paulmsteinback Posted December 31, 2003 Share Posted December 31, 2003 304.1 My neighbor showed me his new Lexus today, the newest of several he has owned. I had never touched a Lexus before. He said his older Cadillacs had better low speed power steering boost than any of his and other Lexus cars he had driven. He claims a special sensitivity to steering boost inadequacy. He has an arm with a disability. In talking, then, about the Lexus Owner's Manual, he said it lacked skills in the English language. He found some of the English in it impossible to believe in a manual for a Lexus automobile. Though factually it may be proved correct, he found it misleading. I told him I would check out "Lexus Power Steering" on the Internet. Google took me to a list of related web sites. I chose US.LexusOwnersClub.COM. That web site featured an email discussion about Lexus Power Steering stiffness that seemed to come from power steering boost loss when black goop plugged the fluid filter and, in effect, shut down the pump at low speeds. The "wrong" choice of fluid was suggested. Some said they got low speed boost again when they flushed the fluid out, replaced it with a more suitable fluid, and cleaned the filter. My 1964 Citroen lived through a period when CItroen intoduced a change in hydraulic fluid in newer models. The new fluid was found to damage rubber seals in older models and the old fluid was found to damage rubber seals in the newer models. The damaged rubber seals led to black goop plugging the Citroen hydraulic fluid filter. An immune rubber formulation was then introduced to solve the problems from both types of fluid in both the old and the new models of the Citroen. The alarming thought I have had from all of this is that Lexus may have had bad enough English in its manuals to lead to fitting its American Lexus power steering with a fluid that damaged the rubber parts of the power steering system, produced black goop, plugged the filter, and effectively stopped the low speed boost from the pump. If that were the case, it could lead to a troublesome safety recall situation for Lexus. What do you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VMF Posted December 31, 2003 Share Posted December 31, 2003 manual specifically said use DEXTRON type II or III fluid. but a lot of mechanices flushed the power steering system with regular power steering due to their ignorance and lack of desire to check for instructions. they should be held responsible for the damage if there is any! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaronb Posted January 4, 2004 Share Posted January 4, 2004 I have a 91 LS400 which shows all the signs of a clogged solenoid screen. Per instructions earlier in this thread I've located the solenoid. However, so far I'm unable to remove it and want to be sure I'm going about this the right way as the notion of hitting any car part with a hammer and chisel is a bit disconcerting! I see the solenoid mounted on the steering rack behind the driver's side front wheel. Two wires connect to the bottom of the solenoid and, where the solenoid mounts to the rack, it appears to be attached to a thin, large-diameter hex-head nut. Is this the nut that I am meant to be tapping with a chisel and hammer? I tried this several times but the nut didn't budge at all and I've begun to score the metal quite severely. Is this thing reverse-threaded? Any pointers are appreciated. Pictures would be extremely helpful. I've checked the gallery but find no pictures of the solenoid. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mapman Posted January 4, 2004 Share Posted January 4, 2004 It has standard threads on it and you are at the right place. MIne had a indention like it might have already been removed once. It came loose with just a couple taps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelsn Posted January 5, 2004 Share Posted January 5, 2004 Fluid from pump does drain. This is getting intersting. I was going to try mig25's way of flushing the power steering fluid but if the fluid drains after taking off the solenoid screen would that be a good way to flush the system? Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mapman Posted January 5, 2004 Share Posted January 5, 2004 It think most fluid from lines and rack must drain when sol. is removed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VMF Posted January 5, 2004 Share Posted January 5, 2004 why would u want to drain the system? just get around 8 bottles of dextron III transmission fluid and flush it with it. disconnect the return hose and connect it to the extension with the bottle. start the engine and add fluid while the old one is drained from the return hose. i had to use 7 bottles b4 my fluid went back to transparent pink. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelsn Posted January 5, 2004 Share Posted January 5, 2004 VMF, Yes, I was going to do that, then I read this post and thought it might be a better way to do it. I'm off to get an extension hose. Thanks, Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mapman Posted January 6, 2004 Share Posted January 6, 2004 You only need 1 quart if you remove solenoid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VMF Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 but with 1 quart you will not change all fluid but only a small part of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy haw Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 Thanks guys for all the info. I never did figure out what was wrong, but this morning when i got in the car powersteering was back to normal. It may have been only air in the rack , i just thought air would have cleared in less than a week. Oh well its working fine now.Thanks Again Hi to you all, First post on your site.I have recently had a new rack ,pump and air control valve fitted and had stiff steering at tickover.Checked all that you guys spoke about but still stiff steering at tickover.Drove car for a week and steering back to normal.Perhaps there was air still in the system?. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CUMan Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 I noticed the same thing when I replaced the air control valve in my LS 400's power steering several months ago. The power steering made the familiar whining noise for at least a week after the valve replacement. I would turn the wheel back and forth several times, and the whining would stop. After about a week, there was no more whining. Also, the steering effort required gradually lessened during that time. For some reason, it appears that a one-time bleeding does not remove all of the air trapped in the system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy haw Posted September 8, 2004 Share Posted September 8, 2004 I spoke to the guy in the states who I purchased the pump and valve off and he suggested that the new pump needed time to loosen up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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