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AE101 Steering Fluid

4K views 15 replies 8 participants last post by  speedy25 
#1 ·
Hi, I have a manual '93 Corolla AE101. Lately I've been hearing a faint screeching sound during hard turns and yesterday the oil warning light turned on for a second or so during a turn. Obviously my guess is that that I'm missing steering fluid (it happend during night and didn't have a chance to check it during daylight). Now, my mechanical knowledge is very limited but as far as I know steering fluid and gear fluid are basically the same (are they really?) and I know I have a some Dexron-III fluid somewhere around the house... so what I'd like to know is:

1) Is this fluid compatible? (I don't have the manual so I can't tell). If not, what should I get?
2) Where is the steering fluid compartment located?
3) Should I drain any current fluid or just top it up?

Thanks in advance!
 
#2 ·
The warning light would be for your engine oil. Check your engine oil.

The power steering fluid is on the passenger side, toward the firewall. It has a black round cap. Dexron is what you want. And the transmission and differential use it too, but from a separate supply.
 
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#4 ·
Since you have a manual transmission the fluid is not the same between your transmission and your power steering system. Only automatic transmissions take Dexron-spec'ed fluid. But yeah, power steering takes Dexron II or better. II/III are antiquated specs by now so feel free to use modern backwards compatible Dexron VI fluids.

The squeal is likely a loose or worn accessory belt.

If your engine oil level is good and you still had the oil light come on you need to figure out why. The light isn't monitoring oil level but oil pressure. When was the oil changed last? Was the filter changed too?
 
#5 ·
The light came on only for a second during a very hard turn when the wheel was close to the end. Coupled with the sound I thought maybe it's related... as I said, very limited knowledge.
Engine oil was changed about 2K km ago I think, no more than 3K. I can't tell for sure that the filter was changed as I didn't own the car back then, but knowing the previous owner and his mechanic I'd say it probably WAS.
 
#10 ·
it was very low, just about nothing (meter came out dry). had to refill quite a lot. now i'm concerned not only about the engine but about a potential leak... as i said oil was checked last week and level was ok. put a sheet under the car for the night but nothing leaked so far. i'll go the mechanic to make sure. don't know what could've caused such a huge drop in oil level.
 
#11 ·
Check the oil filter and make sure it didn't come loose. Also look around under your distributor. That's a common place for them to leak.
 
#12 ·
Every time I get a car, if there isn't a 2" thick stack of service records, I always drain and change all the fluids: oil, trans, diff, PS, brakes, even the washer fluid.

Having seen the kind of work precious owners & their mechanics do, I don't go by anything they say. Just what I determine by inspecting and measuring on the car itself.
 
#13 ·
i don't just know the previous owner. we're related so knew exactly what i'm getting.
anyway back to the point: what should i be worried about? noise seems to have gone for now but since i can't tell for how long the motor was running on very low to no oil (can't be more than a week but that's a lot) i'm very concerned.
 
#16 ·
Read the "sticky" at the top of the forum about oil consumption.

Your light came on because the level was low, PERIOD.

While the recommended fluid is Dexron, when I used it my PS howled. I changed back to Valvoline PS fluid and it now stays quiet. You make your own pick.

Squeaks could have easily been belts. Confirm they are not worn out and properly tensioned.

-SP
 
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