# 2009 Ford Focus - Wrong fluid

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/2009-ford-focus-wrong-fluid/177658>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** ford\
**Created:** [June 25, 2021, 2:46pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2009-ford-focus-wrong-fluid/177658 "2021-06-25T14:46:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Oops12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/258eb7/32.png) [@Oops12](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Oops12)\
**Post date:** [June 25, 2021, 2:46pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2009-ford-focus-wrong-fluid/177658/1 "2021-06-25T14:46:15Z")

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I accidently put about 50ml of engine oil in power steering tank, what should I do as I’m not very mechanical. Will this cause serious issues if I was to drive the vehicle to a local garage?

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**Author:** ![weekend-warrior](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/weekend-warrior/32/26122_2.png) [@weekend-warrior](https://community.cartalk.com/u/weekend-warrior)\
**Post date:** [June 25, 2021, 2:52pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2009-ford-focus-wrong-fluid/177658/2 "2021-06-25T14:52:07Z")

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assuming you have not started your car yet. get something like a turkey baster and suck all the fluid out of the power steering tank and replace it with fresh fluid or you can pull of the power steering hose off the bottom of the tank and let it drain into a container. put hose back and new hose clamp and refill.

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**Author:** ![GorehamJ](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/gorehamj/32/24103_2.png) [@GorehamJ](https://community.cartalk.com/u/GorehamJ)\
**Post date:** [June 25, 2021, 3:08pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2009-ford-focus-wrong-fluid/177658/3 "2021-06-25T15:08:48Z")

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Good post, and I hope changing the fluid will resolve it. My question is, why did you need to top it off in the first place? Might be worth having a mechanic look for leaks and drain/refill the system anyway.

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**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\
**Post date:** [June 25, 2021, 5:04pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2009-ford-focus-wrong-fluid/177658/4 "2021-06-25T17:04:35Z")

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Compared to other fluid mixups (especially any involving brake fluid) this is pretty innocuous, both are hydrocarbon-based, just different viscosities and additives. I’d go the turkey baster approach, do it twice (remove/add/run/remove/add/run), and make sure you’re using the recommended type of PS fluid.

Alternatively you could go to a Ford dealer and have them do a PS fluid change.