Hi:

I have a 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport. In 2020, I purchased this car from Enterprise rental.

How frequently should I replace my power steering fluid? I brought it to a nearby auto service shop. The serviceman advised that I should replace the power steering fluid every three years or 40,000 miles. When I did the Google search, it’s recommended every three to four years or 75,000 miles.

I know there is no set time for all this. But what would be the recommended time for changing this fluid? Surprisingly, in the maintenance manual, there were no recommendations when to replace this fluid. (maintenance schedule attached).

(In the post title, I accidentally added coolant and don't know how to take it out)

 

Howdy pilgrim. Regarding changing the Power Steering Fluid, be sure what you know what the mechanic is offering......Is he just getting a syringe and sucking out what is in the resevoir, and then re-filling with fresh? That does almost no good for the power steering system. I will show a few pics here of how you should change the fluid so that you are dumping out ALL the old fluid from the lines, the power steering pump, and the steering box.....and its something you can do at home if you want to save some bucks and ensure that it is done right.

These pics are from my 94 Montero. First I use a syringe to suck out what fluid is in the resevoir.



Pretty dark and dirty fluid for sure. I like these power steering reservoirs which has a removable filter/screen tube that can be pulled out and cleaned:



You can see the dark particles of dirt trapped on the filter:



I then unbolt the Resevoir and let what remains drain into a container.



I then cork-off the Return nipple of the resevoir with whatever you can find. It just needs to be plugged up good enough to not leak as you are adding fluid to the system, and it is being drawn down into the pump, lines, and steering box. I think I had a couple sizes of Vacuum Hose Stoppers, and one fit pretty snugly:



Then fill up the Resevoir with fresh fluid:




I put a plastic bag around the Resevoir bottom just in case that plug came out and it leaked some....but it turned out unnecessary:



Then bungee cord the Resevoir so it does not flop down and mess up the process. Also, place a jug with the Return Line going into it so you will capture all the foul fluid. At this point you can try turning the steering wheel from the 12:00 position all the way in one direction. Stop, and do not turn the steering wheel back until you go and refill the Resevoir. You DO NOT want to get air in the system which will happen if you turn the wheel too much, and it draws all the fluid from the resevoir. Thus, it would be good to have another person to fill the resevoir as you are turning the wheel. In some models you can do this without the engine running, but for my Montero it required that I start the engine and then turn the steering wheel.




Note: What you see in the Jug above is the cleaner colored fluid that was coming out toward the end of the procedure. Here are the Jugs that I used in the process.....from left to right, you will notice that they go from Midnight Black to Nappa Valley Pink Zinfadel as the fluid gets cleaner and cleaner looking: If you can afford to keep adding the expensive fluid (now $8 can), then you can continue the process and eventually come out with a clear White Zinfandel tone.






The big tip is that you DO NOT want to turn the steering wheel too far and draw in air into the system. Might be best to only turn the wheel about half way in one direction, and then add more fluid, and then keep repeating until you are done.

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for the detailed explanation and also for the clear pictures.

 

ukvsvdtwo.....your welcome.....so, you gonna do it yourself, or have the shop do it, or wait till the fluid gets a bit more "inky"? By the way, what is the charge these days to have the power steering flushed and changed?

 

Pretty much as above, the higher, smaller hose is the return and pull it off.
I pushed a vacuum oil extractor into the return hose to start the exchange, you can also move the fluid out by turning the steering wheel (car off, jacked up, ignition to ACC to avoid steering wheel lock). turning the wheel tends to draw down your fluid in the reservoir much too quick. So keep the reservoir topped as much as you can, if it goes low you will get air sucked in the lines and it will take a lot more effort to get out.
Also after a while it tends to just siphon and continue to drain the fluid out. If you are caught off guard you may run out of fresh fluid.

In my case I am using an extractor to draw the fluid, so I was able to keep the fluid topped as I monitor the color of the drained fluid.

Once the fluid is the new color, you can connect everything back. Then turn a few times.

Do not start the car until everything is connected back. While still on jack stand, now start the car and turn the wheels, , if the fluid level does not swell or no bubbles you can turn the car off and replace the cap.

I did mine at 40k miles but it could use fresh fluid a bit earlier because it was quite dark, it kind of stained my reservoir.

By the way Outlander does not use ATF for power steering. I use Lubegard Synthetic power steering fluid. One quart would have been ok, but I was slow and needed a little more.

Price, I don't know, maybe $80-$120 from a tire shop / pep boys kind of place. The outlander is easy to do yourself as long as you don't get air into the system.

 

How much coolant did you add? If it is not too much it is fine, there is a line for hot and cold. But even if you have it too high (like when cold, and you coolant is at the high line) it would not harm the engine. It would just spill out the tube on the side of the cap when the engine get warmed up.
Overtime there is some evaporation and it would just go back down.

 

Outlander......What he meant was that he had used the word "coolant" in the title of this thread, and did not know how to remove it. So, he wasnt having any coolant issues.....just the power steering question.

On my 94 Montero, I was forced to crank up the engine and turn the steering wheel to get the old fluid to pump out into the jugs, and to draw the clean fluid into the system. But like you said, often you can do this procedure w/o starting the engine.

Curious about the "extractor". When you use that, would the one-way valve in the Power Steering Pump prevent the old fluid inside the pump from being extracted, and you would only get the line fluid and the steering box fluid? Im probably wrong, but just a thought I had.

 

I see, I think 90s mitsubishi it is common to disconnect the fuel then crank the engine. I remember the bleed procedure being troublesome.

The extractor does a pretty good job, because on both my Mitsu Outlander and Toyota since it takes about 1 quart to get the fluid clear, so it shouldn't be just from the lines.
Sometimes I will go turn the wheel just to make sure I get a better mix from inside the rack.

 

OK.....I follow you. But the bottom line is that regardless of the method, it is a good idea to flush out the power steering fluid to allow the pump, steering box, rack, or whatever is connected to the system, to last much longer. I think some people totally ignore this, along with the brake fluid flushes, diff., and tranny changes.

Hey, did you get a chance to read my "No Crank, No Start" thread that I posted yesterday? I still have not solved this mystery yet.....any input would be appreciated.