power steering help

[noney82]

iv a 352i and iv just spotted a leak off steering fluid now iv been wanting to swop the fluid for ages now as its well discoloured. i noticed its says ATF on the lid to the pot im guesssing that means auto trans fluid?

[E30Adam]

It does indeed mate, Dexron 2 or Dexron 3 fluid will be fine, should be red in colour.

Power steering pipes are prone to leaking on these cars.

[DRIFTBOY]

It sure does.
The type you want is Dexron 2. You'll need about 1 - 1.5 litres for a full fluid change.

[DRIFTBOY]

Damn, I was beaten to it!

[noney82]

it looks like its coming from near the header, i found some PAS and ATF at home in my garage now the PAS one is green like what they use in citroens suspention system and the ATF is like i clear on but iv got some more at home if i remember rightly but they just say trans fluid on the front but they were red, the were all borrowed from vw as a mate worked there

[noney82]

how much is this dexron?

[DRIFTBOY]

It should have 'Dexron ll' or lll on the bottle.
It's red in colour.
Ԛ£10 should cover it for the amount you need.
I wouldn't risk putting stuff in that you aren't 100% sure about.

[noney82]

ok i will get the right stuff were you get it from any car spares?

[DRIFTBOY]

Yeah, nearly all motor spares places will have it.

[noney82]

is it easy to do iv read the forum on here, sounds easy enough, could old fluid cause the steering to go heavy sometimes

[Brianmoooore]

If the leak is coming from under the resevoir bottle, then it's most likely a loose clip on the return pipe. Cut it off and fit a good quality hose clip.
Old fluid can cause funny effects on the steering. Fluid should be red. If it's taking on the appearance of aluminium paint, then change it ASAP. You need to flush through the whole system, so you'll need considerably more fluid than the system actually holds.

[noney82]

how much fluid should i get

[noney82]

well i got 5 litres in the end

[noney82]

well did steering fluid flush last night not to bad of a job, i got 5 ltrs of fluid cost 15 quid

[DRIFTBOY]

Did you bleed it by turning the wheel lock to lock a few times?

The fluid level doesn't usually go down too much anyway but if you haven't done that it might just want a top-up.

[noney82]

yeah did it about 7 times each lock