I finally tackled the fluid change this weekend. I'm at 57k, but the vehicle is 8 years old so certainly due. I went on a tangent trying to remove the wheel liner and under liner around the pump tank thinking there was a drain line rather than carefully reading the instructions. Then it was tearing apart the garage to find a small oil transfer pump I knew was somewhere. Eventually I found the pump, drained the tank, then the accumulators. Everything pretty straight forward.
The only real struggle is trying to figure out how much fluid is in the tank after filling it. Try as I might cleaning the dust off the tank and using different flashlights, I can't tell where I am at between the lower and upper line. I know I put in more than I took out, and figure extra fluid shouldn't hurt anything. If anyone has a tip on how to better read the fluid level I'd appreciate it.
One tip, if you don't put the vehicle on blocks or a lift, put it in high mode before starting. Once the exhaust is cooled down, remove the heat shield around the accumulator. There is no way I had room to swing a wrench on the accumulator drain with the heat shield in place. I was able to remove the heat shield with the suspension in low, but it would have been much easier in high.
The only real struggle is trying to figure out how much fluid is in the tank after filling it. Try as I might cleaning the dust off the tank and using different flashlights, I can't tell where I am at between the lower and upper line. I know I put in more than I took out, and figure extra fluid shouldn't hurt anything. If anyone has a tip on how to better read the fluid level I'd appreciate it.
One tip, if you don't put the vehicle on blocks or a lift, put it in high mode before starting. Once the exhaust is cooled down, remove the heat shield around the accumulator. There is no way I had room to swing a wrench on the accumulator drain with the heat shield in place. I was able to remove the heat shield with the suspension in low, but it would have been much easier in high.