Nissan Xterra power steering fluid?

Question

web search only says "Nissan PS fluid."

do you have to buy it from Nissan dealer or is FLAPS PS fluid acceptable?

Friend's GF has an Xterra that is leaking PS fluid from the hose leading from the reservoir to the steering box. I'd fix it in about

10 minutes but I don't know whether any old fluid is acceptable or will cause more problems. I know next to nothing about these beasties but I figure I can probably handle replacing a hose and two clamps.

thanks,

nate

AMuzi · Accepted Answer

Don't know about the fluid but the usual repair is to buy  the complete hose with end nipples (or have one made up to  fit) they are relatively cheap. I would not use hose clamps  for that.

N8N · Answer

It says "Nissan PS Fluid."  Hence my question.  is it special? nate

N8N · Answer

It's not a high pressure hose. Looks like it uses an Oetiker clamp at the bottom and a "fuel injection" type hose clamp at top - unless the top one was already replaced at some point in time. (vehicle has almost 200K miles...) hose is definitely not heavy enough to stand up to more than garden hose type pressures.

And now that I think about it (I was looking at it on the ground, with a flashlight) I think the Oetiker clamp end actually went to a hard line, not directly into the steering box.

nate

hls · Answer

It says "Nissan PS Fluid."  Hence my question.  is it special? nate Nate, here are a couple of references..I have seen Mobil 1 and Dexron III  mentioned in a lot of places.  HTH

AMuzi · Answer

This discussion came up first in my search for "nissan power steering fluid compatibility" :

N8N · Answer

Ugh, even more confusing - that guy is asking about "NissanMatic D" which sounds like Dexron - this vehicle's manual does not say NissanMatic D it says Nissan Power Steering Fluid.

However a few posts down is seems that another year of the manual says

"Power steering fluid (PSF) use Genuine NISSAN PSF or equivalent.*8

*8: NISSAN Automatic Transmission Fluid (ATF), DEXRONTM III/MERCONTM, or equivalent ATF may also be used. "

Which verbiage isn't in the manual for her vehicle, but it does say Nissan PSF so... Am tempted just to toss some Redline D4 in there and call it a day (as I have some readily on hand,) but I'd feel bad if that actually caused more problems.

nate

Nissan Xterra power steering fluid?

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