Power Steering Fluid Exchange

What Is Power Steering Fluid and Why It Needs Maintenance

At the most basic level, power steering fluid is a specialty weight hydraulic fluid explicitly designed for your vehicle's power steering system’s needs. From an engineer's perspective, it's designed to provide the hydraulic power and proper lubrication for the moving parts in the system and intended to prolong the life of the materials used for the valves and hoses, which transfer the fluid between the different parts of the system. Power steering fluid exchange is required because the system isn't closed but open to allow for ease of maintenance, allowing condensation or contaminants to infiltrate.

Refills, Topping Off, and Flushing Power Steering Fluid

Sometimes power steering fluid can become low as parts within the system wear down naturally, and the fluid can be simply topped off. Other times, a power steering fluid leak might require the problem to be assessed and corrected. There are certain points of time and mileage as outlined in the vehicle owner's manual at which the power steering reservoir needs to be drained, flushed, and refilled to assure clean fluid is able to do its job as intended. Contaminants in the reservoir will cause further damage to other parts of the system. The vehicle design allows for an inexpensive means to drain and refill the power steering fluid; other parts were designed based on the concept of having clean lubricant oil running through them and, as such, can be more difficult and expensive to replace if poor quality steering fluid is allowed to run through them.

Symptoms of Low or Bad Power Steering Fluid

The most obvious sign of a failing power steering system is the steering shaft reverts to manual power to turn the steering wheel instead of the assisted turning the car was intended to provide. It's rare for power steering on modern vehicles to get to that point because other symptoms are likely to make the car too uncomfortable to drive. As the power steering fluid gets low, the system will cause an incessantly annoying whining sound. The serpentine belt will take a strain and likely fail before the power steering system does. Finally, handling the vehicle will get rough; it won't corner smoothly or even drive down the highway without having problems with curves and lane changes.