I flushed my power steering system today. I have to say that with nearly 105,000 miles on my first born child that fluid was in some kind of bad shape. I would not normally be too concerned with the power steering fluid except that I have known for a while now that the fluid was waaaaay too dark signifying to me that maybe it was either well worn or experiencing some heat.
So today I undertook the chore of flushing everything out and replaced it with Amsoil ATF. I even went as far as to pull out the resivoir and clean out the inside of it with a tooth brush . It had a silty residue in it, so I wanted to get all that out before putting in the new fluid.
The power steering system is a hydraulic system like the transmission so Amsoil ATF is completely suitable for this, furthermore the manual calls for Mercon ATF in the power steering.
I ponderned for a while just how I was going to accomplish getting the fluid out and not burn up the pump in the process. I then notice a thin 'bolt' type object that looked just perfect for a wrench. So I got a socket and proceeded to loosen it up and when I got it off, out gushed power steering fluid. I dont know if this 'port' was designed for this, but it sure worked well. I had to use my Amsoil suction pump to pull out the fluid, but other than that it wasnt a major hassle, just a little time consuming. When you pull this bolt out, you will find a spring in there that needs to come out, as well there is a piston type valve that you will have to pull out. I used one of those telescoping magnets to retrieve it. A word of caution, when you first pull that bolt out, have a pan or something under the car to catch the fluid that comes out.
Once the initial flow of fluid coming out stopped I used the suction pump to pull out what I could. I then put the piston and spring back in the screwed the bolt cap back down. I started the car and then turned the steering wheel to the limit left and right, then turned off the car. I then went back and unscrewed the bolt cap, pulled out the spring and piston and let the fluid flow out and then pumped out what I could. I repeated this process until there was little fluid building back up in the power steering pump. Took several times to get this done.
Once I had all the fluid out that I felt I would be able to get out, and had the resivoir cleaned out I put the piston, spring and bolt cap back on and tightened everything down. I would HIGHLY recommend the use of some plumbers teflon tape around the threads of that bolt cap, otherwise Im sure you will have some leakage there. There was some type of plastic seal washer there when I initially pulled the bolt cap off, but it was in terrible shape and didnt want to have to try and order that part from Ford or a whole new power steering pump. The plumbers tape seems to have worked just as well anyway.
Once I had everything hooked back up and tightened down, I started the car and added Amsoil ATF to the resivoir until it came up to the MAX line. With the car running I went in and worked the steering while to the left and right limits and added fluid as necessary.
The power steering will make an AWFUL racket while you are doing this, just like you had the wheels turned to the limit but a little worse. This is due to the air in the system and it will continue to do this until it has worked the air out. What I did was start the car, work the steering to both left and right limits a couple times then shut the motor off and let the fluid settle. If the level was lower then I added fluid to the MAX line. I did this three or four times, each time starting the car again and working the steering to the left and right limits a couple times. The noise eventually quieted. So then I took the car out and drove it around a couple miles and then came back and checked the fluid with the motor running. It wasnt making any noise, but there was no fluid in the resivoir, so I filled it back up and drove it a couple more miles and when I checked after that trip the fluid level was down only slightly, so I topped it off and called it good.
I guess that driving it around put more of a load or demand on the system than just sitting in the garage and turning the wheels could do. The sound it makes initially will make you think you broke something, but this is just air that needs to be worked out, completely normal. It didnt take quite a quart of ATF to fill the system back up, I would put it closer actually to 3/4 quart.
Now the steering is smooth as silk and the fluid is a bright cherry red. I think I will probably flush the system one more time before I go down to Florida because I know there is some fluid I didnt get out that was probably hung up in the cooler lines. So I'll drive it as is for a couple weeks and let that get mixed in real well with everything then flush the power steering again at which point it should be about as close to pure Amsoil as I can get short of pulling everything off and pressurizing the fluid out.
All in all it took maybe a little over an hour to do everything. In addition, the Amsoil ATF is going to hold up considerably better than whatever was in there. If Ford put ATF in there from the factory, it certainly was of no color that would have led me to believe it was ATF.
One of the advantages of Amsoil ATF is that it is universal and can be used in hydraulic, power steering and transmission systems. You can use one product for several applications which makes it pretty nice since I keep Amsoil in stock.
Anyway, thats my project for this week. Next week, time and schedule permitting, I am going to install my Amsoil remote/external filter for the transmission fluid and if I have everything by then, Im going to yank out the power wires and ground wires and replace them with 4AWG wiring. I hope to also have some projector headlights before long and I am going to try and get those installed before I leave for Florida.
I would like to install a 1 or 2 farad capacitor on the electrical system but space is getting at a premium under there with the bypass oil filter system in there. Im barely going to have room for the remote transmission filter with an SDF15 filter, and I still have to get the AMSoiler and install it as well I hope to be able to get an Optima red top battery before I head south.
____________________ My car is a synner! It uses Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants.
2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP
It whines a lot, but I like it
the easier method is top drain the resevoir and pull the return hose off it. drain the return to a pan and turn the pump by hand. fill the resevoir up and keep turning the pump manually untill the level holds. start the car and add as needed. It may not get ALL the fluid but it will get most of it.
TXFO wrote: the easier method is top drain the resevoir and pull the return hose off it. drain the return to a pan and turn the pump by hand. fill the resevoir up and keep turning the pump manually untill the level holds. start the car and add as needed. It may not get ALL the fluid but it will get most of it.
I have to do mine too. 125K on the original shit.
I guess I should have posted here before I started. I didnt think of doing that. Probably would have been real easy to do if I had pulled off the serpentine belt. I'll have to remember that TXFO, Im probably going to flush it one more time to get it as pure Amsoil as I can. Fresh ATF will have some cleaning properties to it so it should have by now, with as warm as it has been, cleaned about as much as its going to.
I'll follow up with all this if I can get to it this weekend.
Thanks Chelly for your kind words. Just doing my bit to be informative.
____________________ My car is a synner! It uses Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants.
2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP
It whines a lot, but I like it
. It had a silty residue in it, so I wanted to get all that out before putting in the new fluid.
