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Now I was never a fan of the power steering flush in conventional cars. Mainly because I thought them to be a gimmick as my 90 Pontiac bonneville went 220,000 miles with not a single intervention on the power steering system. And that was in upstate NY. Also, working at monroe for a while left me bitter as well, scamming little old ladies and people who have no clue being taken advantage of and sold power steering flushed every 25,000 miles because the mechanics work on commission essentially. Any way, as for the V, I once turkey basted out the reservoir and replaced with a high temp better fluid before a track day; but this was The extent of my work. Well, recently after a trip to the strip my PS pump began to growl. At this point fingers crossed I don't have to drop 400$ for a new pump (aftermarket of course ) And at HDPE events boiling the fluid became the norm. So, due to the unconventional driving and spending north of 4k in rpm a lot, I now believe you must change your power steering fluid every so often.
Long story short I turkey basted out as much as I could then pulled off the return line from the res. Then plugged the return bung and setup the return hose as you see in the picture. Car off I turned the wheel to force the old fluid out, two turns and refill. Repeat until you see new fluid. For me it took approx 3.5 bottles or 42 oz
I only used the royal purple because it was the best autozone had, and to prevent (hopefully) more damage to the pump I wanted to do it also and didn't have any time to wait for mail ordered fluid.
Will report back once I have driven a while and see if the pump growl returns.
I did the lazy method a while back: turned car on, sucked out a small amount of fluid (so as not to empty reservoir), spun the wheel from lock to lock 3-5 times, added fluid, ad nauseum. I need to actually do the real thing at some point, though. I'm sure you had the wheels off the ground, right? In that case, not putting any strain on the rack, so I wouldn't think it would damage anything.
No, the wheels were on the ground. Not sure what damage could be caused this way? As I didn't start the car nor did I run it dry. So just as normal steering with out the engine on, if that can damage the rack then it's news to me!
Drove the car last night for a neighborhood terrorize about 8 miles and to the gas station and it felt great! But is not growling and the steering effort seems to have decreased considerably! Drove around the block first and then topped it off. Then checked it when I got back after it was hot and all is well! So I think so far this is a great success. Will check back in after I have done a 50 mile trip or so.
Yeah, I have the ebay special one there for 40$ but have delayed putting it on since a few has had trouble with them leaking. It will definitely go on before my next HDPE event though.
No, the wheels were on the ground. Not sure what damage could be caused this way? As I didn't start the car nor did I run it dry. So just as normal steering with out the engine on, if that can damage the rack then it's news to me! ...
Me too. Wheels are on the ground when the power steering is helping you, so whether you're getting the assist or not the rack is still seeing the same thing, so it shouldn't matter whatsoever.
No, the wheels were on the ground. Not sure what damage could be caused this way? As I didn't start the car nor did I run it dry. So just as normal steering with out the engine on, if that can damage the rack then it's news to me!
It's more of a long term possibility anyway. Nothing that a few turns to flush it would do. Although having it in the air would help the flushing go faster, yeah?
Yeah, I have the ebay special one there for 40$ but have delayed putting it on since a few has had trouble with them leaking. It will definitely go on before my next HDPE event though.
I have the same in my basement. I also tried the baster partial swap and it didn't do jack. The reservoir overflows in heat and I have to add when it's cold out so the system doesn't groan. I've stopped DDing it so it's not a high priority and I've really never had functional problems but still. It's an annoyance that the system is flawed and there's no real adequate fix. My Saabaru and other subarus and Hondas and even a Lincoln never needed attention for the PS system. It's downright goofy.
You could do it wheels the wheels up for sure, and it would be easier, only problem is it may be sloppier. Turning the wheel hard when it was on the ground would cause the fluid to shoot out and go everywhere. So I turned the wheel rather slowly. So you would either have to do the same maybe slower, or get the hose in a better position so it is facing down. Which may be easier said than done.
I had the front in the air afterward so that I could brake clean off the PS fluid that managed to get by me and all over the engine bay. And I needed to crawl under the car for a 1,000 mile check to make sure all of he new shiz I just put in is working fine, and it is!
I forgot to mention I drove 50 miles last night and all was good! No growling and steering effort has become noticeably easier. Wish I didn't procrastinate on doing this so long.
Good to know... thanks for the post. I "turkey basted" mine a few winters ago because the PS pump would scream on start-up for a second in cold weather. Just emptying the res and refilling with new (GM "cold weather") fluid a few times completely solved the issue, but there's obviously some pretty ugly sludge in that system if yours is any indicator. :-S
Here's the method I've used on all of my cars to help flush out the old fluid:
- Disconnect the return from the reservoir and plug the return bung, as you did.
- Thread a bolt into the snout of the PS pump shaft.
- Use a bit driver and a universal joint on a drill to drive the pump (obviously with the belt removed) with one hand, while topping off the reservoir with fluid with the other hand. You can control the speed of the pump pretty easily, so it's not hard to keep the pump from sucking the reservoir dry.
- Watch for clean fluid to issue from the return line.
I honestly don't know if that method is any better, but in my head it makes sense to have the pump push fluid through the system.
Here's the method I've used on all of my cars to help flush out the old fluid:
- Disconnect the return from the reservoir and plug the return bung, as you did.
- Thread a bolt into the snout of the PS pump shaft.
- Use a bit driver and a universal joint on a drill to drive the pump (obviously with the belt removed) with one hand, while topping off the reservoir with fluid with the other hand. You can control the speed of the pump pretty easily, so it's not hard to keep the pump from sucking the reservoir dry.
- Watch for clean fluid to issue from the return line.
I honestly don't know if that method is any better, but in my head it makes sense to have the pump push fluid through the system.
08-25-2015, 08:32 PM
Long over due Power steering flush..... 
) And at HDPE events boiling the fluid became the norm. So, due to the unconventional driving and spending north of 4k in rpm a lot, I now believe you must change your power steering fluid every so often. 
