matts6887

found the one closest to me; but; what is best to use to collect the old fluid?

jbl-1985

Any plastic container. Old Milk jug, etc. That way you can recycle the container at the same location when you take the fluid there.

fastnoypi

Call Maricopa, some recyclers around the country will accept power steering fluid mixed in with used oil.
Any container that can hold oil will work.

You can also call the local parts stores if they will take the old fluid. Some have 55 gallon drums in the back for that purpose free of charge.

matts6887

Thanks for the tip about checking with the auto parts stores fast; I will do that once I get around to extracting the old psf and flushing the system.

matts6887

I know its time to replace my fluid; as when I had my oil change done at a local shop a week ago; upon doing their inspection they noticed the fluid was dark. So if generally there is no need to flush the system; whats the best way to get rid of the dark fluid? And also salim; dont ya have to flush the system after so many miles to get rid of any possible dirt, etc? I had to do that with my previous vehicle which was a lot newer than this one. Please advise. Thanks.

salimshah

I was answering the question about recommended interval to replace the steering fluid and I have not come across one.

There are multiple ways and almost all of them do not replace 100% of the old.

My personal experience has been poor when I switched to synthetic on 2 vehicles. The process I have followed is to use the Turkey baster to siphon out the old and then add the fresh. It only replaces the reservoir volume. I did that every 2-3 weeks for about 6 times.

The above method is by far the simplest way.

Salim

matts6887

this may be the simplest method; but; dont the lines have to be flushed of the old fluid before putting the new stuff in so that the new stuff doesnt mix with the old?

matts6887

Also salim; how many bottles of new power steering fluid does it take to refill the power steering reservoir? 1 or 2?

salimshah

I bought 2 qts of transmission fluid and was enough for multiple changes.

I try to stay out of the discussion as to which oil/fluid is best. People rave about synthetics but they were source of trouble for me in steering system.

Salim

matts6887

Salim; What about flushing the lines of the old dark fluid? Is there any real easy way to do that without having to go through all the steps of undoing all the bolts, and hose clamps, and this and that? Isnt there a simplified way of doing this? Let me know thanks

matts6887

Went to siphon the old power steering fluid out of the reservoir today but could not get the turkey baster in all the way because of what seems to be crappy design; they made such a small hole that I could not get the tip of the baster into the reservoir all the way; so i siphoned out what i could which was not a lot; and just poured in some new fluid. How else can I get the rest of the fluid out other than having to remove one of the lines? Also; a little of the old dark fluid spilled as i was trying to siphon it out; is this going to cause a big issue? Im thinking not because its made for high temps; but i could be wrong.

VegasRX300

Just put a piece of small rubber tubing (rubber hose) on the end of the Turkey baster. You can buy it by the foot anywhere

Wipe up the spilled fluid and wash it with soapy water. No biggie.

Now if it was brake fluid, that's a different story. Brake fluid will eat paint away. With brake fluid you need to get water on it asap. I'm sure you've seen older cars with paint damage under the hood next to the brake reservoir. That is what happened, spillage and no one cleaned it up.

salimshah

In my tool box (treasure chest), I have a turkey marinate injector. I sawed off the tip, and the hypodermic needle is like a sawed off shotgun. Thin enough to get into narrow opening and no chance of drips.

salim

VegasRX300

I also use one of those cheap battery testers. You know the ones, cost like 99 cents, real small tube with the little ***** that was made to use once to test the acid strenght in the battery.
Takes more time using it because it has a small reservor but works.

***correction *** cheap antifreeze tester. NOT battery tester.
Autozone sells them made by Peak # PKFOAB for $2.99

Sorry for any misunderstanding.

salimshah

'hydrometer'. Before the age of sealed batteries.
Much smaller but similar device is used to check how good/bad is your coolant antifreeze.

Salim