Power steering fluid type?

[testrider]

I know that my 2003 calls for Dexron II/III as power steering fluid, but i can't seem to find them anymore. What do you all use? I saw Dexron VI but it said not for power steering.
Thanks!

Ps: i have some old bottles of Dexron III from 10+ years ago but I'm not sure I want to use them.



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[testrider]

Sorry. Just saw another thread on Wal-Mart ATF. I'll stop by tomorrow. I went to AutoZone today but all they have were Dexron VI.

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[BlackWorksInc]

As long as it's better or equivalent to Dex II you're fine.

 

[46runner]

You can use either of these

 

[AuSeeker]

You can use either of these

There are many fluids you can use, these two are just a sample, as mentioned Dex II or better just pick a quality brand.

 

[ecally]

I just flushed mine yesterday. The local parts manager at Toyota told me to use 'power steering fluid' at any parts store, that is what they use. I used Prestone fluid. Just the regular fluid not the synthetic for Asian vehicles. I read for days on this. Blackworks - do you think the Prestone will be ok?

 

[testrider]

Thank you all. I appreciate your help. Just went to Wal-Mart and bought some Supertech that specifically said for vehicle requiring Dexron II and III and also the Castrol that's recommended here.
[MENTION=85543]ecally[/MENTION], I believe Toyota power steering needs Dexron II or III ATF, not power steering fluid. At least that's what my manual said.



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[testrider]

Thank you all. I appreciate your help. Just sent to Wal-Mart and bought some Supertech that specifically said for vehicle requiring Dexron II and III and also the Castrol that's recommended here.
[MENTION=85543]ecally[/MENTION], I believe Toyota power steering needs Dexron II or III ATF, not power steering fluid. At least that's what my manual said.



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Here are the Supertech ATF.

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[ecally]

Thank you all. I associate your help. Just sent to Wal-Mart and bought some Supertech that specifically said for vehicle requiring Dexron II and III and also the Castrol that's recommended here.
[MENTION=85543]ecally[/MENTION], I believe Toyota power steering needs Dexron II or III ATF, not power steering fluid. At least that's what my manual said.



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About 75% of the posts I read said PS fluid was fine. I was feeling good about my choice now I'm questioning it again. Was hoping Blackworks will weigh in again.

 

[testrider]

About 75% of the posts I read said PS fluid was fine. I was feeling good about my choice now I'm questioning it again. Was hoping Blackworks will weigh in again.

From my 2003 owner manual.

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[BlackWorksInc]

[MENTION=91]testrider[/MENTION]

To be fair, most generic power steering fluid is based off Dex II if I recall correctly.

 

[testrider]

[MENTION=91]testrider[/MENTION]

To be fair, most generic power steering fluid is based off Dex II if I recall correctly.

Thanks.

Out of curiosity, I googled the MSDS of both but i can't make sense of them beside that their components look different.

Anyway, if Toyota manual and the power steering cap both said to use Dexron, I'm not going to take chance to substitute with something else since Dexron is cheap and is available everywhere

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[TOYO74]

I drove a Gen 1 4Runner for 32 years and only used Dexron II, III ATF. I never had a single problem with power steering.

IMHO, Dexron ATF is the only thing to use in Toyota power steering systems that have "use Dexron ATF" on the cap. As you say it is cheap and easy to find so I can't see why anyone would use anything else.

 

[ecally]

I have spent countless hours on different forums trying to figure out if I can use 'power steering fluid' in my 4Runner. I flushed mine through this past Friday with Prestone Power Steering Fluid - not the type they make for 'Asian Vehicles'. I called Prestone this morning and talked to someone at their 'Technical' hotline. He assured me their regular Prestone Power Steering Fluid is compatible with Dexron II or III.

I'm not sure if it is any better, or worse, or the same as using Dexron. The reason I used it is that my 4Runner already had an amber fluid in the PS system. So unless Toyota was using a type of Dexron without a dye in it (to make it red) I figured it was some other fluid. Also, the Parts Manager at my local Toyota dealer told me to just use 'power steering fluid'.

Only time will tell, but at least for now my power steering is nice and smooth. Hopefully, it stays that way!

 

[RonJR]

Don't know about the 4th gens, but in my '94 regular power steering fluid will cause the seals in the pump to leak. I didn't know that until I tried it out of ignorance. Subsequently read the manual, replaced fluid with Dexron II, and no more leaks.

 

[4RrDriver]

I did a full system flush and used Valvoline Maxlife Synthetic ATF. It's Dexon II, III and VI compatible (among many others), has excellent flow properties at low temperatures (where I live) and doesn't get cooked as easily in heat. There are some TSBs out for noisy GM power steering systems that specify a flush with Valvoline Maxlife ATF and apparently it's a good fix. Maxlife is a pretty good synthetic ATF and since I figured I'll never replace this fluid again, I figured it's worth a couple extra bucks.

http://content.valvoline.com/pdf/maxlife_atf.pdf

Power steering fluid is NOT suppose to be used where ATF is specified. It will eat seals and rubber lines if the system was not built for it. Many, if not most power steering systems do not use power steering fluid. They use ATF. Toyota specs ATF for our trucks.

Flushing is easy, you disconnect the return line and then start the truck for 5 seconds, shut it off, refill the reservoir, repeat while turning the wheel full left and right until clean stuff comes out the line. Don't let the pump run dry. The original fluid was dirty, although it looked clean in the reservoir. The ATF appears darker in the reservoir, but it's just the red dye.

I added a Wix (re-badged Filtran) power steering filter to the return line. Most power steering failures are due to particle contamination, either through fluid contamination or from wear particles from break in and/or normal wear. Catching them in the filter and magnet can't hurt. The Magnaflow brand of filters is also often used but there were so many horror stories of Chinese fake filters and filters cracking and leaking in cold temps that I went with the Wix. I've used it down to -40 without any problems.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

I did a full system flush and used Valvoline Maxlife Synthetic ATF. It's Dexon II, III and VI compatible (among many others), has excellent flow properties at low temperatures (where I live) and doesn't get cooked as easily in heat. There are some TSBs out for noisy GM power steering systems that specify a flush with Valvoline Maxlife ATF and apparently it's a good fix. Maxlife is a pretty good synthetic ATF and since I figured I'll never replace this fluid again, I figured it's worth a couple extra bucks.

http://content.valvoline.com/pdf/maxlife_atf.pdf

Power steering fluid is NOT suppose to be used where ATF is specified. It will eat seals and rubber lines if the system was not built for it. Many, if not most power steering systems do not use power steering fluid. They use ATF. Toyota specs ATF for our trucks.

Flushing is easy, you disconnect the return line and then start the truck for 5 seconds, shut it off, refill the reservoir, repeat while turning the wheel full left and right until clean stuff comes out the line. Don't let the pump run dry. The original fluid was dirty, although it looked clean in the reservoir. The ATF appears darker in the reservoir, but it's just the red dye.

I added a Wix (re-badged Filtran) power steering filter to the return line. Most power steering failures are due to particle contamination, either through fluid contamination or from wear particles from break in and/or normal wear. Catching them in the filter and magnet can't hurt. The Magnaflow brand of filters is also often used but there were so many horror stories of Chinese fake filters and filters cracking and leaking in cold temps that I went with the Wix. I've used it down to -40 without any problems.

Out of curiosity where did you hear that about the power steering fluid? My old dealership used power steering fluid pretty regularly (mainly because on some PS pumps back in the old days it would quiet their noisiness down) and we had no issues with seals, pumps, or racks failing prematurely due to that.

 

[4RrDriver]

Out of curiosity where did you hear that about the power steering fluid? My old dealership used power steering fluid pretty regularly (mainly because on some PS pumps back in the old days it would quiet their noisiness down) and we had no issues with seals, pumps, or racks failing prematurely due to that.

I've heard it many times from different mechanics and read about it several times on online forums. My Mazda used ATF and if I recall, was not tolerant of PSF. Many Honda's require specific fluid or you can bank on the system leaking.

If the manual and the cap say Dex 3, I used Dex 3. If it says PSF, I use whatever type of PSF is spec'd.

Dexon 3 ATF is an old specification but it's a pretty good lubricant, used for years and millions of miles in transmissions with far worse stress on fluid than a power steering system generates. Dex 3 is widely available and you can get good synthetic options cheap.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

I've heard it many times from different mechanics and read about it several times on online forums. My Mazda used ATF and if I recall, was not tolerant of PSF. Many Honda's require specific fluid or you can bank on the system leaking.

If the manual and the cap say Dex 3, I used Dex 3. If it says PSF, I use whatever type of PSF is spec'd.

Dexon 3 ATF is an old specification but it's a pretty good lubricant, used for years and millions of miles in transmissions with far worse stress on fluid than a power steering system generates. Dex 3 is widely available and you can get good synthetic options cheap.

Well what I have heard is that unless it's a specific fluid type like Honda, BMW, ect. most generic Power Steering Fluid is actually built/formulated much like Dex II with some additional conditioners/additives that work better for P/S systems in particular.

A lot of people don't really change out their P/S fluid regularly so as you said stuff builds up and takes them out. In Toyotas they seem to ride out the seals into an oblong shape and seep into the inner tie-rod boots more than anything else (from the few people who I know who did rebuild old racks at that point the aluminum housing is worn a bit and even if you put a new seal it'll just leak out again because of how the bore wears).

I'm not saying your wrong, I'm just curious because as I said we used PSF from MOC, Valvoline, and BG at my old dealership and didn't really see any long term issues (even ran it in my 4th gen before I just used straight ATF in it recently).

 

[Bumbo]

This is what I used... Says Dexon III on the back of the bottle. Looked like a safe bet to me as its exactly what is called out for in my service manual.

Castrol Automatic transmission fluid 03520C - Read 3 Reviews on Castrol #03520C