Sienna 1999 with a bazillion miles (and a brand new timing belt, water pump, etc).
Toyota specialty repair shop noticed that my PS fluid was “very dirty” even though it’s been just two years and about 10,000 miles since another shop replaced the PS pump. (I would have thought they would have drained and refilled the system then, but it doesn’t look like they did).
Owners’ manual calls for Dextron II or III; I have no idea what’s in the system now, but it’s definitely NOT anywhere close to red color judging by a small sample I sucked out with a turkey baster. I’d call it sort of amber color, somewhat similar to engine oil.
Local Napa Auto store directed me to Dex / Merc ATF, which I have not yet added.
I seem to recall Tom and Ray suggesting using a turkey baster to suck out fluid from the reservoir, and refill with new fluid. Is that sufficient?
Or maybe do it once, then drive the car a few times, and then repeat the process to further reduce the percentage of old fluid?
Or is it worth the effort to drain the system from below? I’ve not yet slid underneath to see where low pressure line is, so don’t know if that’s a hassle; I assume it’s a messy job. But given that I’m due for an oil change, I’ll be under there anyway.
And what about residual fluid in the rack?
What’s the smart choice here?
Remove as much fluid from the reservoir as possible with the baster.
Disconnect hose #12 in the image from the reservoir,
and point the end into a drain pan.
Plug the nipple on the reservoir you removed the hose from.
Fill the reservoir with fresh fluid.
Start the engine, and let it run until the reservoir is empty and shut it off.
Repeat until the fluid going into the drain pan is clean.
Reconnect the hose to the reservoir and fill the system.
Tester
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Thanks @Tester.
Would this take just a few seconds … or minutes? I’ll likely be doing this solo – no assistant – and don’t want to run the pump dry and destroy it in the time it takes me to jump up and kill the engine. Or is it not an issue for a short time?
A few seconds, or the pump will start making noise.
Tester
80% of the power steering fluid was lost while replacing the pump, most of your fluid is new.
Does that look dirty to you? The tech judged your P/S fluid based on the color of the plastic reservoir, I’ll bet the plastic has turned black after all these years.
Thanks @Nevada_545
80% of the power steering fluid was lost while replacing the pump, most of your fluid is new.
That’s useful info, I had wondered about this specific point.
Maybe, but I don’t know that.
I don’t know what fresh clear PS fluid looks like, but what I saw didn’t look particularly clean. I was trusting the experienced Toyota mechanic, not my own minimal knowledge. This shop is staffed by two experienced partners, no others, so I trust them. It’s why I have started using this shop.
When I saw golden brown color, I presumed that was conventional PS fluid, not the red ATF recommended by Toyota. I gather that they are roughly equal in functionality, but that made me concerned about MIXING them, so was inclined to do a full replacement.
I would do the baster thing three times. Remove, fill, drive, repeat.