How log does it take for PS fl;uid to circulate

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Jul 17, 2003
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How long does it take for PS fluid to circulate from the reservoir ? If I do the baster drain/fill and do a 40 mile drive, is the fluid circulated enough in the reservoir to do another turkey baster drain/refill ?

Of does it take much longer for the fluid to circulate completely from the reservoir
 
Not long at all, you can turn on your car and turn your wheel from lock to lock and it'll probably have circulated. I just did a baster drain/fill a few days ago, and I checked it after just going around the block and it was already circulated (went from clear to a light brown from the old fluid mixing)
 
I just did 2 changes via the baster. Both till the reservoir till it was completely empty. Between that was the 40 mile drive I needed to take today...

I have 2 bottled water bottles with fluid that's like a deeeeeeep burgandy color. It has been 40K miles on it.

I guess I'll do this everyday this week after coming back from work and maybe by the 5th or 6th day, the laws of diminishing returns will the fluid be more new than less.
 
40 miles is way overkill. You can perform extra flushes right then and there by starting it up for a minute, and maybe working the wheel back and forth.
 
Mine was more of a light brown/chocolate color. You could see through it if held to a light. I guess it wasn't too bad, but it's easy enough to do, and only around $3.50 for a bottle of it so I thought what the heck, might as well. And mechtech is right
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Absolutely; power steering fluid is an oft neglected service. Yes even a few minutes of idling would be sufficient to mix it. Typical power steering pumps are probably 2-5 gpm. Some power steering pumps actually circulate more fluid at idle than at higher rpms.
 
Leave it in a couple of days. If the PS fluid is like the ATX fluid Fords now take the detergents will clean it very well but it needs to be in there a while to dissolve the carbon built up internally.
 
I can attest it pumps rather quickly.
I unhooked the return line from mine and started the car.
There was much fluid shooting out all over, so I don't recommend this method!
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Next time I will pull the coil wire and use a remote switch to crank it just a bit.
And stick the end of the hose in a bottle!
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Just plug the inlet to the pump and pour in fresh stuff.
 
shoz - Leaving it in may help clean things, but it's good to have clean red fluid first. Then check it after a while.
ATF has minimal detergents, if any, BTW.
 
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I can attest it pumps rather quickly.
I unhooked the return line from mine and started the car.
There was much fluid shooting out all over, so I don't recommend this method!
bop.gif

Next time I will pull the coil wire and use a remote switch to crank it just a bit.
And stick the end of the hose in a bottle!
blush.gif

Just plug the inlet to the pump and pour in fresh stuff.




Yeah, you've got to be careful when messing with PS lines. I don’t have any figures in front of my for psi, but in essence, the PS is a hydraulic system, and some of them operate at very high pressures. It’s quite possible to injure one’s self, a bystander, or damage your car if you unleash that pressure in the wrong way. This would be one of those parts of your car you really shouldn’t mess with unless you’re really sure of what your doing.
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This would be one of those parts of your car you really shouldn’t mess with unless you’re really sure of what your doing.
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Unless you bought the car specifically as a hobby so you could learn to mess with that stuff.
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I just finished giving it the annual flush, and it went much better this time.
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I read up on this not long ago when i was going to turkey baster flush and at least in one cars PS pump, it indicated it moved 1.5 GPM (gallons per minute) when the wheels were turned at least 15* either way.

So i think you could just start your engine, turn the wheel slowly one direction, then the other, and consider it mixed pretty good.

I can't remember the exact calculation, but i think assuming you are removing at least 50% each time, a total of 4 empty and refills should give you greater than 95% fresh fluid.

Most cars PS pumps are self bleeding. It may make some funky noises a couple of days after, but it should quieten down. Check your level every day for at least 3 days after to make sure its not getting too low as bubbles come out and the level lowers a bit.

Walmarts turkey basters are the best i've found. They are clear and hold a lot.
 
PS pumps usually have an interal pressure relief at maybe 1000-1200 psi. When you hear that squealing/weird/loaded sound with the wheel fully turned this valve is probably opening.

The biggest risks in pulling a PS pump line is running the pump dry and/or making a mess and/or injuring yourself somehow in the process.
 
Quote:


shoz - Leaving it in may help clean things, but it's good to have clean red fluid first. Then check it after a while.
ATF has minimal detergents, if any, BTW.




Here is my experience when changing the fluid for the first time at 50k or so. The fluid was OEM factory fluid and pretty dark. I flushed it out through the cooler lines using a couple of quarts of generic ATX fluid while the pump was running and pouring it in the reservoir. Took about a minute or less.

Then flushed with some Mobil 1 ATX fluid, connected the hose and added to full with the M1.
Two days later the new fluid was a dark as the old. So I then started to do the turkey baster thing filling again with generic Mercon fluid. Each time looking at how dirty the fluid was by placing a drop on a white paper towel.

It took almost two months with ever increasing intervals until the fluid stayed nice and pink, i.e. 2 days, 4 days, 8 days, two weeks then a month between reservoir changes.

After that I did three reservoir changes in three days using the Mobil 1 ATX fluid. It has stayed clean ever since. Now once a year I do a reservoir change and that's all.
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2006 Scion xB ~13K miles.

I use a syringe body with a hose attached to the end since I cant remove a lot of fluid w/ the baster. Additionally, I know EXACTLY how much fluid comes out, so top off is a breeze.

I remove and replace ~ 150 mls. of PS fluid every month and have done so since I bought it new. Probably overkill, but the cost is basically nil and I enjoying working on my ride. I do this after I come back from a drive and the fluid is still warm.
 
I flushed the system in my 1997 Monte Carlo when I replaced the original pump because of a leaking front seal. I bought a gallon jug of power steering fluid, took some spare hose and ran the return line from the rack into an empty container. I then placed a hose into the new fluid container, and connected the other end to the pump.

Started the car and cranked the wheel back and forth a few times, then just waited until it pulled the full gallon through the system. After this I replaced the leaking pump, topped up the new one, and was good to go.

Almost a year later, the fluid is still clear and the system is working great. BTW, the fluid that came out of the system was NASTY, I'm pretty sure it was original with 175K on the car.
 
I found that Wally-World has a hand pump back with the outboard hypoid oil. (around 7.00) It fits perfectly on the oil, tranny fluid/ and gear lube bottles. Comes with a little hose that fits down between any little seperators you may have as in master cylinders. No dribble back like the turkey basters. My .02 ****
 
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