I hadn't moved my car for a while,but when I did today I noticed a small puddle of red fluid on the garage floor.. First thing I thought was transmission fluid, so I checked and it was full.. Got to looking closer and discovered it was coming from the power steering system,,not sure yet exactly where.. I checked the level in the pump and it was almost empty,, and what fluid is showing was red in color.. I thought power steering fluid was clear... Any info would be great,,thanks

 

The power steering fluid in mine was red also. I'm guessing someone used tranny fluid in it or possibly Lucas stop leak fluid which is also red.

 

Thanks for the reply,, I guess now to figure out where its leaking at...

 

This is exactly what someone did, use trans fluid for the high priced PS fluid....nothing wrong with using the trans stuff .....

 

New member here, so I might not have correct info but didn't they come from factory with trans fluid? Picked mine up in August just after the previous owner replace the PS pump, he mentioned they changed the fluid also from tranny to ps fluid.

 

For many years, one of the posters for power steering issues (and steering wheel column issues) was O"Shea. He was the responsible engineer for GM Saginaw power steering and other related issues. He firmly advocated using only GM power steering fluid for the Saginaw PS pumps. He advised against buying power steering fluids from auto parts stores...Because of his postings, I always go to a GM dealer for my PS fluid...a little more expensive.

John O'Shea or Mike O'Shea..I forget.

 

Here it is. mike...

http://jimshea.corvettefaq.com/?cat=5

 

Sorry, the Corvettefaq.com website does not link properly to my paper on power steering fluid. Here it is in its entirety. I need to get with Terry on some of the links at Corvettefaq.
Jim Shea


Revised : 21MY2012


GM POWER STEERING FLUID

Originally in the 1950’s, automatic transmission fluid (ATF) was specified for use in both General Motors automatic transmissions and also for their power steering systems. But as vehicles got heavier, engines bigger, and temperatures hotter, the requirements for the two different systems changed. The GM Research Labs had a Lubricants Section that began testing and modifying the ATF formulation to improve the performance of the GM Hydramatic, Dynaflow, and Powerglide transmissions. They did this without much regard to the fact that the power steering system was using the ATF fluid as well. Sort of the tail being wagged by the dog.

So around the same time, Saginaw Steering Gear Division and Texaco began testing and developing a fluid specifically for power steering. The fluid characteristics were specifically formulated to provide anti-corrosion and non-foaming qualities with excellent lubrication for year around use. There was also particular emphasis placed on wear testing performance with respect to the vanes, rotor, cam ring, and the driveshaft bushing in the big Saginaw “P” model power steering pump. By the way, the “P” model was the only power steering pump used in all C2/C3 Corvettes and all GM passenger cars and light trucks with power steering in the 1960s and 1970s.

That is why some of the early power steering reservoir caps had ATF specified as the proper fluid to use. All the later pump caps and the owner's manuals have said to use "Approved Fluid". The GM power steering fluid is approved for use in any vehicle with a Saginaw power steering pump.

One other thing to keep in mind: There has always been a big financial incentive for the assembly plants to be able to use one common fluid for both power steering and automatic transmissions. Keeping two similar but different fluids separate in the assembly plants, separate fill systems, separate storage tanks, only one fluid in the field for vehicle service, all are very great incentives. Despite all these obvious benefits GM continues today with different fluids.

To be honest, all of the Saginaw power steering pumps adapt fairly well to all kinds of fluids. The pumps are marketed and sold all over the world and are used by many vehicle manufacturers who specify their own power steering fluids. Chrysler in the past has used a very simple mineral based fluid. They eventually changed to GM power steering fluid. I am not sure if they still use GM fluid today or not. Ford uses a special Ford ATF fluid. VW uses a European brand of fluid called Pentosin. All of these fluids reportedly work well in their vehicles.

I have no idea who formulated the PS fluid that is sold at K-mart, Pep Boys, NAPA, etc. This isn’t to say that it is bad. However, the amber colored GM fluid is the only fluid that has been certified and tested in GM durability test vehicles for millions of miles. It also is the only fluid that have been durability tested in the Saginaw Steering Gear engineering labs for hundreds of thousands of hours. All of the rubber compounds that are used in the seals, hoses, etc in the production GM power steering system are tested in the materials laboratory for compatibility with the fluid.

The GM part number for a quart of power steering fluid is 89020661. The previous GM part number for power steering fluid was 1050017. Both fluids work equally well.

BTW, there is a recent push to use Dexron®VI automatic transmission fluid as a “universal” fluid for power steering systems was well as automatic transmissions. Nexteer (formerly Saginaw Steering) engineers report that the Dexron®VI fluid is NOT as good as genuine GM power steering fluid.

JIML82@aol.com
PowerStrgFluidRev21MY2012.doc

 

Synthetic rubber seals/O-rings/gaskets seem to seal better and last longer if the components are run with some regularity. Before you go changing seals on anything, operate the vehicle for 30-40 miles; then see if you still have the leaks....or not.

Good luck.

 

Ya gotta exercise them, guys that buy them to sit in the garage and look at should just buy pictures, it'd be cheaper.

 

is the p/s conrol valve wet at all? when i bought mine the seals in the control valve were so bad fluid would just leak out of the top even when not running. i ended up replacing the control valve (twice) and pump because it was a little wet too ,plus it was cheap. i did not replace the hoses when i replaced both other things and it ran fine for about 10 miles before the hoses popped! so you'll want to get a set of those they were like $60. if you do replace the pump i recommend getting one with a resevoir on it, i did not and it took me like 1.5 hrs to swap the new pump into the old resevoir for a $10 savings, not worth it to me. hope this was helpful

 

Is this fluid still available through GM? Tried to get it at a local dealer a few months back and they said they didn't stock it. Seemed odd.

 

The most recent power steering fluid part number (89020661) still shows up on the GMPartsDirect.com website.

There is a difference between a dealer "stocking" something versus being able to order it.

The problem could be that GM requires the dealer to order a case of fluid. But the GMPartsDirect site does show an individual container as being available.

Jim

 

Thanks for the info. It was very helpful...