Power Steering Flush Photos And Brief Description

[K9crew]

I flushed the PS system yesterday and took some photos to help out anyone that hasn't done this before. This job is easy and takes about 30 minutes. I put together a very primitive but effective kit when I flushed the PS system on my SC. The hose is 3/8" ID and the fittings were lying around in my garage.

PS flush "kit" ... crude but effective!

First I removed the plastic engine cover, follewed by the battery cover, air inlet ducting, air filter/box, resonator and throttle body inlet hose (all in one piece). I did this to improve access to the PS reservoir inlet hose.

PS reservoir exposed for easy access.

The next step is to drain the reservoir. You can disconnect the inlet hose and catch the fluid as it pours out or use a pump to remove the fluid. Once the reservoir is empty, disconnect the inlet hose and plug the 3/8" metal inlet tube. Connect an extension hose to the reservoir inlet hose and route that hose into a suitable container.

Ready to pump out the old PS fluid.

Fill the reservoir to the top with fresh Dexron II ATF (I used Mobil1). You have a few choices here ... you can "bump" the starter many times to pump the old fluid out or you can run the engine for about two seconds which will pump the fluid out VERY quickly. The other option is to run the engine and have a friend pour ATF into the reservoir. Repeat the process of filling the reservoir and turning the engine over until clean, red ATF comes out of the return line.

Clean ATF from return line.

Finally, reconnect the inlet hose, refill the reservoir, start the engine and turn the steering wheel from lock to lock a few times (with the reservoir cap off) to expel trapped air. Check the PS level COLD and HOT (adjust if necessary).

When I did this yesterday, I ran the engine for a few seconds with the MAF sensor disconnected. The "check engine" light came on in addition to the VSC light. When I was done I disconnected the battery for twenty minutes and both codes were cleared.

:)

[Wes]

Thanks bro for going through the trouble of documentation.

I was planning on doing that in a couple of months. You just made it easier.

:whistles: :whistles:

[chubyball]

I would suggest to turn your steering wheel all the way to left and hold for couple secs then same thing to right then turn off your engine, this way the pump works more effectively with get rid of all old fuild. I did it with 6 bottle with Steering Wheels PowerSyn Valvoline.

[99lsguy]

k9,

Excellent work my man ! Thanks for taking time to make a great presentation!

A few questions:

Did your connections hold tight without any leaks?

Did you use the "bump starter" method - and if so how many times before clean?

If I wanted to use a longer drain tube to go out and over the fender do your foresee any problems?

My 99 is Mystic Gold Metallic, your's looks the same?

Well Done :D

99

[99lsguy]

chubyball,

How do you go thru SIX QUARTS?!

The manual shows 1.1 quarts (1 liter) capacity?

99

[K9crew]

Wes,

You're welcome ... I hope others find it useful as well.

99,

The connections hold up fine ... there's no pressure in the reservoir and the path of least resistance works well for the return hose. I ran the engine for a couple of seconds which almost empties the reservoir if you have it filled to the top. I repeated the process four times. I don't see any problem having a longer hose on the return but if you remove the airbox you can put a container there and use a shorter hose. Yep, my car is the same color as yours ... here's my car at the Grand Canyon. I think chubyball used 6 QTS to flush the system but he mentions using SynPower PS fluid which is NOT Dexron II/III ATF. Valvoline makes ATF but it's not SynPower. I use Valvoline SynPower brake fluid ... good stuff!!

chubyball,

I'm not sure if turning the wheels to full lock helps the "pump work more effectively to get rid of the old fluid" but it does expel trapped air. I performed this same procedure on my SC about 10k miles ago and the PS fluid is still clean and red without any discoloration. How is the SynPower PS fluid working for you? I hope you don't have a problem since it's not Dexron II/III ATF.

:)

[VMF]

wow it started with the MAF sensro disconnected. mine didnt even wanted to start.

btw i used 7 bottles of the ATF b4 i got the clear pink fluid coming out.

[K9crew]

wow it started with the MAF sensro disconnected. mine didnt even wanted to start.

VMF,

Yep ... it started AND ran with the MAF sensor disconnected although I only ran the engine for a couple of seconds. :D

Did you follow chubyball's recommendation of turning the steering wheel from lock to lock to get the old fluid out? The PS system only holds about 1 QT and I had more than a QT of dirty fluid in my waste container so I felt that I managed to get most of it out. However, if both you and chuby needed 6 QTS before the fluid ran clear maybe I'm missing something here. The other possibility is that your PS systems were very dirty compared to mine. My SC had about 50k on it when I flushed the PS and my LS had about 60k on it .... what do you think?

:)

[VMF]

i think i was the first one who did it diy and yes i turned the wheels while i did that. i turned engine on 3 times since i had to turn it off coz my container with old fluid was gettin overfilled. i dont think my ps system was ever cleaned b4 so that is why it took so many bottles of atf to clean the system

[K9crew]

VMF,

Thanks. It seems to me that if you turn your wheels from lock to lock with the engine running you either need to have a helper pour ATF into the reservoir or you need to construct some form of hopper to refill the reservoir as the old fluid gets dumped into a waste container.

How often do you plan on flushing the PS fluid in your car? I've put about 10K on my SC since flushing (fluid still looks red and clear) and it's cheap enough to change on a yearly basis but that's probably overkill. The fluid isn't exposed to the heat range that the ATF sees in the transmission and dirt shouldn't get into the system.

:)

[99lsguy]

k9,

you mentioned you used Valvoline Synpower Brake fluid but the photo shows a bottle of Mobil one ATF?

Also, I take it the system does only hold 1 quart, it just may take more to completey flush out the old gunk within the lines and such?

My 99 LS is just below the 60K miile mark - similar to yours......

[K9crew]

99,

Sorry for the confusion. :) I use Mobil1 Synthetic ATF in the power steering systems of my SC and LS. I ONLY use Valvoline SynPower brake fluid in the braking systems of my vehicles. I have it in my Jeep and I plan on flushing the SC and LS brakes systems soon.

:)

P.S. I'm almost at 63K on my LS now!!

[99lsguy]

Sorry but another question.....

When you turn the wheels full L & R and hold 2-3 seconds, (per manual) to make sure the air is "bled" - do you leave the cap OFF the PS Reservoir?

Thanks!

[VMF]

i used Volvoline and as the manual said once the fluid is changed you have to change it every 30k miles.

[K9crew]

99,

Yes ... might as well make it as easy as possible for those air bubbles to get back home! :D

VMF,

I think I'll change the fluid more often than every 30k (maybe every 15k) and hope that I never have a PS pump leak.

:)

[UCF3]

wow it started with the MAF sensro disconnected. mine didnt even wanted to start.

btw i used 7 bottles of the ATF b4 i got the clear pink fluid coming out.

VMF:

Did you use 7 bottles?

[chubyball]

99lsguy,

I used six bottles because I had returned hose connected to empty Milk bottle. This way I can see the condition of the old fuild when I am doing the flush job. I just stop when the fluid getting clear.

But watchout for dumping the new fluid in the reservior, you have to keep up with pump because when the wheel is turning the pump works much faster than usual.

Best way I can suggest to people who wants to do this job. First, go to Homedepot get an flexible clear tube, it's cheap $1.20/ 7 feet long then cut about 1 foot off and replace this at the tank and don't forget to have it point upward in that way no air can get back up to your tank.

The rest of the hose connects to the return hose fuild with an adapter ( you can find this adapter at Homedepot also).

Don't forget the hose secure tightly before do any flushing job. Because I experienced with oil plashed everywhere in the electrical parts, then you will spend more times on cleaning it up. One more thing, limit your hose length where it disposits the old fluild into the empty bottle.

[UCF3]

oh, that's not a bad idea using a hose. I used a cardboard rellay, which worked out for me, but using 6 bottles, I'm still wondering about that. I've used a hand-held air pump out of my emergecy road-side assistance kit, to push the fluid out of the block before. That should do the job without spending so much money on new fluid everytime.

[chubyball]

Well, I replaced the original steering fuild with SynPower. Preventing from mixing fluid then I have to flush out the old one completely before replacing with newer kind. I consult with parts dept. of lexus they told me to flush out the old one as much as I can.

[VMF]

yeah i did. pps system was so dirty that it took 7 bottles of atf b4 i got the clean fluid coming out.

[99lsguy]

Just thought I'd let you guys know I did the PS flush (per K9) last week....

Everything turned out well :D Just be careful and tedious "bumping" the starter - I actually started the car once but immediately turned off - no problem.

I used valvoline maxlife Dex III ATF - 2 quarts.

I will probably re-flush again this fall just for the fun of it I do believe this will remove any remaining "gunk" in the system!

I've already noticed the little "dipstick" has been cleaned off somewhat buy the new fluid - so I'm very encouraged!!

After re-attaching the return hose and filling the reservoir, I lifted the front wheels off the garage floor with jacks and turned steering wheel lock to lock several times. I then started the LS with the cap "loosely" on the reservoir and went "lock to Lock" several more times with the front end still on the jacks. Made sure the fluid was at least touching the "low" side of the COLD mark and went for test drive. All checked out OK and I topped it off. :D

Next time I'll keep the front end up the whole time as turning the wheel alone helps pump out the fluid .

I used a clear tube (as suggested) so I could see it "flowing" over the fender - I just put milk jug on floor and fed tube in it....(be sure to secure the tube so it won't fly out during procedure and get ATF over your floor!). Tube was 1/2 inch O.D. and 3/8" I.D.

Thanks again K9, Chuby, VMF, and others for all the discussion and technique!!

99

[monarch]

I think alot of people here are making a mistake thinking their PS fluid is really dirty just because it has the color of motor oil. This is the normal color of the factory original fluid - just check the color of the fluid in a brand new 2004 LS 430 if you don't believe it.

For 32 years Toyota has used motor oil colored Dexron ATF fluid in all of its power steering systems. It's just regular Dexron ATF without the red dye added.

[99lsguy]

I think alot of people here are making a mistake thinking their PS fluid is really dirty just because it has the color of motor oil. This is the normal color of the factory original fluid - just check the color of the fluid in a brand new 2004 LS 430 if you don't believe it.

For 32 years Toyota has used motor oil colored Dexron ATF fluid in all of its power steering systems. It's just regular Dexron ATF without the red dye added.

It looked more "clear" to me....w/ a brown tint . It looked mostly clear on the dipstick (aside from the brownish deposits on the dipstick). I assumed it was undyed ATF. I didn't think it was that dirty...but it was a fluid that had been in the vehicle from the beginning (4 years): and according to my philosophy, this is a fluid that needed to be changed regardless of "color".

Believe me, If I could find this magical toyota ps fluid I would have put it in....it is not available!! It only comes from the factory this way, and the dealer does not have it. They have no idea what I'm talking about.

The Lexus and Toyota dealer flush the PS with some sort of WYNN CONDITIONER/ FLUSH system - they use stuff called "PS Fluid" - it is not Dex III equivalent.

Can you show me a bottle of 'Toyota PS Fluid' (that is Dex III or equivalent)??

99

[monarch]

Believe me, If I could find this magical toyota ps fluid I would have put it in....it is not available!! It only comes from the factory this way, and the dealer does not have it. They have no idea what I'm talking about.

The Lexus and Toyota dealer flush the PS with some sort of WYNN CONDITIONER/ FLUSH system - they use stuff called "PS Fluid" - it is not Dex III equivalent.

Toyota dealers carry a genuine Toyota Dexron II & III fluid in one quart bottles for about $3.60 a quart http://www.saber.net/~monarch/gtatf2.jpg

http://www.saber.net/~monarch/gtatf.jpg

It's as close as you can get to the original factory fill PS fluid and should also be used in early ES 300 and SC 300 automatic transmissions that require Dexron II or III fluid.

Corporate Toyota cannot control what dealers do in their service shops. So it's not unusual to see dealers installing cheaper aftermarket fluids or additives in place of the more expensive genuine Toyota fluids and lubes. And that's why so many owners complain their cars run worse or shift more roughly after they have just paid a dealer $2,000 for a major 60,000 mile preventive maintenance service.

[99lsguy]

Monarch,

No one carries that stuff around here ;)

Anyway, I'm glad I changed it.

Have you done any research who supplies toyota with their oil?

99