Prestone PSF for Asian vehicles

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At WM yesterday when I was looking for a bottle of brake fluid and saw this on the shelf. Something like $6.50 for a 12 oz bottle. They had Prestone PSF for Honda/Acura at maybe $2.58 and their standard PSF for less than $2. All were the same size.

Now I look at the description and I'm not sure why anyone would buy it.

Quote:
http://prestone.com/enca/node/1101

Prestone Power Steering Fluid for Asian Vehicles is a premium full-synthetic formulation specifically engineered for Asian vehicles including, Honda, Acura, Toyota, Lexus and other Asian manufactured vehicles.

So they've got the Honda/Acura PSF on the shelf next to it for less than half the price. Toyota and Lexus use ATF and you can buy a quart of the stuff (like Castrol) for less than $5 or maybe the multi-import version for the same price as this 12 oz bottle of Prestone PSF. Seems a bit odd, and I'm wondering if there's really any product that really replaces both Honda PSF and ATF.

However, I do remember my parents' Camry, and whatever was in there at the factory wasn't ATF. It was amber colored and not ATF. Same goes for the factory fluid in my WRX. At a dealer parts counter I was recommended the Subaru ATF-HP.
 
For Honda's especially, I would only stick with OEM PSF. It really isn't even that expensive.
 
Yeah, I've seen that. What a waste of money!

Honda is the only one that actually needs special PSF; the others usually just take Dexron.

I've heard that Honda PSF is similar to Pento$in CHF and can probably be used in place of CHF.

The Camry actually does call for Dexron, as stated in the owners manual and on the PS cap. The factory fill was likely ATF without the red dye, which isn't unheard of.
 
Originally Posted By: mclasser
For Honda's especially, I would only stick with OEM PSF. It really isn't even that expensive.

Used to be really cheap - even less than the Honda/Acura equivalent at auto parts stores. I remember getting bottles of Honda PSF-V (that's what it was called at the time) at a Honda dealer for maybe $1.70 a 12 oz bottle.
 
Originally Posted By: NateDN10
IIRC, our '07 Subaru manual recommends Dexron-3 for PSF.

They've approved both the Subaru ATF and ATF-HP for all power steering systems. Says so right on the bottle. The current owners manuals say Subaru ATF or Dexron III.

Quote:
http://techinfo.subaru.com/proxy/69530/p...314ASTIS_20.pdf

Power steering fluid

· SUBARU ATF
· “Dexron III” Type Automatic Transmission Fluid


Yeah it costs more for Subaru ATF (esp the HP version) but it's not that much and I don't really use that much for the PS system. It's still cheaper than Prestone PSF for Asian vehicles.
 
Quote:
I do remember my parents' Camry, and whatever was in there at the factory wasn't ATF. It was amber colored
It very likely could have been ATF without the red dye. Buy enough and you can get any color you want.
 
Originally Posted By: Ken2
Quote:
I do remember my parents' Camry, and whatever was in there at the factory wasn't ATF. It was amber colored
It very likely could have been ATF without the red dye. Buy enough and you can get any color you want.

I was thinking it could be something else. For the most part, power steering systems are extremely tolerant of a wide variety of fluids. Red Line PSF is sold for use in any number of different vehicles that spec generic PSF, OEM-specific PSF, or ATF. I've heard that some of these factory fluids are ones that meet all the requirements for the power steering system but may not contain things that aren't strictly needed.
 
I've seen the topic'd PSF but would not use it on Honda. Otoh, I've purchased and used Prestone PSF specifically labeled for Honda/Acura with no issues. Before that I used Bardahl PSF specifically for Honda/Acura also with good results.

Not sure what the topic'd psf is intended for. My Toyota Tacoma specs Dex III for it's power steering. What comes/came from the factory though is not red in color but more a yellowish tint. However, just did several turkey baster d&f's using Mobil D/M ATF and the power steering is working fine, as good as ever. I wouldn't let factory psf color negate owners manual PSF spec.

Agree that the Prestone Asian psf seems to meet no specific spec. Would not use it in a Toyota either.
 
Originally Posted By: sayjac
I've seen the topic'd PSF but would not use it on Honda. Otoh, I've purchased and used Prestone PSF specifically labeled for Honda/Acura with no issues. Before that I used Bardahl PSF specifically for Honda/Acura also with good results.

Not sure what the topic'd psf is intended for. My Toyota Tacoma specs Dex III for it's power steering. What comes/came from the factory though is not red in color but more a yellowish tint. However, just did several turkey baster d&f's using Mobil D/M ATF and the power steering is working fine, as good as ever. I wouldn't let factory psf color negate owners manual PSF spec.

Agree that the Prestone Asian psf seems to meet no specific spec. Would not use it in a Toyota either.

Prestone doesn't market any general lubricants like motor oil or ATF. It sounds like they're just trying to reach a customer base that they didn't already cover with their regular offerings.

I took another look and they do market an ATF with stop leak. They also have PSF for European cars that claims to be a substitute for CHF fluids. Pretty expensive though. I think a liter of CHF 7.1 would cost less per unit volume. Amazon sells a 6-pack for about $34 though, but singles are more than $11.

http://www.amazon.com/Prestone-AS268-Steering-European-Vehicles/dp/B007PZNO06
 
Yeah, I've seen that. What a waste of money!

Honda is the only one that actually needs special PSF; the others usually just take Dexron.

I've heard that Honda PSF is similar to Pento$in CHF and can probably be used in place of CHF.

The Camry actually does call for Dexron, as stated in the owners manual and on the PS cap. The factory fill was likely ATF without the red dye, which isn't unheard of.
Honda PSF is the thickest PSF around and Pentosin is the thinnest. They are polar opposite when it comes to viscosity. Both has excellent cold and hot temp performance with excellent anti-wear protection. Honda's thick fluid shouldn't be used in PS systems that takes thin fluids. It will end up damaging the pump at the cold temp when fluids get even thicker.
 
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