Jet Black Steering Fluid

[BlankDisk]

I have a 93 ATX. Ever since I bought the car in Oct 2002, the Power Steering fluid has been black, and the power steering kicks on and off durring turns. I went home in Dec of 2003, and due to a bad tranny that took it off the road in Jan 2003, I just ran the car in the driveway wishing I was driving it, and it was still giving the intermitent kickback. When I hold a turn the wheel just gives a little kick in the opposite direction about every second and a half. It doesn't affect the turn, just the steering wheel really. The car also drifts left when i let go of the wheel. I'm flying back to NY in June to get the car and drive it to New Mexico, that's about 2,000 miles. I doubt I'll be able to fix the pump while I'm home (getting the tranny fixed in May), so, is it adviseable to try and flush out the old fluid? By this I mean: Take out about half the black fluid, fill it back up with new fluid, and repeat untill clean. Or, should I leave it the **** alone, because putting in new fluid is more likely to cause a seize-up? Also, could this be the cause of my left drift?

 

[HopefulSHO]

Your drift sounds more like an alignment/suspension issue of some sort.

But, **** yeah, get that old fluid outta there!!

 

[TimmyJimSho]

I think you and I are having the same problem.

In February I had a state inspection done on my 95 ATX and my mehcanic had asked me if I had been having any steering problems. I said " Funny you mention that , I had been thinking I needed a new power steering pump soon". He told me my pump was fine, but that my steering fluid was jet black and that usually indicates that the Steering Rack is going bad. He told me that as a Rack goes bad, the hoses begin to break down inside and turn your fluid black. The only real way to repair this problem of course is to replace the entire rack, whcih I've heard is fun because you have to drop the sub-frame to do it .

I had asked my mechanic about replacing the fluid for now and he recommended not doing it as it might cause more problems and/or just be a waste of my money as it is just going to keep happening. Instead, he threw in some special fluid into the resovior that he said would help slow down the effects of the rack breaking down.

At the time of my inspection, I also had an allginment done to my front end because I had a control arm replaced. As with your car, I am still having a problem of the car pulling to the left. I'm guessing that it is largely due to the steering rack problem, but I guess I wont really know for sure until I replace the rack, which I have planned for this summer.

Hope this helps you.....or at the very least, it lets you know you're not alone.

Timmy

 

[Chris Benvie]

Once you have the tranny replaced, take it to any quick ****. They will charge you about $60 to flush and fill your PS fluid. That will hopefully do the trick. If it doesn't you may need PS. That is not an easy job.

Mine was getting a little whiney in my 95 when I had it. Replaced the fluid and it was great. Like any fluid, it will only lubricate for so long before it gets broken down. It is probably stock fluid.

As for the car dogwalking, it is probably just your alignment or you springs/struts are just shot. Both of which are a common occurance for the SHO.

 

[oh_SHO]

Sounds like when the rack was bad on the '93. We had it replaced and what a difference! The car felt a few years younger. The fluid got nasty pretty quick again. I am gonna try putting a filter on it soon...

 

[James Downing]

Proper Flushing Procedure

Many of us have had black PS fluid. I decided to flush mine a while back, and as of now, it is still fairly clean.

This was my setup. I extended the fluid return hose into a bucket on the floor, and plugged the hole on the resevoir.

This is what came out at first... nasty!

I ran 2 of these through the system, moving the wheels from stop to stop (the car was raised) several times.

The flow lightened up alot...

Finally I got a nice consistant pink fluid running through the tube.

And it is only slightly darker now, than it was in this picture.

I feel it has done good, if nothing else, prevented some further damage. I still get the occasional groans from air in the steering... but Ive always had that plague.

 

[MelectroK]

What is the size of the OD on the return fitting. And what is the ID of the return hose. Want to know so i can get the correct fittings.

 

[Bizzy]

you can get a 3/8in brass union at Home Depot in the compression plumbing fittings section for I think around $.98. Then get about 4-5 feet of bulk 3/8th in hose (doesn't have to be PS hose as the small hose is low pressure return), then get a bolt that fits snug in the 3/8in hose, snip a 3-4inch section off, and put the bolt into it. Slip that bolted short hose onto the PS res.

best to do this with a gallon of cheap fluid, with tires in the air turning lock to lock. One can also after the fluid comes out clean into the bucket route the hose back into the PS res and run the car turning lock to lock for a while to get the fluid good and hot. Then flush out one more time to remove the crap that the fluid loosened up.

ATF has loads of detergents in it

I preformed this about 18 months ago on my Opal Frost @ 68K, and now at 104K the fluid is still very very clean.

 

[BlankDisk]

Thanks for the tips, especially James Downing, that's EXACTLY what it looks like. I'll give that a shot when I go back to NY.

 

[MelectroK]

3/8 ID or OD?

 

[Electricat]

3/8 ID or OD?

Rubber hose is measured by the ID.


James Downing, thanks for the writeup and pics, you make it easier than I thought it would be. I will have to do that in the near future!

 

[snowwind1990]

send it to SHOTIMES FAQ

Indeed that was a great write up and the pics were helpful.......good job.

What can be done right now for the p/s fluid........siphon out the black stuff...Ford has the Dextron Mercon III for under $2.00 per quart...siphon and replace,,,,,a lot or a little, your choice.
I do not however recommend that you flush the system...a total transfusion would not be that good at this point in its life unless you have made a habit of it all along and I doubt that is the case.
Good Luck.
Back to my siphoning..........