Power Steering Fluid
 

Hi,

I have a 1998 ES300. I want to change out the power steering fluid.

What fluid is recommended? It appears Dex III ATF is recommended? Valvoline brand seems to come up a lot. I checked but they don't appear to have a specific DEX III labeled product anymore but one that is labeled Dex/Merc and in smaller print says for use in Dex III applications or something like that. Is that the one to use?

What about AC Delco? They have a DEX III labeled ATF product.

Thank you!

Just about any Dexron III compatible fluid is "good enough". This is the best option.
https://www.amsoil.com/p/oe-multi-ve...ion-fluid-otf/

Hello,

+1 on Amsoil, used it in my 2000 ES300 and it dramatically improved the steering feel.

As a note for the future, make sure to not use any of the supposed Dexron III substitutes like Dexron VI, which claims it is designed to be compatible with all the previous Dexron generations, while in reality it is not, and can cause a lot of damage down the road.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

A personal bit of recent experience here, if I may.

On all vehicles 25+ years of age... hoses get hard, and they often develop minor cracks etc. It's inevitable, regardless of the brand of car.

On a Lexus ES300, the hoses which run from your Power Steering Reservoir to your Power Steering pump are among the hoses most likely on the entire car to suffer from heat cycle cracking.

Why? They are exposed to LOTS of engine manifold heat.

Do your self a favour, and consider replacing them too.