The Great Power Steering Fluid Debate

[jonesmw10]

Alright, so lots of searching and no answers... Well some, but super mixed. Some say use ATF, some say regular power steering fluid. What should I use? I did a flush, well, few rounds of fill/syphon out today using ATF (dex III like the manual says...) and it seems like my pump got louder? Maybe I'm just crazy. All I'm wondering is what do you all use, and what specific brand? Thanks!

 

[hearno]

I used the atf that Wal-Mart had in stock for my fourth gen. Worked fine.

 

[JEL]

I just use ATF, it's what it says on the cap anyway. I used Dex III Valvoline IIRC, nothing fancy, just a few drain and refills with the turkey baster similar to what you did. It did change the color and lighten it up a bit, so considering most people never change it, that's good enough for me. I figure I'll do a drain and refill every other oil change or so from here-on. If you pump got noisier chances are some air got sucked into it, try going lock-to-lock a few times and see if that remedies it.

 

[fourwd1]

There's nothing to debate, it clearly says right on the cap to use ATF.
If you don't believe Toyota, then use anything you want.

 

[fourwd1]

There's nothing to debate, it clearly says right on the cap to use ATF.
If you don't believe Toyota, then use anything you want.

 

[HokieRunner]

There's nothing to debate, it clearly says right on the cap to use ATF.
If you don't believe Toyota, then use anything you want.

^^^100% what he said. Never seen a debate on power steering fluid.....

 

[netwon]

ATF.

In some older Toyota's that ran Toyota Power Steering fluid there was a running change to allow the use of ATF Dex-3 in cold climates. For the 4th Gen 4Runner a good quality ATF is all you need!

 

[toyo]

You could put your old trans fluid in it and you would be just fine. That's not my cup of tea but the PS pump is not very finicky at all.

 

[jonesmw10]

Thanks for the insight all. I ended up going with mobil1 synthetic ATF. Pump is still whining a bit. Did notice some air bubbles in the reservoir last time I shut it off and looked, so it may need to be bled a bit more. That, or my pump is on it's way out but never noticed what it sounded like until now. Thankfully it doesn't look too hard to replace if that's the case

 

[BlackWorksInc]

Dexron II or higher based ATF is what is recommended on the cap, but Toyota uses Power Steering fluid in all their newer vehicles. In the old days we'd switch to PS fluid if the customer stated they heard too much noise. Either one works.

 

[nevada]

ATF.

In some older Toyota's that ran DOT3 fluid (brake) there was a running change to allow the use of ATF in cold climates. For the 4th Gen 4Runner a good quality ATF is all you need!

do you have documentation of this?

I have never seen, and have a very hard time believing brake fluid was ever used in any power steering system.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

ATF.

In some older Toyota's that ran DOT3 fluid (brake) there was a running change to allow the use of ATF in cold climates. For the 4th Gen 4Runner a good quality ATF is all you need!

I too would like to see documentation of this as the two fluids are incompatible and could cause issues in rubber components.

 

[netwon]

I too would like to see documentation of this as the two fluids are incompatible and could cause issues in rubber components.

Sorry about that I edited my previous post. My other vehicle BMW uses hydraulic fluid in PS which had me confused.

On my 2001 Corolla it had a TSB change in northern Canada from Toyota P/S Fluid (Clear fluid) to ATF Dex-3 (of course red). The transmission fluid handled extreme cold better, less blown hoses easier on pumps... Less than -45F .