champion
I also found this to be easy. I did find that the fluid was not as dark as it appeared when just looking at the reservoir from the outside. As the fluid level was dropped I noticed that the reservoir had taken a darkening on the inside surface, making to fluid look darker than it actually was.
I captured the first fluid removed in a clear plastic water bottle and labeled it as No. 1. By doing this each time you can just line the botles up in a row and see how much the fluid color has changed. Then you know when to stop the procedure and be satisfied with your results.
I captured the first fluid removed in a clear plastic water bottle and labeled it as No. 1. By doing this each time you can just line the botles up in a row and see how much the fluid color has changed. Then you know when to stop the procedure and be satisfied with your results.
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