New (to me) 96 with 28,000 miles. Done a lot of maintenance so far. I assume (I could go buy a bottle) that power steering fluid is fairly clear like brake fluid. Mine is like coffee. Should I have the power steering fluid flushed and replaced? Thanks Much! Dan

 

OR you can do it yourself, not hard.
Jack up the front & put stands under it and block the rear tires. (My mandatory safety speech)
You can pull off the rubber hose at the power steering cooler right in front of the rack and drain it into an oil drain pan.Turn the steering wheel full left & right a few times (engine OFF) and it will push the old fluid out of the rack. (You can start the car and turn it left and right once to make sure it's all out, but don't run it long because it's running the pump dry.) Put the hose back on and fill the Pwr steering bottle. With the wheels still up off the ground, turn the steering wheel fully left to right about ten times. That should push fluid back into the lines again. Check the level in the bottle and start the car. Turn the steering wheel left to right again another ten times or so. Turn it off and check the level again. There will be a lot of foam and bubbles in there so let it sit for a few minutes to calm down before you add as needed. A few more turns left to right with the engine OFF and then again with the engine on and it should get all the air burped out and be ready to go back on the ground again.

 

Thank You very much Klondike. I will do it Dan

 

What I like to do with all my cars, is start fresh with new fluid. After that, every year I will simply pump out the fluid in the reservoir and put in fresh. It mixes with the already 'mostly fresh' fluid in there and keeps it all clean on a yearly basis and takes less than 10 minutes. I've owned my '01 Trans Am since new and never flushed the entire system. The fluid is still clear to this day using this once a year ritual. The cost is probably $5 a year or at whatever sale price you get your power steering fluid.

 

I did a drain and refill cycle on my 92. Royal purple synthetic fluid and a little Lucas conditioner for good measure. Turkey baste gets a lot of it out if you don't want to totally drain it.

 

Might try Lubegard power steering fluid if the pump is a little noisy

JS

 

28K miles and if there's no issues I'd be inclined to do a few fluid exchanges over a few months. I don't know that I'd get carried away with all the synthetics etc. GM Cold-Climate! Flush and fills more frequently result in issues.

Compare yours to the fluid you decide on using a clear container for each to visually see what's up.

I believe maybe you're overreacting!

If you have issues - completely different story!

 

WVZR-1, Thank you for your response. Please expound on the "issues" I risk with a full drain and fill. Dan

 

i used atf. works great.


i used the pump to remove the old fluid. wife started and stopped car while i kept the reservoir full and kept the drain hose in the neck of the 2L pop bottle. i shoved other smaller hoses inside the lower ps pump hose to get it into the drain.

she started and instastopped the car. the pumps moves a LOT of fluid FAST.

 

Use a synthetic fluid. The early C4s had issues with heat. The synthetic fluid holds up much better and solves the problem - usually.

I use the Royal Purple

Richard Newton
Car Tech Stuff