How do i drain Power steering pump

Maintenance/Repairs
1

1989 Toyota 4runner
Is there a good way to drain the power steering pump so i can get good fluid in there? When i hooked it up i noticed some gray looking fluid in it. It was almost empty but i had to fill it with fresh

Thanks

2

Turkey baster, siphon hose, or disconnect the line from the bottom of it.

3

I want it ALL out…so i guess i will look at disconnecting the hose on the bottom.

Thanks

4

Disconnecting the hose won’t get it all out either, so I just use a siphon pump from the auto parts store.

The way I understand it, it’s a dynamic system, so I drain, refill, start the car, turn the steering wheel all the way back and forth a few times, and drain and refill again.

Like with an oil change, you don’t need to get all the old fluid out, so there is no reason to obsess about it.

5

On my Ford truck there didn’t appear to be any way simple to drain it using gravity, no bottom hose, but I discovered I could get quite a bit of fluid to come out by removing the other end of one of the hoses, and just turn the steering wheel. With the engine off. Fior the remainder I did the best I could with a siphon pump gadget. I’m not sure if the turning the steering wheel is a good idea from the point of view of not damaging the pump, but for me with an early 70’s Ford it worked ok. Pump not damaged, still working.

6

You don’t want to pull it all out. Bleeding out a power steering rack is a pain and does put a strain on many components. Drain what you can and replace with fresh is the best method. Flushing it all out is only necessary when you have a catastrophic failure leaving metal shavings on the fluid.

7

Sucking out only what is in the reservoir gets less than half of the fluid out, but is a lot less work than raising the car and making a mess, and as noted, does not introduce air to the system. When I notice the fluid is off-color in one of my cars, I change the reservoir fluid every Saturday for about a month. Takes only a few minutes each week and doesn’t make a mess. After about four sessions, the fluid looks much better and the pump is quieter.

8

I checked the fluid level and fluid looks nice and clean. How this happened after seeing the gray looking fluid? My guess is it is simply diluted. Im going to leave it alone

Thanks