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Eldorado's Avatar
 
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how to flush power steering

how would I go about flushing out the fluid in the power steering system on the car? water and a mild detergent? or do i have to buy some sort of product? how do I drain the fluid?

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Kyle

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Old 04-03-2007, 09:56 AM
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Most of them do it automatically -- leaks!
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Old 04-03-2007, 11:49 AM
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that's why i need to flush mine.. lol
my pump and reservoir leak.. gonna rebuild/reseal everything!
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Old 04-03-2007, 11:50 AM
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I found a complete power steering reseal kit for $79.00 p/n 944-347-011.XX on Zims. I could not find the same kit with Pelican. They have a few seal and parts. The kit from Zims has 30 odd seals. FOR PROFESSIONALS ONLY. Not for a dumb butt like me. Do I even attempt to do it? My power steering leaks pretty bad. Is it possible that it is only one outter seal?

Thanks

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1988 924S
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Old 04-03-2007, 12:19 PM
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Rebuilding the pump is easy, rebuilding the rack is not for the faint of heart.

Bruce Arnn has an excellent write up on whats involved with plenty of details.

http://www.arnnworx.com/new_page_1.htm
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Old 04-03-2007, 12:54 PM
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I'm not looking to rebuild the rack - it's still in good shape.. just got some issues with the pump and resevoir.. I saw a video on how to rebuild the pump on rennbay, that's so easy a chimp could do it...

I'll check out bruce's write up, see if it explains how to drain the fluid..thanks jon
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Old 04-03-2007, 01:05 PM
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ok so i read bruce's procedure.. doesn't explain..
then i went to clarks.. it explains how to drain the reservoir, but it doesn't explain how to flush the system...

my problem is some bonehead put regular gas station brand power steering fluid in my car, it mixed with the ATF, and casued a leak. I need to flush the system of all the junk that shouldn't be in there so i can refill with ATF.
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Old 04-03-2007, 01:19 PM
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I would drain and refill with the proper fluid. Run the rack for a few miles, then drain it again. Depending how thorough you want to be, do it maybe one or two more times.
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Old 04-03-2007, 01:53 PM
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While I haven't done this on a 944, no reason why it shouldn't work.

Disconnect the line from the cooler to the reservoir (return line), stick it in a catch bucket/container, and plug reservoir return port. Have somebody start the car, run it, and turn the wheel back and forth, while you keep the reservoir full of fresh fluid. After you've run a good bit of fresh fluid through it, reconnect the return line and clean up any mess made in the process.

Good Luck,
Rob
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Old 04-04-2007, 02:31 AM
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that's more or less what i was thinking Rob... thanks for the confirmation
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Old 04-04-2007, 03:31 AM
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Back and forth. Make sure it's to the extreme left then right. Bottoming it out forces it all.
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Old 04-04-2007, 05:45 AM
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Thumbs up Re: how to flush power steering

Quote:
Originally posted by Eldorado
how would I go about flushing out the fluid in the power steering system on the car?
robm-951 has pretty much nailed this one down

PS Tank
Replace the PS tank. They tend to accumulate "stuff" in the bottom of the tank where there is a coarse filter. You could wash out the tank however for the reasonable cost of a new tank you also get a new cap with its seal.

Steering Rack
You will NEVER drain all the fluid from the rack by turning it lock to lock, sideways, upside down or right side up. The fluid system in the rack consists of the lines, spool valve with housing and the cylinder; try to extract to your hearts content and I can insure you that when to start to take it apart ... you'll have "fluid" coming out. And then there is the object of the subject "contamination" or bits and pieces of sludge (carbon from hoses and metal files from a noisy pump). The sludge or film typically lays in the cylinder and bonds to the rack shaft between the seal contact points. More on how to flush the rack later.

Lines or Hoses
You have a few lines to deal with. Starting at the pump's output or high side the "pump to rack" line, between the rack and the PS Tank the "return line" which has a funky or somewhat senseless cooling loop, between the PS Tank and the pump the drop or return line to the pump. Depending upon the condition of the rubber sections of the lines you could disconnect them from their end points and squirt "brake clean" down them (typically a half a can per line) however if the hoses are brittle or soft they will absorb some of the solvents so you are left air drying them or using shop air.

How To Flush
Here is a suggest method that seems to work, though not 100% perfect, it does do a good job:
Disconnect the return line, or line between the rack and the PS tank, at the tank and put the tank side in a large empty clean coffee can (I enjoy Maxwell House however you can use what ever floats your boat). Cap off the connection point at the PS tank where you disconnected the line. Find yourself 4 quarts of Dexron Type III (or II) non-synthetic; any brand will work. Insure the PS tank is full. Start the car and monitor the PS tank level, here is a where a buddy, spouse or the kid down the block comes in handy. Turn the steering wheel lock to lock (normal turning speed). As the PS tank level drops pour additional Dexron into the tank, at the same time continue to turn the steering wheel lock to lock. This procedure will help move, to the most point, old fluid and any loose sludge out of the rack, out of the lines and the pump.

As noted before, there will always be some film of small amount of sludge left in the rack cylinder or on the shaft however this method is the next best thing to either disassembling the rack or replacing the rack.

With regard to rebuilding a rack, or in this thread a mention of "resealing" a rack, there are a few articles posted here and there. Naturally it would not make sense to replace just one seal. Some DIY's have been successful with rack resealing (not to be confused with remanufacturing perse). "Success" we would wish to think are based upon a smart or innovative choice of tools and wisdom from experience. However neither will help you in a situation, other than to tell you to stop where you are, if the rack shaft is pitted or undersized from a previous rebuild attempt, or should the spool valve housing ("tower") have ring grooves. It is fun and rewarding to DIY on some projects, on others is better to compare your needed efforts to the replacement part's cost per mile.
Old 04-29-2007, 04:01 PM
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wow.. how comprehensive! lol I appreciate that..

all I ended up doing was sucking out the liquid in there now... filling with dexron iii... driving for a couple days... and repeating. I'm getting clean red fluid out of there now.
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Old 04-29-2007, 07:03 PM
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I have been searching for a way to get the bad milkshake out of my power steering system and ran across this thread. A few weeks ago, (before reading this) I bought 3 quarts of Mobil 1 fully synthetic ATF that is reccomended for applications that require Dexron-lllH, Dexron-lllG, Dexron-llE, Dexron-llD, and Dexron-ll amoung others.

I see that Kuehl says to use Dexron type lll (or type ll) NON-sythetic fluid, what reason should I use non-synthetic and not the Mobil 1 I bought ?
Old 03-12-2013, 02:32 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ckelly78z View Post
I see that Kuehl says to use Dexron type lll (or type ll) NON-sythetic fluid, what reason should I use non-synthetic and not the Mobil 1 I bought ?
Synthetics are only required for high temp applications. Power steering systems typically don't fit that bill.

The issues with synthetics is that "some" contain Esters.
Some of the elastomers (seals) in the system are not happy with esters and they swell.
That type of 'swelling' is not swell for the system.
Old 03-12-2013, 02:43 PM
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Any Idea if Mobil 1 synthetic ATF has Esters ? I looked on Google and couldn't find out one way or the other.
Old 03-12-2013, 05:20 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ckelly78z View Post
Any Idea if Mobil 1 synthetic ATF has Esters ? I looked on Google and couldn't find out one way or the other.
Unfortunately Mobil's MSDS sheet does not specify exact content, however
one Mobil page,
Ester Oil | What is it
implies that their product may or may not contain ester's.

Another way to answer the question is what compounds or elastomers are found in the ps system. Typically there are basic rubber compounds like nitrile, buna and buna-n. If you were to review chemical compatibility in many cases 'esters' are listed on the ... .'attacked by' list.

Hence we had a rule when rebuilding and testing, keep it simple, just use common Dexron non-synthetic.
Old 03-12-2013, 07:19 PM
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If you want to rebuild the pump. Go to youtube. Several really good videos make it a piece of cake.
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Old 03-12-2013, 07:42 PM
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Just remember:
If you intend to "rebuild" your pump, before you buy a new nose seal or case o-ring, best to take it apart first, inspect the vanes, spline clearance with the vane carrier, vane carrier spline slot width, cam surface, back plate and nose plate surfaces. If they are scratched, worn or burnt.... well.. you better.
Old 03-13-2013, 04:00 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ckelly78z View Post
I see that Kuehl says to use Dexron type lll (or type ll) NON-sythetic fluid, what reason should I use non-synthetic and not the Mobil 1 I bought ?
I’m pretty sure that using Royal Purple* synthetic fluid is what caused my supply/return hoses to swell to the point the hose clamps cut into them and caused them to leak.

After I replace them this week it’s nothing but Motul Dex III for me. Hopefully, the HP line is OK. I checked it today when I pulled my pans off and it feels solid and there’s no leaks anywhere.

Oh, and word to the wise: If your reservoir or hoses are leaking, fix it sooner than later. I put it off and now I’ll be replacing lower A arm and sway bar bushings, too because they’ve turned into flubber.

*In my defense, I was in Middle of Nowhere Utah on a trip between Las Vegas and Denver and it was the only PS the auto parts store had. I was too dumb/lazy to look in the manual and see it only needed Dex III ATF.

Old 08-13-2021, 04:34 PM
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