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Got some maintenance to do on the truck today, oil change, fuel filters, and time for trans filter also. I figured I'd do the power steering fluid also but after checking my notes, a couple threads, and YouTube I found different suggestions on the P/S fluid. Type F, DextronIII, and "what ever you use in the trans" which I guess meant SP or LV were all suggested. What is the right answer?
Well, looks like I'll be doing this tomorrow. Got busy today. I did get my shopping done though. O'Rileys had SP in the back, surprise! I thought I'd be using th MaxLife stuff. Anyway, I found there is no synthetic MerconV on the shelf in any of my local part stores, only non synth. I ended buying a couple quarts of this (not cheap!). Hopefully it is the right stuff. It's a multi vehicle formula but it does say MerconV on the back.
It depends on how messy and/or amount of fluid you want to go though. I started to do a pictorial years back but I found that someone did one that was good so never followed through. And right now I can't find it. ...... someone will. Probably Mark.
The one less fluid, less mess way is to pull the booster return line and extend that to a waste bucket and plug it's normal return at the reservoir. Use a suction pump to drain the reservoir and refill with new. With the truck running every time you hit the brake pedal and release it will exhaust a small amount of fluid, and you nibble at the looped fluid until you get it to the point of cleanliness you desire, keeping the reservoir topped as needed. You also need to turn the steering lock to lock during this time to get its internal fully moved.
The other way is to remove and extend the return line from the steering gear into a waste pail as well as the booster. When I did this I used two people as fluid is moving in mass quantities. I pulled the FICM relay and had the person behind the wheel bump the motor while also doing the steering wheel movement and brake pedal in small steps. This is the walk, chew gum, and juggle method. I felt this more intensive, but then after doing that, getting fluid on me and going through mass quantities no one is convincing me it's not.
About two years later I had to replace my hard lines and did the pump at the same time as a PM, so could have waited.
05-20-2017, 11:33 AM
