Replacing power steering fluid

Post Mon Sep 05, 2005 2:40 am

How do i replace ALL of the power steering fluid?
There is a nut on the hose to do the bottle only, but how do i get out the stuff in the rack?

It hasnt been changed in bloody years, and is a vile black soup at the moment. (that cant be good for it im sure)

Post Mon Sep 05, 2005 9:37 am

Take the return pipe off the bottom of the resevoir, plug the outlet with a piece of spare hose turned upwards so that its open end is above the top of the bottle, and put the end of the return pipe into a bowl.
Fill the resevoir with fresh fluid and turn the engine over (spark plugs out helps), while movin the steering from lock to lock.
Keep doing this untill the fluid coming out in the bowl runs clean.
ATF is cheaper than exchange racks and punps.

Post Mon Sep 05, 2005 12:25 pm

why cant i run the engine and turn the wheel?

Post Mon Sep 05, 2005 1:44 pm

smithy318i wrote:why cant i run the engine and turn the wheel?

It'll empty the resevoir in about 1/2 second flat. OK if you have an assistant to keep filling the bottle, but you get a lot more control on the starter motor, especially if you work it from the diagnostic socket.

Post Mon Sep 05, 2005 2:24 pm

Failing that you could always have a look in the articles section.

I believe there's a guide to changing it in there.