Fave power steering fluid replacement technique?

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I know a hose can be pulled and all the fluid pumped out as new fluid is added. I know many use the "turkey baster" or some type of suction method to empty the reservoir and refill it many times to replace old fluid with new.
What technique do you use and how many refills of the reservoir do you think it takes to do a decent job replacing the fluid?
 
I so far have done the reservoir technique only. Tempted to try the hose method.
 
I've been considering same.

Concerned about how fast fluid is pumped out and getting air in the system (if this is a problem?)...
 
Originally Posted By: ZZman
I so far have done the reservoir technique only. Tempted to try the hose method.


Same here. Turkey baster or regular siphon from reservoir until it is empty or near empty. Refill to proper level. Turn wheel back/forth a few times. Repeat some time later, if desired.

Easy peasy.
 
I have a Mityvac air-powered brake bleeder, and use it to suck the fluid out of the reservoir and refill. It's quick and easy, and I do it about once a year on all my cars. The fluid stays nice and fresh; never had any PS pump or rack failures (knock on wood). The people who typically have problems are the ones who never change their PS fluid.
 
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If it's easy I pop the return line. Otherwise I use the turkey baster method, doing it over a period of a few days. Extract, refill, drive, and repeat the process a few times. So far so good using both methods.
 
I only do the remove the return hose method, on some cars it takes less time than messing around with a baster and you get a proper fluid change not just a little bit cleaner dirty fluid.
You might as well change the engine oil a qt at a time for all that's worth, its almost a worthless exercise.
 
I pull the return hose and suck out the reservoir. I then remove and clean the reservoir. Reinstall and fill with fresh fluid. Connect drain hose to return line and start/stop engine a few times while filling reservoir. It does pump out fast.
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
I only do the remove the return hose method, on some cars it takes less time than messing around with a baster and you get a proper fluid change not just a little bit cleaner dirty fluid.
You might as well change the engine oil a qt at a time for all that's worth, its almost a worthless exercise.

I was getting some terrible pump whine at the end of my autocross runs, so I tried the baster(actually a 100ml syringe and tube) method with 500ml of synthetic fluid and right away the pump whine was gone, so it is better than nothing!
If you don't have a lift or want to mess around with old PS fittings, it does the trick even if it takes a few minutes.
 
You can pop the line, and turn the steering wheel close almost lock to lock *without the engine on*. This lets you mechanically pump the fluid out without it being at the full PSI. I start by turkey basting or draining the reservoir first and refilling with new fluid.
 
Turkey baster method.

Suck out old fluid, put new in. Turn vehicle lock to lock. Repeat a couple times.

Works well and hardly any mess. I'm not taking off power steering lines unless I have to replace them.
 
If the car is mine, or one I know I'll see regularly, just replacing what's in the reservior. If it's a one-time thing, depends on how the res. and hoses are set up but I'll either run the pump with a cordless drill (usually just fast enough to build pressure but not like starting the engine where it sucks it all down instantly) or suction it through the return line and adding a little fresh/sucking it down before I stop.
 
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Used to do turkey baster now i just undo the line, its not complicated and you do it once and you are good for quite awhile.
 
My favorite method is to purchase a brand new vehicle and trade in the old one. Only takes once. And all the fluid is changed
 
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