lexus114

I really hate these stupid engine covers they use now. What the Hell is their purpose any way? Of course I`m old school, I remember popping a hood and loved seeing Chevy Orange,or Ford Blue under there Now all you see is a stupid engine cover! (probably to cover up today`s ugly motor`s)

mandyfig

I took the guts off my clips. I just have the base clip without the bolt. Still holds the cover in place. I just pop it when I need to. Which reminds me, have to check my power steering fluid. Maybe time to drain and fill.

HtownBlue

I'm with ya 114. I'm only 33, but my father was a Nascar Pit Crew chief and he raised me correctly in that a good engine should be shown off!!!! Anything else makes it look like they are hiding something!

RX330inFL

Perhaps a worthwhile post with pics.

RuninRoach

how would you drain and fill on RX? would putting Auto RX in there be good for the system too?

HtownBlue

Roach,
You can drain the fluid a few ways. You could disconnect the lower line in the reserve resevoir and drain that out. You could also disccnnect a line going into the rack and run the car shortly and the fluid will quickly spray out (note that this is a messy method).
If you have a fluid pump / suction device, you can suck up most of the fluid into a resevoir. Getting ALL the fluid out is difficult without disconnecting the lines into the rack.

Once drained, simply fill the resevoir slowly and work the air out of the system by slowly turning the wheels back and forth. You will hear a whine first, but it will go way as the fluid works its way through the system.

greenhorn

@Todd, thanks for the pics. This helped me a lot. It was driving me nuts . Thank goodness I did not loose patience and ruin the clips before doing a search.

About the question on loosing fluids, My dealership noticed that my reservoir was low during a service last Tuesday , so they inspected the steering rack and noticed the passenger side boot bottom was soaking in fluids. It was not dripping on the floor yet. They replaced the boot and some o-ring today. Tonight I checked the bottom pan and PS fluid was all over the bottom and I had a couple drips on the floor. I checked the fluid level and it was good. Tomorrow I am taking it back to have them steam clean the bottom.

greenhorn

It's probably to make us shade tree mechanics think we can't work on them and make us take our vehicles to the dealer for maintenance service and also to make us buy an extended warranty.

In many cases some things are easier on newer vehicles than older ones. I used to take our '09 Corolla to the dealer for oil changes after I saw what the paper filter looked like. After buying the filter socket and doing it myself once, I like them much better than the those can filters now. Replacing the water pump on that car was far easier than my old chevy truck. The same with brakes and brake rotors, etc.

Or maybe the real reason is to make the engine compartment look nice and clean and softer looking. After all, women make most of the buying decision nowadays

lexsc4

That's the exact method I have been using for the last 3 days. I use an fluid pump / suction device I pickup at Walmart ($3?) and suck up most of the fluid in the reservoir, then refill it with new Dexron to the max line, start the car and turn the steering wheel to the left and right most position for a few times until I hear the whining sound, then stop the car. Let the wife drive it for a day and do it again tomorrow. The fluid color after one day is usually browner then the red fluid I filled in, which means the new fluid is circulating. I plan to do it everyday for a couple of weeks or until I see the fluid color become nice and red, cost me 10 minutes a day and maybe 3 quarts at $5 per quart. BTW all the clip broke after I removed the cover and I just put the half broken clips back. Still in place after a few days of driving. I would not spend a dime on those clips or I will simply remove the cover which to me serve no purpose.

lexsc4

Update.

After 10 days of continuous "suck-fill-drive", now the fluid in the reservoir is 85% pink. Since I still have another 1.5 quarts (bought 3 quarts) left, I will continue to do this for another week and see if the fluid with ever stay red. Cost $20 (3 quarts at $5 each Walmart and the pump at $4) and 5 minutes per day for 2 weeks...........
Stay tuned.

lexsc4