91 Camry power steering fluid change?

Yes use a turkey baster , Mobil Synthetic ATF is best. Not power steering fluid. I would flush it once wait a few days then do it again. I noticed a slight easier turning. The Mobil synthetic ATF is good for the differential also.

Must admit I don't pay attention to the oil colour in p/s systems and it must get dirty eventually due seal wear.

Jason

Good idea.

Sounds good...what's to lose? I did the same with my 87 Camry....fluid was black and squeeled when wheel turned. Refilled resevoir a few times as you can't get it all out in this manner. Still operating after several years and squeels less.

Within about 3 months of flushing my 94 v6 Camry's steering fluid with ATF (I think it was Valvoline) both rack seals and the pump seal were leaking. I replaced the pump and rack for around $1000 (Toyota parts), and used Pentosin CHF 11S hydraulic fluid, available at VW and Porsche dealers. No leaks after 1 year.

Jim

Here's the rub - and I'm sure many of you will disagree, but on stuff like this, sometimes I think that folks look too hard for something to fix. I have had 5 toyotas over the last few years, and, hey - that's why I buy them... I do what I need to do (not even necessarily everything that Toyota says to do), and they work just fine. I recently traded in a '92 Corolla with a quarter million MILES on it. Never flushed any fluids except oil (but did that a lot), and except for A/C going out after about 200,000 miles, and the exhause manifold (all 92 corollas did that), and several starters and generators (same thing), it ran like a top. Never had the heads off. so, should I have spent a lot of time replacing a lot of stuff that lasted that long? I just don't have the time, and it turns out that I didn't need to...

Now, if it had been a Ford, well... that's another story....

Ok, blast away folks.

You Never flushed the trans, differential, cooling system, brakes? Well igotta say you were lucky, and honestly dumb. Powersteering takes ATF, and honestly flushing all those and using synthetic where aplicable gives me alot better milage and power and shifting, and peace of mind.

I never changed my fluid in the power steering and I ended up with a very leaky seal at 140,000 miles. It cost me $500 for a good rebuilt rack and installation... I will have this one drained and refilled soon to get the most life out of it.

After reading my following reply, just remember that *I* have called no one "dumb" names... I'm just expressing my opinion and experiences on MY cars. ======================

"Dumb" is a harsh word to describe someone who owned 4 previous Toyotas and never drained any fluids, and has had mileage counts of ...

152,000 miles (86 Tercel SR5) 250,000 miles (92 Corolla) 155,000 miles (98 Corolla) 175,000 miles (86 Camry)

None of them ever had any problems that could attributed to any of these fluids or their systems, and all were still running just fine when I traded them. Also, none of these vehicles ever had the heads off the engine... no valves, no rings, nothing but "bolt-on" non-maintenance parts (benerators, starters, etc.) replaced. I *could* have spent hundreds of dollars getting fluids removed / flushed / replaced on these cars, but then, why? I would have just been hundreds of dollars poorer over my car-owning life.

I currently have a 2002 Avalon and a 2004 Camry. I *did* get the Avalon transmission power flushed recently at around 40,000 miles, although I felt rather, er, "dumb" after spending the $$$ to get it done. Why did I feel "dumb"? Because afterwards, the dealer wanted to (also) charge me $30 or so to clean the top of the battery (duh - I think I can handle that when / if it ever *really* needs it - anybody got some baking soda and a brush???), and something like $60 to drain the power steering fluid (again, see table above).

You know, come to think of it, if draining fluids (that are still a nice clear color) is good at 40,000 miles, maybe I should do it at 20,000 - HEY, why not at 10,000 ? No, maybe at every oil change... yeah, that's it. THEN, I'll never have to worry about those systems...

but wait... I don't worry about them now. My "peace of mind" comes from buying Toyotas.

Now, if I were a Ford or Chrysler customer, it would be a vastly different story, I'm sure... but then I'm WAY to "dumb" to buy those vehicles.

By the way, if we're doing all this because the schedules say to do it, why not use the fluids are specified by the manufacturer? Too bad Toyota hasn't figured out how to make their vehicles last longer by using synthetics, huh? Maybe it's an Big Oil-Company / Toyota conspiracy...

Lucky ? Maybe, but the stats above testify against that.

Dumb? You tell me...

not changing fluids is Dumb

Old Brown (90 Camry) has 249,000 miles with the original power steering, automatic tranny, and brake fluids. No problems.

I just drained this one as best I could by using a battery filling squeeze bulb that looks like a turkey baster with a long narrow tube on it. Was able to suck all the fluid from the reservoir and refill it with Toyota ATF fluid. Nice and clear now, minimal cost and took 1 minute to do.

Great idea. Just went out and bought one. $2.49