Power steering fluid usually isn't in my Top 10 of concerns for our cars but just for grins I decided to empty the reservoir since I had not done it for quite awhile. I would guess 5 years and many road trips ago. Yuck!! Thickish and brown and I was ashamed of myself for neglecting it. No leaks or noise or concerns prompted this but the reservoir is now filled with clean new fluid. I'm sure it will discolor real quick with the leftover fluid but it will still be a much better quality than before.
It is certainly a cheap maintenance item and I hope this post will assist someone. Just looking at the 'fill line' doesn't reveal the color inside. It may prevent future issues.

 

thanks for the reminder . . . .how did you get the old stuff out; just suck it out of the reservoir with a turkey baster, or do we need to flush the whole system?

 

^^^ You nailed it. The old turkey baster trick emptied the reservoir except at the very bottom. That's the easiest (or lazy) method for me. I think I paid about $5 for the Prestone bottle of fluid. Just don't put the baster back in with the Thanksgiving stuff . .

 

my family does not know that the secret ingredient in my wife's turkey gravy, is just a trace of brake fluid

 

thanks for the reminder I was thinking of doing that and the brake fluid.
Sometime soon

 

Just to add to this... I'd also mix in a bit of of Lucas Power Steering Stop Leak at the end. Worked a charm on mine, it's not just for leaks!

You're also supposed to turkey baster the fluid out, put new in, and do that 3-5 times, going lock to lock 3-5 times in between bastering, before it's all flushed and good to go.

Ain't nobody got time for that... I know I know, but I did all that and it did a great job. For what that's worth. Y'all have a good one!

 

I change mine every 5 /6 years , always fill with MerconV on both my Thunderbird and Mustang , I change the first load , drive for a week , change again , drive again until the fluid sucked out is perfectly clean , it takes me a little over a quart to complete the change