01 ranger tried to put in clean power steering fluid. Suctioned out about 1/2 a cup of old fluid from the pump, then I put in "power steering fluid". Now it has a steering problem (vibration on turning) So after words I read in the owners manual which say to use Micron ATF. Daaa . . I feel stuped! My question is how do I get all the fluid back out. Is there a drain plug on the rack & pioion?
thanks Don

 

probably have to pull the lower hose to drain, fill and then start the truck to flush the system out of the return hose. If you have a repair manual it shopuld cover how to do this.

 

I put the vehicle on stands, so I could turn the front wheels lock to lock.

I put a hemostat on the small return line at the cooler, disconnected it there & routed it into a catch bucket, then released the hemostat to drain the pump reservoir, then plugged the return line with a golf tee, so it wouldn't continue to drain the reservor during the flushing operation.

Connected a scrap piece of hose to the cooler & routed it to the catch bucket.

Topped off the drained pump reservoir with new fluid.

Removed the pump drive belt & used my variable sped drill motor to spin the pump while I poured in the new fluid & the wife SLOWLY turned the steering wheel lock to lock, to flush the rack & cooler.

I chose the drill motor to turn the pump, so I could better control the fluid removal, keep the pump reservoir topped off & not get any air in the system.

Did this once with the engine turning the pump at idle & it pumped the fluid out so fast that I couldn't keep up & the fluid level got low & mixed so much air in the system, it took two days for it to completely purge itself, even after the perscribed purge proceedure, of slowly turning the steering wheel lock to lock, with the engine at idle.

Anyway I ran 3 qts through mine, using the drill motor to better control the pump speed & fluid removal, so I could keep the pump resevoir topped off & not get air mixed in & to thorougly flush the pump, rack & cooler real good.

When your finished with the flush, stop the drill motor, reapply the hemostat to the plugged return line, remove the golf tee & reconnect the return line to the cooler, release the hemostat & check the pump reservoir fluid level.

If you do this thoughtfully, you'll not spill much fluid, get a good flush & not get air in your system like I did, the first time I did it, using the engine to turn the pump!!!

If you've managed to let the flud level get low during the flush, after reapplying the pump belt, start the engine & SLOWLY move the steering wheel lock to lock, to purge the air from the system.
Be sure you have the cover on the pump when you do this, because if it has air in it, it'll spit up & spew fluid all over you & the engine!!!!

When you think you've purged the system, put it bak on the ground & go for a drive.

When I got all the air in mine & the above purge proceedre didn't get it all out, the system would sometimes go into parasitic oscillation, that was dangerous, so take all the tme you need to get thesystem purged good.

Let us know how it goes.