Looking at the recommended maintenance schedule for our '02 300M, I noticed that it was recommended to change the power steering fluid at
48K miles (now past on our vehicle). The service adviser at our 5-Star dealership looked it up and said, "You're right: it is recommended, but I don't think we've ever done it on any vehicle."
How important is that steering fluid change? Do dealerships commonly overlook or ignore recommended maintenance items?
I didn't flush the PS on my Chrysler LH Concord, I didn't notice a flush recommendation in my info and it felt OK. At age 10 yrs when turning full lock out of a parking space the fluid hose connector blew and I had to get a rebuilt rack. The (non Chrysler) garage which did the repair said I should have flushed it.
I've seen many posts on this and other forums in which strange noises in the power steering were eliminated by a fluid flush. Most (all?) later model Chryslers should be switched over to ATF+4 (I think *all* come out of the factory with it now). There's a TSB that covers this subject (lists of which vehicles should be switched over if flushed) - a search of this news group will find the TSB number if not the vehicle listings.
Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')
Okay, so how does one flush the PS system? The only thing I could think is to disconnect the return to the pump, and drain it into a bucket... run the engine to pump the rest out, and then fill with new.... flush again.......
I would advise not to go to that site. The TSB's are bogus - they list TSB's for things like '95 300M, '96 300M, '97 300M, '98 300M.
There was no 300M made in any of those years. The late model 300M was not in production until '98 ('99 MY). Plus there is no information on the TSB's other than title.
IOW - the information on that site is worthless from at least two points. Makes me suspicious that that site may have malicious code.
Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')
There were a number of TSBs issued, here is the gist of the latest one:
Between 1998 and 2002, the second generation LH cars were factory filled with one of three fluids for power steering. The earlier fluid was the traditional Chrysler fluid that had been used for years. It is *not* compatible with ATF+4. By 1999-2000, cars were getting an intermediate fluid that *is* compatible with ATF+4. By 2004 +/-, ATF+4 was the factory fill power steering fluid and is preferred. I don't think the intermediate fluid is available anymore.
The catch is that you cannot add ATF+4 to a vehicle with the oldest fluid, a complete flush would have be performed. I think I've posted the relevant TSB here in the past.
I'm not sure what to do with my own car, a 1999 LH. It was factory filled with the intermediate fluid and should have been changed to the ATF+4 fluid. Unfortunatlely, according to my dealer receipt, it was replaced with the older fluid(!) That means I cannot just do a regular fluid change to ATF+4. I didn't catch this until much later, I had just assumed the dealer would use the right fluid for my model year.
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