Jottle

I did the power steering recall a couple months ago. According to the TSB, the dealership empties the PS fluid and refills it with new fluid. I know they did that because my PS fluid reservoir now shows that the fluid is exactly at the "min" indicator level. Is this a problem? Shouldn't the PS fluid be somewhere between the middle of the reservoir's max/min lines? I feel like this is the dealership just being cheap and only filling to the min line. Or is this a system where it doesn't matter since the fluid isn't going anywhere unless there's a leak?

PACman

Ask your SA if they can pour a bit of PS fliud in to make it mid-line. If he/she does, then you save some $ from buying a bottle.

Simba91102

The power steering hose replacement is a recall, not a TSB. A recall involves notification of the last known owner by the manufacturer. A TSB in an internal document not for public consumption (though they all seem to leak out). The way the recall was explained to me is the PS fluid will be replaced if it looks like it needs to be (but I'm pretty sure all the dealers are replacing the fluid). You should fill your PS reservoir to the "full" line (if you feel the need, bring it back to the dealer). Since you don't know if it was full to begin with, if there's no evidence of leaking, I'd assume it didn't get filled. But..... you should fill it and check it periodically to see if the level goes down. If it does.... that would indicate that you probably do have a leak.

Jottle

Yeah. I checked over the print-out the dealer gave me, and they definitely refilled the fluid. But it sounds like I can just add some as well no problem. I'll probably just ask the dealership to do it unless they try to rip me off for just a top-off.

Simba91102

You should keep an eye it though once it's filled. PS fluid doesn't get "used" the way engine oil does; it's a closed system. I've never had to add fluid to either of the high mileage TSX's that we have (other than when I changed it). If the level goes down, you've got a leak somewhere.