Best ATF for vintage Toyota P/S system

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Yes there are bunch of threads on this, but I'd like more current input. 2000 Toyota Sienna calls for Dex-II

I'm doing a 100% clean fill on an entirely new power steering system. Brand new Genuine Toyota $1k rack, pump, all hoses, reservoir. Only thing being reused is the metal hard lines. Basically a ton of money and effort. I want the best fluid available at any cost.

I've tried a bunch of different fluids (DEX/MERC, store DEXIII, Lucas fluids, OEM fluids from other brands that sell P/S fluid) and have had issues with rack leaks on brand new racks, noise, hard steering, boiling fluid etc. Yes properly bleeding each time. I'm redoing the system one last time all top of the line parts. Lately I tried Lucas 10442 fluid with a new (non genuine) pump and rack and produced less than stellar results. I bought Genuine Toyota DEX-III, however is this cheap $8 qt fluid really the best thing I can put in this soon to be new very expensive system? Ideally I'd like something EXACTLY like toyota factory fill, which from 1997-2014 is an amber colored fluid that produced no abnormal noises or leaks for well over a decade. All the other fluids have not performed nearly as well. Toyota themselves sells no such fluid, and I don't believe its just DEXIII without the dye.

I'd like to try out the AC Delco amber power steering fluids, which at $16/qt sound like a better bet. Which Delco fluid would be best for older vehicles/DEX-II applications.

I've also been debating between Redline AFT or Redline P/S. I can keep trying different fluids, but first I'd like to know if anyone with a Toyota of this era has had good luck personally on a clean 100% fresh fill of a certain brand.

While the parts will all be under warranty, Toyota has discontinued the rack, and I'm basically getting the last one in the warehouse. I'm leaning towards OEM fluid for this reason, but I've read some comments here saying they didn't have great luck with Toyota DEX-III in anything but a partial fill.
 
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Originally Posted by atikovi
A 2000 Sienna is vintage? Okydoky.

+1
If that's vintage, what's an 88 BMW?
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Our dad has a 2006 Tundra. We use the Mobil 1 ATF. Thankfully, no noises to speak of. Everything seems quiet and smooth thus far. Hoping for many more miles and years with no problems.
 
I use Maxlife ATF in the P/S systems in both my 88 and 99 Toyotas. No leaks, all good.
 
If it calls for DexII, and you had problem with leaks, just use a THICK ATF, synthetic thick ATF if there's such a thing, and call it a day.
 
On my old truck, a 2007 Tacoma (calls for Dex 2 or 3) I used Mobil 1 synthetic ATF and Maxlife ATF, in the summer the more viscous Mobil 1 had a better feel and offered slightly more steering assist than the Maxlife did. The thinner Maxlife felt more responsive than the Mobil 1 on cold winter days. After the PS fluid warmed up there was very little difference between the two in the winter. My rack and pinion started seeping enough to give the bellows a wet look with around 40k miles, I changed to Mobil 1 and ran that for a couple years with no change to the leakage, but I never had to add fluid. Then I changed to Maxlife and added a magnefine to the PS return line. I traded it in with 87k miles and still running the original rack and pinion, I never needed to top the fluid off, but the bellows are pretty wet looking along the bottoms but there are no drips/leaks anywhere. I know the new owners and it's still on the road, now getting driven more than when I owned it. Last I heard from them, the only problem they've had with it was the blower motor resistor and plug giving out on it.

If you have a New Holland Dealer close by, they have this:

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I'm using Castrol Dex/Merc in my kia's ps pump. If it used dexII then any fluid that meets the specs would be fine. I like Castrol because it's readily available at $4 a qt, and pqia shows it's a solid fluid. Too thin and it will weep through the rack.
 
I use Toyota t4 atf in my 2000 Lexus es300. It's probably extremely similar to your sienna engine and steering wise. I have never had any power steering noise or leaks.
 
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