Power Steering Fluid (3 Viewers)

[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!

 

[Drogon]

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?

Just whats in the res, start and repeat. But would different fluids mixing cause concern?

 

[bloc]

Just whats in the res, start and repeat. But would different fluids mixing cause concern?

No it won’t, or at least Toyota didn’t think so or they wouldn’t have specified it.

But your dilution method will require much more product to end up with truly fresh fluid in the system. It is easy though.

 

[32cls6speedmt]

I actually went to the car care nut just last month to have power steering fluid flushed. I took two bottles of the Toyota atf t-iv based on @bloc old post. He said it was perfect. He charged me one hour of labor. I also had brake fluid flushed. Also charged one hour of labor. He also changed out front pads and rotors. I was charged 1.5 hours for brake job. He said rear pads were good.

 

[pvchaitanya]

The return and supply ports in the reservoir are both at the bottom, if you pump fluid out of and into the same container I doubt it’s getting truly exchanged.

The hardest part of my method is actually getting the return line off the nipple. Damn thing is tight. But this is easily a 1-man job, just go slow with the first turn-turn to get a feel for the exchanged volume before proceeding further.

After all that I started doing what @OregonLC does.


The stock fluid is a nice light gold color. That fluid is DARK brown by the time these vehicles are out of warranty.

That fact and the obvious discoloration of the plastic reservoir are indicators that some physical and/or chemical property of the fluid is changing.

Changing the fluid once, then periodically drawing out the reservoir and refilling with fresh is an easy way to ensure the very expensive steering parts stay as reliable as the rest of the truck.. that gets fluids changed. There have been a few reports of people having to change leaking steering racks, personally I’d rather do anything I can to avoid that cost and inconvenience.

Agree,
I did the drain and refill the reservoir multiple times in last 2 years and keep doing it every 6 months because when I bought my truck, the steering wheel was hard. It had golden color fluid.
After doing flush multiple times (drive and do full turn to turn) and flush with a siphon motor, I still keep getting black particles at the bottom of the reservoir.
I have done the flush job atleast 6 times now and I am sure if I do it again now, I will still find these black particles to the bottom.

Just removing fluid from reservoir and topping off will take a long time and may not remove all the gunk in the steering rack. (I have used a seafoam steering flush liquid which is supposed to dislodge these gunk).

My steering definitely feels a lot smoother than how it was, I keep doing this fluid remove and refill every 7000 miles.

 

[bloc]

Note that our reservoir has a non-serviceable mesh filter in the bottom above the suction port. Between that and the plastic being degraded from heat/chemicals I replaced mine with a new one.. minty fresh. No chunks on the bottom either.

 

[gasman4u]

Note that our reservoir has a non-serviceable mesh filter in the bottom above the suction port. Between that and the plastic being degraded from heat/chemicals I replaced mine with a new one.. minty fresh. No chunks on the bottom either.

What’s the part number for the res? Is it uniform across all 200s?

 

[bloc]

What’s the part number for the res? Is it uniform across all 200s?

I used 44360-60291

Earlier rigs were 60290 but the above number superseded that

So yes, all US 200s get the same part.

 

[bloc]

Edit: new res comes with cap.

 

[jdo748]

I used 44360-60291

Earlier rigs were 60290 but the above number superseded that

So yes, all US 200s get the same part.

I ordered a new one after looking at mine yesterday, thanks for the part number. Any special install needed to avoid getting air in the system? Or can I just drain the old one, put in the new one and fill it up?

 

[bloc]

I ordered a new one after looking at mine yesterday, thanks for the part number. Any special install needed to avoid getting air in the system? Or can I just drain the old one, put in the new one and fill it up?

The screen actually may trap some air in the bottom that could get sucked into the system.. but it won’t be a lot and shouldn’t be difficult to bleed through normal driving.

The big caution I’d say is the return hose is very hard to get off the small nipple on the reservoir. Just be careful to avoid breaking it.

 

[AnyMal]

I actually went to the car care nut just last month to have power steering fluid flushed. I took two bottles of the Toyota atf t-iv based on @bloc old post. He said it was perfect. He charged me one hour of labor. I also had brake fluid flushed. Also charged one hour of labor. He also changed out front pads and rotors. I was charged 1.5 hours for brake job. He said rear pads were good.

Lucky! Next time tell him I said hi! And thanks for the all the great content!

 

[concretejungle]

The big caution I’d say is the return hose is very hard to get off the small nipple on the reservoir. Just be careful to avoid breaking it.

This is VERY true!! I had a really hard time getting the hose off the plastic nipple. I guess it's a good thing for keeping leaking hoses at bay, but I was worried I was going to break the reservoir trying to get the hose off.

 

[jdo748]

The big caution I’d say is the return hose is very hard to get off the small nipple on the reservoir. Just be careful to avoid breaking it.

Thank you for the heads up. That thing was on there! I was finally able to get it off without breaking by having the reservoir unbolted and twisting it while pulling the return hose. There was quite a bit of sediment in the bottom of the old one so it’s nice to get a fresh one in. Not to mention the staining inside making checking the level difficult.

 

[asr1]

Resurrecting this -- so what is the definitive advice? Incremental change through switching out the reservoir fluid as the safest option?
Or a one-time full replacement by the authorised service centre?
It's not specified as requiring a change in the manual (just "inspection") but my car has c 80k miles and it looks a bit dark and I can't imagine it lasts forever (esp in our hot and dusty conditions)

 

[gasman4u]

Resurrecting this -- so what is the definitive advice? Incremental change through switching out the reservoir fluid as the safest option?
Or a one-time full replacement by the authorised service centre?
It's not specified as requiring a change in the manual (just "inspection") but my car has c 80k miles and it looks a bit dark and I can't imagine it lasts forever (esp in our hot and dusty conditions)

check out @bloc earlier post (page 1 IIRC). That is IMO the BEST option, however requires a little more setup vs serial reservoir changes. I will be doing a full exchange as he described when I'm out of my current stock of PSF. 80k is definitely due for some fresh fluid regardless.

 

[sdnative]

Just want to confirm this is the correct Toyota PSF for the 200. If not what is the correct PN? TIA.

00718-ATF00