Steering noise and its fix

[M.Yasir]

Hi everyone, its been a long time since i posted anything here

Recently my car started giving noise when i steer everytime, the sound was minimal in the beginning well it was my fault i kept on driving it, the sound keep on growing and the steering got harder and harder with noise ofcourse

What i did the first thing is to add up some lubricant usually DOT3 Dex 3 but unfortunately at the gas station this guy had only the brake fluid which was DOT 4 anyway i poured DOT 4, the reservoir for power steering was empty as expected and the oil inside was as filthy as it can be may be it was not changed even once since 1998... anyway I topped up the oil and drove

There was another observation when the car got heated up well not heated up lets say when the engine is warm after a cold start in the morning the noise from the steering while turning was minimal but yes the steering became hard...

The above whole situation i carried it for i think 4 days...

Now the fix

I went to a garage and i told him that noise is coming from the steering wheel and the steering itself is hard now, the mechanic told ok let me check and then with a flash light he went beneath the car, after sometime he told me that your pump is leaking tie rod ends are leaking and the list goes on..... I told him one thing, please do as i say

Remove the return pipe from the oil reservoir and drain the whole steering fluid and thats it. So he proceeded removed the air filter assembly removed the return pipe, please make sure you have a large polythin or a bag in which you can store the oil otherwise it will be a mess since the moment you will remove the pipe the oil will come out with force.. now when the oil stops coming out start your car and turn the wheels end to end, now during this time and the oil will come out with more pressure and keep on pouring fresh oil in the reservoir, in this process atleast consume 3 litres and stop switch off the car .... pack things up

Once every thing is connected back to where it was start the car with cap open of the oil reservoir, the oil will jump may be flow out let it do check the oil level and turn the steering end to end lets say you will do this exercise for 5 to 10 mins and done.. you are good to go

While turning your steering make sure you lift the car from the jacks, in my garage there was only one jack so the mechanic lifted only one part of the car anyway something is better than nothing.. and now no noise nothing steering is like butter now, i will try to upload some pics

You can use any DOT 3 fluid Automatic Transmission Fluid or as Toyota recommends Dex 3

[Exhaustgases]

Dot 3 and Dot 4 is a classification for BRAKE FLUID. DO NOT USE BRAKE FLUID IN THE POWER STEERING. If you did use brake fluid then you need to replace

or completely take them apart to clean, the power steering pump and the rack assembly. And replace all the hoses too.  The cap for the power steering pump will say what to use in the power steering. In the older LS400's the cap says to use Dexron automatic transmission fluid. I am not sure what the cap and the owners manual says to use in a 1998.  If you did use brake fluid tell the mechanic you did.

 

Brake fluid will totally pollute the power steering system, it will ruin the seals and hoses, and will remove the paint from your car if you get

any on it. Never ever use brake fluid in anything except the brake system, and that is why it is called Brake fluid.

[VBdenny]

I'll second Bob's statement. If you put brake fluid in the power steering system, it may very soon become dangerous to drive the car.

[M.Yasir]

Apologies you can use any dex 3 fluid.... lets say you have an emergency and fluid is 0 in the reservoir for whatsoever reason any ATF fluid will/should work without causing damage, i found one basic sheet which shows which oil is recommended by the manufacturer for which car make

 

power_steering_fluid_applications.pdf

[VBdenny]

Whew, had us worried for a second there.  Most ATF sold now is universal. I always found it rather strange that Toyota uses Dextron in the power steering and not in the transmission.

 

[M.Yasir]

I edited the post so that any other use may not take my post into account and pour in brake fluid...

One more thing everyone says the brake fluid will damage the whole system? what is the primary reason behind it? because brake fluid does not have much lubrication properties or is there any other reason or it absorbs moisture and will make the seals swell?