power steering fluid - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

Libre · 07-08-2007, 03:10 PM

So I drive a 1994 Toyota Camry 1MZFE. I saw that the power steering fluid was quite low, so I got some power steering fluid and filled 'er up. But my dad just told me that you are supposed to use transmission fluid instead of actual power steering fluid. Was this a big mistake I made that will harm the engine? Or just a harmless one that can be easily remedied?

Thanks.

touringcamry · 07-08-2007, 03:59 PM

Yes, the power steering system uses ATF. It says so on the cap IIRC.

I don't know what harm it would do but probably nothing good will come of it. You can try flushing everything out and replacing all the fluid.

marc780 · 07-08-2007, 04:43 PM

It probably wont harm anything. We have hydraulic lifts at work and the guys who service them tell me you can use either hydraulic fluid (for the lifts, not for cars of course) or ATF, and can mix if you have to.
After you fix the leak, you can just siphon out the fluid with a turkey baster, top up, run the engine a minute, siphon again etc. Do this about 4 or 5 times and it should be fine. A little bit of power steering fluid left behind wont hurt anything.

Libre · 07-08-2007, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marc780

It probably wont harm anything. We have hydraulic lifts at work and the guys who service them tell me you can use either hydraulic fluid (for the lifts, not for cars of course) or ATF, and can mix if you have to.
After you fix the leak, you can just siphon out the fluid with a turkey baster, top up, run the engine a minute, siphon again etc. Do this about 4 or 5 times and it should be fine. A little bit of power steering fluid left behind wont hurt anything.

Yeah, that's pretty much exactly what I was planning on do. I guess I will read the fine print on the caps from now on.

Libre · 07-09-2007, 06:49 PM

So something horrible just happened to the car when my brother was driving it. He couldn't get it above 30mph and it stalls and it sounds horrible. The transmission fluid looks really bad so it could be a tranny problem. Then again, that tranny has 234xxx miles on it so its about time it goes. The bad news, a new tranny would be more than the car is worth!

I just hope the problem isn't related to my power steering fluid mix-up.

Stillrunning · 07-09-2007, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Libre

The bad news, a new tranny would be more than the car is worth!

If you think a new tranny is expensive, try buying a new car.

Libre · 07-10-2007, 10:25 AM

I think it's an engine problem and not a tranny problem now. Sounds really bad too, how ironic is it that the day after I register for TN my car's engine blows.