changing power steering fluid

[supertoad]

Hi, how easy is it to change the power steering fluid in my granada. does it need bleeding out or just emptying and replacing

[BigB]

Hi

It will need bleeding. you can do this by turning the steering wheel from lock to lock 10/15 times while someone watches the level of fluid in the reservoir and tops it up as neccessary. It is worth checking it after every hjourney for the first day or 2 to make sure the levels not dropped (airlock).

Try and make sure there is no debris in the new fluid or left from the old fluid.

[BillyNoMates]

If it's an old car it's worth replacing. Hydraulic fluids do deterioate over time.

Ideally you need an assistant. Remove the top pipe from the fluid reservoir and put it into an open 2 litre pop bottle. Exercise cuation here as the reservoir may be plastic and fragile.

Start the engine and move steering from lock-to-lock.

Stop engine, top up and repeat until the fluid is clean(er). It should only take 2-3 goes as there is not that much fluid in the average power-steering system.

As the previous poster mentions, it may need bleeding afterwards and the level checking after a day or so.

You can 'clean' the exisiting fluid by securely suspending a magnet on a piece of string in the fluid reservoir for a few days. The reservior top obviously needs to be secure so this can be fiddly. I've not tried this but it can remove much of the metal scrap in the fluid and therefore clean it to some extent.