Bubbling of Power steering fluid

[Chris Benvie]

Heard the whining start today...

So i checked the fluid, I found it rather burnt and quite hot..

Is there any home made way to flush the powersteering system, or do I really have to take it to some shop 1000miles away from mine and pay $89 to have it flushed???

thanks

 

[olympic]

-disconnect the return line at the resevoir and plug the exposed port with something.
-place the end of the return line in a drain can, an old antifreeze jug works.
-jack up the front so the wheels are off the ground.
-start the car and turn the steering wheel lock to lock several times to pump out the old fluid.
-have a friend start pouring some fresh(cheap) fluid into the resevior, keep turning the wheels to flush the system. 2-3 quarts should do it. Allow it to fully pump out again.
-shut off the engine, reconnect the return line
-refill with quality fluid.
-check the level a few times after driving and top it off as necessary.

 

[projectSHO89]

Adding to olympic's post:

First step: Remove as much of the fluid as possible. A $1 turkey baster works. DO NOT take the one out of the kitchen!

After the above steps:

Turn the wheel stop to stop several times to try and purge as air from the system as possible. If you do not get all the air out of the system, the pump will whine as if you have a supercharger under the hood. If this does not completely eliminate whining, it will be necessary to perform a vacuum assisted purge. Instructions for that are in all the Helms manuals. I made my own for a few bucks to fix mine a while back.

Steve

 

[SHOZ123]

If it has been dirty for a long time you will find that after a new flush in a month of driving or so it will be dirty again. Here is what I ended up doing to mine that had 150K on it and was like coffee when I started.

Bought a gallon of cheap ATX fluid and 5' of clear 1/4" id tubing. Drain the reservoir of fluid by siphoning it out with the tubing. Refill with the ATX fluid. Drive for a week and redo. Keep doing this until it stays clean. THEN flush fully and replace the fluid with some good synthetic ATX fluid.

A good way to see if the fluid is really clean is to put a drop on a white paper towel next to a drop of new fluid. You could also use a turkey baster for this instead of the clear tubing.

 

[Chris Benvie]

SHOZ123:
If it has been dirty for a long time you will find that after a new flush in a month of driving or so it will be dirty again. Here is what I ended up doing to mine that had 150K on it and was like coffee when I started.

Bought a gallon of cheap ATX fluid and 5' of clear 1/4" id tubing. Drain the reservoir of fluid by siphoning it out with the tubing. Refill with the ATX fluid. Drive for a week and redo. Keep doing this until it stays clean. THEN flush fully and replace the fluid with some good synthetic ATX fluid.

A good way to see if the fluid is really clean is to put a drop on a white paper towel next to a drop of new fluid. You could also use a turkey baster for this instead of the clear tubing.

mine has 128k, and is def stock fluid, you'd think it would have been done with the EXTENSIVE service history that this car has had.

Thanks guys looks like i have a sunday project

 

[MotoArts]

It's a shame most people don't realize that ALL of the fluids need to be replaced at some kind of service interval. Antifreeze, brake and steering fluids seem to be the most neglected ones that I see. It's such an easy way to prevent future problems, yet few seem to realize or care for that matter.

 

[Chris Benvie]

MotoArts:
It's a shame most people don't realize that ALL of the fluids need to be replaced at some kind of service interval. Antifreeze, brake and steering fluids seem to be the most neglected ones that I see. It's such an easy way to prevent future problems, yet few seem to realize or care for that matter.

you are right, i knew that ALMOST everything had been done, shit even the brake system has been replaced and the such. I dunno why the PS was never flushed, weird