2007 I4 Power steering fluid

[0507INDY]

I have an '07 I4 LE with with 56K. At the 55K service, they said I needed to change the power steering fluid at the next oil change. The fluid is a yellowish brown--but I know it changes color over time. It's been driven carefully with a mix of both highway and city driving. Any thoughts?

[Den49]

Originally Posted by 0507INDY

I have an '07 I4 LE with with 56K. At the 55K service, they said I needed to change the power steering fluid at the next oil change. The fluid is a yellowish brown--but I know it changes color over time. It's been driven carefully with a mix of both highway and city driving. Any thoughts?

The yellowish-brown color of your power steering fluid indicates that the fluid is breaking down and attacking the seals and other vulnerable parts of your power steering system, i.e. rack, pump. This will eventually cause them to fail. The cost to replace those parts is in the neighborhood of $300 to $500 for the pump and $700 to $1000 for the rack. A power steering flush typically costs under $100 and can be a DIY project if you have intermediate DIY skills. The objective is to flush the system before the fluid starts to deteriorate. If this is done, the power steering components can last the life of the car. If not, they start to fail around 100,000 miles. A good preventive schedule would be every 2 years or 30,000 miles, whichever comes first. Good luck.

[sxe-10]

^ den is right, doesnt matter how much or how little you use your car, the fluids will need to be changed at their intervals, you might also want to get your brake fluids done as well while you're at it, its recommended to be flushed at least once every 2 yrs since it the fluid will become more dilute over time

[gdanaher]

With respect to the poer steering fluid, get a quart of Dexron III and a very large syringe or turkey baster. to suck as much fluid out of the reservoir as possible. Jack the front of the car a little to take some weight off the tires and with the engine running, fill the reservoir and then turn the steering wheel to the right and left and back repeatedly. This will pump fluid through the system. Suck what you can out of the reservoir and again refill. Repeat the procedure until the fluid the the reservoir looks reasonably clean. You can't get all the fluid out nor do you really want to, but flushing this way will keep air out of the system and replace most of the fluid. If you can use a synthetic, that would be even better.

[JohnGD]

The easiest way is to siphon the ATF in the reservoir out and refill with new ATF. Repeat 2 more times after a short drive and you should see it clear up. I'd do a siphon/refill every year to help keep the PS system healthy.

Walmart SuperTech Mercon-V, Castrol Import Multi-vehicle ATF are both more shear stable and better than plain dino Dexron III type fluids. Do not use the thin Dexron VI (6) in the PS system.

You can also use Mobil-1 fully synthetic ATF. Advanced Auto has a coupon special that works out to about $5.8/qt or something like that.

If you want to "flush" the system, here is a DIY from the Gen 3/4 group. You get the idea:
http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/t19334.html

Originally Posted by 0507INDY

I have an '07 I4 LE with with 56K. At the 55K service, they said I needed to change the power steering fluid at the next oil change. The fluid is a yellowish brown--but I know it changes color over time. It's been driven carefully with a mix of both highway and city driving. Any thoughts?