Power Steering Fluid (1 Viewer)

[renyon99]

14 LC

going to be doing my 120k service very soon. Should I do a power steering fluid change? It has never been done.

If so, is it okay to use the recommended Toyota ATF Dex II or III and just do the remove / replace of the reservoir, multiple times? I wasn’t sure if mixing fluids was acceptable since I am not 100% what is in there currently.

No issues with the system or anything, just preventative on my part. Mechanic said leave it alone, no need to change.

Thanks!

 

[bloc]

to resurrect this thread and try to keep it on point, has anyone ever used the Idemitsu Power Steering Fluid in their rigs? My guess is the fluid color (FWIW) is likely the same as what comes from Japan and sure looks similar in packaging to the OEM Honda equivalent for their PSF. The labeling indicates safe to use in Toyotas, Hondas, etc.

I don't want to beat the horse too bad, but I am looking for compatible fluids that will save money where appropriate and still provide longevity overall.

ATF is quite cheap in the volumes we are talking about and is specifically what Toyota says to put in there.

I’d go a step further and advocate emptying and refilling the reservoir each or every other oil change to keep the fluid that is in there fresh.. and barring any trauma to the system you most likely won’t have any problems for the life of the vehicle.

Keep in mind we don’t have many power steering problems in the first place, and that’s with the majority of owners going up to and over 100k on the original fluid.

 

[gasman4u]

ATF is quite cheap in the volumes we are talking about and is specifically what Toyota says to put in there.

I’d go a step further and advocate emptying and refilling the reservoir each or every other oil change to keep the fluid that is in there fresh.. and barring any trauma to the system you most likely won’t have any problems for the life of the vehicle.

Keep in mind we don’t have many power steering problems in the first place, and that’s with the majority of owners going up to and over 100k on the original fluid.

Understood. Is the PSF from the factory compatible with the ATF we'd be replacing it with given the volumes involved? I'm asking whether or not I'd need to completely drain the factory fill PSF first before transitioning to ATF replacement.

 

[concretejungle]

I actually tackled this little maintenance item last weekend. My PS fluid looked like sludge. I put the truck up on stands, disconnected the return line and slowly added fresh, red, ATF fluid; turned the wheels to pump out the old and continued adding until it was all perfectly clean and red. After doing that the power steering feels so much smoother and easier to turn.

I would suggest this to everyone. Mine is at 70,000 miles and this was the first fluid exchange.

 

[sleepycruiser]

left)

Fuse #4 10amp
cigarette lighter

(Four-wheel drive system, ashtray, cigarette lighter, brake controller, cool box, cruise control, center

I actually tackled this little maintenance item last weekend. My PS fluid looked like sludge. I put the truck up on stands, disconnected the return line and slowly added fresh, red, ATF fluid; turned the wheels to pump out the old and continued adding until it was all perfectly clean and red. After doing that the power steering feels so much smoother and easier to turn.

I would suggest this to everyone. Mine is at 70,000 miles and this was the first fluid exchange.

Did you have the LC on when doing that or turned off?

 

[gasman4u]

Did you have the LC on when doing that or turned off?

If it's like any other hydraulic PS I've seen, the engine has to be running for the fluid to be moving in the pump. I could be wrong though.

 

[concretejungle]

Did you have the LC on when doing that or turned off?

I did not, I just had the front up on jack stands and the button pushed for auxiliary power. The power steering pump was not running if that's what you are asking.

 

[concretejungle]

If it's like any other hydraulic PS I've seen, the engine has to be running for the fluid to be moving in the pump. I could be wrong though.

it doesn't have to be. If you did it that way I would need a larger reservoir of fresh fluid to pull from and a long hose to allow the return line to dump into a much larger bucket. It would certainly work but would be a lot more fluid.

 

[bloc]

Can confirm, wheels in the air and ignition -off- makes this all a lot easier. Each sweep from lock to lock pumps nearly a full reservoir all by itself.

Understood. Is the PSF from the factory compatible with the ATF we'd be replacing it with given the volumes involved? I'm asking whether or not I'd need to completely drain the factory fill PSF first before transitioning to ATF replacement.

The factory fill could very well be ATF without the dye. Toyota specifying ATF as the replacement is the gospel here.. can't go wrong with it.

 

[gasman4u]

Can confirm, wheels in the air and ignition -off- makes this all a lot easier. Each sweep from lock to lock pumps nearly a full reservoir all by itself.



The factory fill could very well be ATF without the dye. Toyota specifying ATF as the replacement is the gospel here.. can't go wrong with it.

Could you do this without volume in the reservoir?

To be able to completely purge the system without running the pump?

To clarify: how much volume could you get out without running the risk of a “gas lock” situation? Would starting the engine remedy this scenario?

 

[bloc]

Could you do this without volume in the reservoir?

To be able to completely purge the system without running the pump?

To clarify: how much volume could you get out without running the risk of a “gas lock” situation? Would starting the engine remedy this scenario?

I did mine one reservoir full at a time, fluid completely exchanged, pump didn't run, no gas lock. The procedure is detailed earlier in this thread, post #2.

 

[EP1]

I actually tackled this little maintenance item last weekend. My PS fluid looked like sludge. I put the truck up on stands, disconnected the return line and slowly added fresh, red, ATF fluid; turned the wheels to pump out the old and continued adding until it was all perfectly clean and red. After doing that the power steering feels so much smoother and easier to turn.

I would suggest this to everyone. Mine is at 70,000 miles and this was the first fluid exchange.

How many quarts did you use to complete the job?

 

[concretejungle]

How many quarts did you use to complete the job?

for me it only took 1.5 quarts to get the fluid in the reservoir looking good and clean.

It's probably something I might do the next oil change just to see if I can push a little more fresh fluid through there just in case.

 

[bloc]

for me it only took 1.5 quarts to get the fluid in the reservoir looking good and clean.

It's probably something I might do the next oil change just to see if I can push a little more fresh fluid through there just in case.

If you draw the fluid out of the reservoir and replace with fresh at every or every other oil change the PS system will effectively have new fluid in it going forward.. pretty easy to do and with such a small volume it's not expensive.

 

[gasman4u]

Anyone use any Idemetsu PSF in their rigs? The bottle specifically mentions Honda, Toyota, etc in their description but I have no first hand experience.

I know that Toyota recommends ATF on replacement, but I cannot get past the fluids being so stark comparatively on comparison. I could be making much to do about nothing, but know PM is better than having issues due to lack of maintenance or poor choices during PM.

 

[bloc]

I can’t wrap my head around assuming there is a more appropriate fluid than what Toyota explicitly lists in the manual as being correct.

Other than the situation with oil viscosity where the rest of the world is given a different value than here in the states. Not at all the case with the power steering system.

 

[gasman4u]

I can’t wrap my head around assuming there is a more appropriate fluid than what Toyota explicitly lists in the manual as being correct.

Other than the situation with oil viscosity where the rest of the world is given a different value than here in the states. Not at all the case with the power steering system.

I'm going off what The Car Care Nut said on his channel. Like him or not, it seems like he knows a bit about Toyota's and works on more in a day than I probably will in my lifetime. He mentioned something about Toyota PSF in a recent video and did not seem keen on replacing with ATF FWIW.

I also know this is (likely) a moot point as like you mentioned, the pumps, etc on these trucks aren't a typical source of headache.

As a comparison, think of the brake fluid. Everyone seems to love the initial factory fill brake fluid which is forbidden for US plebs to own due to (insert reason here). We can't get the factory stuff here. I am thinking this is likely a similar "reason" we cannot get OEM Toyota PSF either.

 

[bloc]

I'm going off what The Car Care Nut said on his channel. Like him or not, it seems like he knows a bit about Toyota's and works on more in a day than I probably will in my lifetime. He mentioned something about Toyota PSF in a recent video and did not seem keen on replacing with ATF FWIW.

I also know this is (likely) a moot point as like you mentioned, the pumps, etc on these trucks aren't a typical source of headache.

As a comparison, think of the brake fluid. Everyone seems to love the initial factory fill brake fluid which is forbidden for US plebs to own due to (insert reason here). We can't get the factory stuff here. I am thinking this is likely a similar "reason" we cannot get OEM Toyota PSF either.

CCN definitely knows a lot but he does make mistakes. The spring in the plastic oil filter cap being precisely calibrated and responsible for filter bypass, for instance.

I do believe these systems are robust enough to not be extremely picky.. and really from an engineering standpoint they aren’t very complex. All of the technology has been around for decades. I’d personally bet the fluid you mention is fine.. but since I don’t understand enough about what the differences are I’m sticking with ATF (though dex 6) and hopefully won’t have to put a rack in it through my ownership.

 

[concretejungle]

I would caution you not to overcomplicate this. The manual specifies a specific Dex II or III rating, two of the synthetic ATF fluids (Valvoline and M1) both have the needed rating. I think ensuring you flush all of the fluid out and use clean, appropriate Dex fluid going in, ensuring not to get a bunch of air in the system is what's most important. I'm usually all about using OEM parts but fluids are a different story.

 

[Drogon]

This might have been covered. Is there any issue with mixing the old PSF with new M1 ATF? I was thinking of changing the PSF in intervals by using an extractor to pull the fluid that is only in the reservoir, with the engine off. I would leave enough old PSF to ensure air is not introduced.

 

[bloc]

This might have been covered. Is there any issue with mixing the old PSF with new M1 ATF? I was thinking of changing the PSF in intervals by using an extractor to pull the fluid that is only in the reservoir, with the engine off. I would leave enough old PSF to ensure air is not introduced.

Meaning you'd just pull what's in the res, refill, start the truck, shut down, repeat? Or do you mean doing something more like what was outlined earlier where you disconnect the return line and pump the old fluid out in front of the new fluid going in?