jrich

hows it going?

my acura dealer suggests i get a power steering fluid flush. some of the things i read online say i should do it, others say i shouldn't bother. id love to hear what you guys all think about it.

the car is a 2006 mdx with about 90,000 miles on it.

i did get a power steering fluid flush about 3 years ago, when the car had 72,000 miles on it.

thanks for the advice

mrgold35

My Acura tech said power steering was suppose to be "lifetime". Not sure of what they consider lifetime. I usually change mine out at around 100,000 miles since I don't usually keep my cars past 200,000 miles (one and done drain/refill). It is very dry in New Mexico and a lot of straight hwy mileage; so I seem to be good with that schedule. If I lived some place with a lot of rain/humidity and a ton of city driving; I might change sooner (like every 75,000 miles).

I would think you should be good to go unless you feel or hear something with your power steering.

bvogel7475

You can just suck the existing fluid out of the reservoir with a turkey baster and refill. I do this every week for a month and the fluid looks better after that. It's a fairly low pressure system and since there are a bunch of seals, I would not do any type of flush that forcefully moves fluid through the system. You might rip part of a seal off and then create more work. It's worked for me for 11 years and 135K miles and I have the original power steering pump and a small seep in the steering rack which I won't replace because it's a $2,000 job at the Acura dealer and all you are really getting is the same system with new seals. If you are having steering noises or problems then you may have an o-ring leak or power steering pump issue that a flush would not fix anyway.

csmeance

Power Steering fluid should be replaced when dirty however I like to do mine every time I do the brake fluid. Cheap insurance instead of having to pay for a new rack and pinion or other expensive parts!

Be sure to use Honda/Acura fluid only. You can do it at home with a turkey baster, the whole system uses about a quart of power steering fluid and only 1/2 is in the fluid container so it'll take a bit to replace all of it.

Factory service manual says to remove old fluid by disconnecting the oil line from underneath the container and turning on the engine, turn wheel lock-to lock until fluid stops flowing. Refill container and move wheels lock to lock and add fluid as needed. Leave the cap off in the last step to help bleed the PS system of air.

If you do have any trouble with the PS system in the future, the pump can be rebuilt for about $35 in seals.