^^^ I was wondering the same thing. The first spring/summer after I bought my car used, I took it to an auto-x and the pump got noisy and steering effort was increased. Flushed the fluid and replaced with synthetic and it was happy again. With that said, it didn't last; I don't remember if it was another auto-x that did it in, but I know I ended up getting the pump replaced under warranty. That replacement pump, always run with synthetic fluid, is still working 10+ years later.

jcollege - I think I know where I'm going to take them, but I have a feeler out to a shop owner for advice / recommendations. I'll shoot you a PM when I know for sure.

 

Picked up a M10-1.5 tap and successfully finished drilling and tapping the other cat pipe. Now that that's done (which means I know which thread size I've ended up with), I'll order some replacement stainless studs and nuts from McMaster-Carr and should be good to go.

 

Over the last couple weeks when I could sneak away to the garage, I replaced the waterpump and then had to do some TLC to the exhaust. One of the rubber isolators that holds the x-pipe ripped, so then of course the other ripped so had a whole slew of curse words coming out of my mouth trying to get the remains ut. But got it all buckled up and back on the road as the weather is getting nicer.

 

I performed the only flush and refill on this car April 17, 2018. Prior to that, I seriously do not believe anyone touched the fluid as the fluid looked like this. The fluid was replaced with OEM AC Delco fluid and the effort was made much better and seemed fine for the past year.



I had increased effort and turning cold mornings, a slight stick in the steering system where power would drop, I would have a slightly manual rack until something would stop sticking and I had power again. I drove down to Florida the past two years around this time. Had little issues in between the flush, but she was done. I am looking into Amsoil or Redline brand power steering fluid unless any of you fine gentlemen can recommend something else.

So far chasing this whine I have replaced the crankshaft harmonic balancer with an ATI harmonic damper, a new AC delco tensioner, new AC Delco idler pulley, new AC Delco starter and starter wire connector and now the dang pump. The only other accessories left will be the alternator, air conditioner, and I guess water pump? When I changed the crank harmonic damper, the tensioner, and the idler pulley, all the whining was made much quieter so I thought it was a good step and judging by how the car drives, it made this car much happier, but I am still chasing down repairs two years later. I just drive it and wait till the next thing cries. I don't want to fix the entire rear end until I have a stable platform. It just has been taking me a long time. I still love my car and dont want to get rid of it.

 

Is there anything special to doing a PS flush, or is it literally just pulling the old fluid out and replacing? I will be doing this at some point soon, any guidance would be appreciated!

 

i just emptied the reservoir with a turkey baster and filled with fresh fluid a few times until it looked reasonably clear

 

My car made a friend while I was in the office today.

 

What I do (and I've used this techniques on my Mustang and my Subarus, too) is a bit more involved, but I think truly flushes the system. I disconnect the return line from the reservoir and cap the nipple on the reservoir. Run the return line to a good sized bottle. Turkey baster out as much fluid as you can from the reservoir. Put a bolt into the snout of the PS pump. Add clean fluid to the reservoir, and keep that bottle handy. Use a drill with a bit driver and universal joint to drive the pump while you continue adding clean fluid to the reservoir. I've done this myself on a few occasions, so it's not too hard, but if you want you get an extra set of hands to pour the fluid and keep an eye on the reservoir level while you throttle the speed of the drill. You'll pump clean fluid through the system and out the return line into the bottle. If you're motivated, you can jack up the front end and have someone cycle the steering wheel back and forth a couple times while you do this to help flush out the old fluid.

The end is a bit messy, as you have to remove the cap from the return nipple on the reservoir and get the return hose hooked back up. Keep your shop rags handy to clean up the inevitable spillage that occurs during the couple of seconds you're fighting to get the hose back on the nipple.

 

This is precisely what I did for my first flush. It seems like these pumps/reservoirs are bad OEM ideas? Anyone fix them up good and proper?

EDIT: I checked the dang reservoir. BUnch of burnt brown ****. Man. Frick. Ordering Redline fluid tomorrow to go with the new pump. What a beast these cars are.

 

Got it inspected...and passed! Will be doing the PS fluid flush this weekend.

 

I flushed my PS fluid repeatedly using the turkey baster method over a few hundred miles. Ran a quart of the cheap stuff through it and then replaced that with the GM cold weather fluid once the fluid started to clear up.

Not as good as the other alternatives but the car seemed happy with the results and I didn’t make a huge mess or spend much time on it.

 

thats what I did. Same fluid and everything. Stopped the groaning. I don’t much care how brown it is as long as it works and shuts up.

 

The turkey baster is definitely my plan of action, got some shitty PS fluid tonight, have some Royal Purple being delivered tomorrow, will flush as much as I can with the lesser stuff, then add the good stuff at the end.

 

These arrived, half price. Don't plan on needing them or installing them soon but the price was right.



Redline 30404 power steering fluid ordered. Full synthetic and very high temperature resistance. I will replace the fluid in my Sentra with this stuff also.

 

Care to share where you got them from?

 

Fronts - https://www.agencypower.com/agency-p...-p-116685.html

Rears- https://www.agencypower.com/agency-p...-p-116686.html

They are marked for clearance so once they are gone, they are gone.

 

Sold car today

 

Swapped off the stock wheels/winter tires for my TDs. Now I can get the new front tires mounted and annual inspection. Finally will be rid of the ghastly Goodyear RS-As that came on it in 2012.

 

Replaced the Ram Stage 3 with a LS7 clutch and did an aluminum driveshaft. Drives so nice and easy now but I noticed the rear is leaking, so down that rabbit hole we go.

 

Turkey baster PS fluid flush, wow that fluid was absolutely terrible even had a burnt smell