How to Flush/Change Power Steering Fluid on the 3800/3.8L Engine

Nice post. Have been planning on doing this, but haven't been quite motivated. I just noticed some surging, so yea, I probably should get to this...sometime...soon..dammit. LOL Thanks again.

I want to follow up on my P/S fluid change: '05 GTP, 119,000 mi., fluid level was not low.

Short story: The job is relatively easy. I did notice an improvement. The steering is tighter and smoother (would never have believed that would happen with a fluid change), and the slight whining is gone. Even play is gone, which I had written off as worn linkage . It was worth the effort.


Details and comment:

I must have got air in in because I had trouble getting it clear. I thought I cracked the hose or the hose was stretched/worn at the connection; neither turned out to be the case. It was foamy, and I did use very short run times; apparently not good enough, or the cap needs to be on ?? Anyway, I did notice that bubbles came up into the reservoir when the wheels were turned to the RIGHT. The purging began to happen quickly after doing this. About 5 minutes are needed between runs to let the bubbles pop when it's foamy.

Since 1 qt. was ~$6.xx and a gallon was ~16.xx, I got the gallon and used it all. I could have did it with less, but I made the job thorough at that point. It cost me about $30 to do the job after getting some hose and a barbed hose unions (Dorman). The hose and union ended up not being used to extend the return line because the ret. line I.D. was too big. I used some clear tubing that I had. I shoved it up the line, and it did not blast out while running.

I thought it REALLY made the steering easier, but that was because it was still jacked up. No, I wasn't all jacked up. lol.

You need to move the engine coolant reservoir. You can do it without disconnecting it, and just set it up front. Tilt it to get the air out of that before putting it back in. Put your thumb over the overflow outlet when tilting.

Draining the reservoir at the beginning is helpful, but there is still quite a bit that will come out. I save soap/hand lotion pumps to use for pumping out brake master cylinders (otherwise you can just soak it up with a paper towel after a few times). The pump worked well here too (with a tubing extender) and a salsa jar.

I plug hoses with glue/caulk caps.

Slide the spring clamp back and twist the return line with a full grip before trying to pull it off P/S pump.


OK, I'll stop there. Thanks for the comprehensive write-up and photos.

Did this over the weekend thanks for the write up

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Will sucking out the reservoir a few times over a few days get all the old fluid out? I ask because that's what I do.

Just changing what's in the reservoir? No not all.

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Originally Posted by michael redmon

Will sucking out the reservoir a few times over a few days get all the old fluid out? I ask because that's what I do.

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No, but that is basically what the shop power flush machine does. It will, over time get a lot of the old crap out by basically diluting the old and putting the lubricity back into the system. I have done this for many years and it works just fine. I do it every oil change. I suck out 2 quarts worth of fluid. I suck out the reservoir and refill, then turn l lock to lock about 10 times and repeat until the 2 quarts are gone.

I did this a few weeks ago. Just now saw this thread though. I did the non-starting method w/ the wheels off the ground, lock to lock about 3-4 times. Used Dorman vacuum caps to plug the reservoir and used about 2 - 2.5 qts of Valvoline PS to flush.

What's a good internal to use for this PS flush?
I was thinkin about 45,000 miles based on the various articles I've read online. I would obviously monitor the color along the way. 45,000 miles would take me 3 years.

Being there's no filter, 30-50k sounds good to me. That's depending on driving habits of course. I do mostly city so I'd be closer to 30k. That would take me 6-7 years though lol

I didn't put it on this how to, but I have a magnet on my p/s dipstick now. That catches little metal specks every so often. Good to keep that away from the rack seals.
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...4065667d20.jpg
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...ba17d94df7.jpg
Had to drill out the hole one size at a time to avoid snapping it. Got to a size that it fit very snug, added a bit of black rtv for good measure, and rammed it in.

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Any specs on the magnet? Size dimensions and where you found it?

I found it like 12 years ago when I was a kid lol. I can get dimensions sometime this weekend or next week. I don't have my caliper with me atm.

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Originally Posted by green97

Any specs on the magnet? Size dimensions and where you found it?

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I used a 1/8" x 1/8" I bought at Lee Valley....

http://chrisb.users.superford.org/Gr...ap_Magnet.html