So this is my first how too right up. Unfortunatley theres no pics. I didnt think I would right one of these for it. But since when I was looking on how to do this and had a difficult time searching for it I decided I will write one up. Sorry in advance for the spelling LOL.


OK so the stuff you will need is.
1 Turkey baster. No joke!
2-3 quarts of power steering fluid, I used Valvoline synthetic PS fluid.
and some clear empty bottles. I used about 4 or 5 water bottles.

So the first step is to open your power steering resivoir. You then take your niffty high tech turkey baster and start sucking out the fluid in the resivoir. There is not that much in there most of it is in the pump and lines. So in order to get it all out you must add your new fluid into the resivoir till the fill line on the cap. And then you get in your car and start it and crank the wheels from left too right from lock to lock. Do that for a good minute and then shut off the car pull the cap and grab your baster and suck away again. The key is to get it untill it is completley clear. Valvoline is a clear fluid so its easy to tell when its clear. You will have to do this quite a few times. As you start to fill your water bottles you will see it clear up. So it is a good idea to use more "smaller bottles" so you can see your progress. Once you are completley clear your done! Also note that if you are doing this on a highmilage car it may not be a good idea to use a synthetic fluid because it can make small leaks a little worse. I DID NOT use any Seafoam to do this and the results were amazing. I had some very sloppy and heavy steering feel before. It made the steering feel a noticable bit better. And if you canyon carve then it should take a little longer for your power steering to start to get lazy. Keep in mind I did not have a power steering cooler so that maybe why I got these results. I did this last summer and I put about 20,000 miles on it since I've done this and the Valvoline is just as clear as when I poored it in. Good luck and thanks for reading. I hope I helped someone out.

 

Good write up.I'm in the middle of doing the old school turkey baster method where you would just suck it out & refill,drive for a few days,then repeat which can take weeks,but I may do this instead.Thanks.

 

Thanks man! Yah that way you speak of would take for ever. I dont see a point in that its the same effect. Im glad I could save you some time. When I asked my mom for the Turkey Baster she got pissed when I told her why I need it cause it was a nice stainless steel pamperd chef one. I had to go buy my own then.

 

Seafoam doesn't go in power steering fluid anyway so thats good that you didn't throw that in there.

 

I have read about people useing seafoam in there power steering. I know its crazy and I dont see what good can come from it. When I was researching how to do this I found at least 3 threads on people who have used seafoam in there power steering. I told my self that I can figure out another way to do it with great results and I did.

 

Why don't you just undo the return line from pump and put into clear bottle.That way the old fluid doesn't go back into pump and is a lot quicker. Just make sure you keep adding fluid into resivoir. When you get new fluid coming out shut off car. Reinstall return line to resivoir.

 

The whole point of doing it this way is because its easy to do in the drive way and you dont make a mess doing it. This way worked very well. And I knew there was fluid the whole time it was running. Plus removing the hose may even cause a new leak. Thats what happend when I removed it on my wrangler when I was doing work on it.

 

great write up for some people! a aftermarket power steering cooler is a great investent tho. when i did not have the cooler, my fluid would smell like **** after only like 1,000 miles! and the pump would get real noisey as the fluid warms up! the last thing you want to do is get air trapped into the rack!! i had to remove one of the return lines from the rack and after some good amount of fluid pouring out, the rack still has a bit air in it after a few months! but disconnecting the return line works fine, but be preparred for fluid to squirt out like crazy!

 

Well, this is a GREAT mod for maintenance. It will do wonders for your rack. Don't be shocked by serious spray. High PSI is trademark of the PS system, moreso than any other system on the car. You can see WELL over 1000 PSI during full lock (which you don't want to do). This maintenance makes the car much nicer to drive too!

 

Yah I have thought about getting a cooler but have heard that if they start to leak they get coolant in them and the coolant can get ps fluid in it.

 

yea i was talking about a aftermarket cooler right under the radiater! its a perfet place! and it works great, i used a derele auto tranny frame rail cooler for the power steering! cost me like $30 worth every penny

 

Hey I'll have too look into that man thanks!

 

yup no prob, i will tak a pic of mine and u can see how perfect it tucks under there just like stock

 

Sweet thanks man!

 

Great writeup thanks!

Have done this and the steering is much quiter and smoother.

Did use the GM psfluid; is clear too,
I have heared not to use auto trans oil as it might damage seals or such.

Easy to do on the parking in front.

 

Hey thanks man, glad to help.

 

Nice work, im going to try this out when i get the chance.

Off Topic: That your jeep in the sig?
-Joel

 

Yah its a 98 Wrangler with a 5 1/2 inch lift and 35x12.50 inch tires. I used to off road alot but broke way too much stuff so it stays on pavement now.

 

... i do the turkey baster fliud removal everytime I do a service. ....been doing this for 20 years....

brake, power steering, clutch, ....keeps every fliud nice a clean.

 

Oh yeh, if you don;t have real clean fliud, do this a few times, say once every week or so for a month and the fliud should swap out close to 100%