Im a retired Ford mechanic. My system is similar but saves headache of bleeding. Start by raising the front end on jackstands to get the weight of the car off the wheels. Hook up the flush system the same way but instead of just cranking engine over and letting it run out of fluid, i have a helper turn the steering lock to lock while i monitor the resivour and add fluid before it runs dry. This way no air gets in and the flush is done after i run 5 quarts through. Its a much faster cleaner way of doing a good job. And as a mechanic, time is money! Also, stick to the 15second crank rule to save the starter. Dont just crank it till clean fluid runs out. Good luck!
THANK YOU!!!!! I almost took our van to the mechanic as I thought that the power steering pump was bad. After seeing your video, my son and I followed the steps in this video. Today, the power steering is as quiet as a mouse. THANK YOU!!!
Brian, as always great vids and advice. I followed your technique on my ’10 Explorer with a couple of mods: (1) first started out by draining and removing the reservoir to clean it out. Finished the clean out by adding some new fluid and thoroughly rising out any final contaminates / cleaning fluid. And (2) followed the suggestion by Mice C to turn the steering wheel (my car was up on jacks) while cranking the engine. Overall used abt ½ gal of Mercon to completely flush. And no foaming or air whatsoever. Next up my 07 Expy.Thanks!
If you can't put it up on jacks, you can put a bunch of shiny magazine pages under the front wheels and that makes it a lot easier to turn lock to lock. I too follow your method, and it was stunning the black gunk that came out as I was turning. I have a buddy just filling up the reservoir as I go. I also ran the output line down through the bottom of the engine bay so the black fluid wouldn't run back into the reservoir. Agreed, great video.
Hey Brian thanks as always your advice is spot on. My repair of power steering on 11 year old FORD Escape. Identifying your PS leak is important and saves time and money. The source of leak was the PS Pressure Sensor on the side of the pump. It was cracked result of 11 years of heat exposure. At the base of the Electronic where it fuses to the brass screw-in body of the equipment was a noticeable crack in the plastic. The subsequent fluid leak was confined to the passenger side and the front of the engine not near any steel supply lines or return. So, in conclusion check this little device first. All PS lines and the pump were in good working order. However I replaced the Pump, Return line from Steering Valve and Supply Line to Reservoir from Steering Valve. Flushing the PS Pump had a problem until dead motoring the steering wheel to full lock both side about eight times. Flushing successful I bled the air out with full RPM, and no problems or noises. Thanks Jimmy
Ford tech Makuloco. Thank you for the procedure, very helpful. I was able to do this by myself using you're clear plastic hose idea after changing the steering rack in my 07 Freestyle, and it worked great. I also took Mike C's advice and turned the wheel to flush the (Used, Pull a part) Rack out. Thanks to both of you !!
I usually watch another Eric guy's video's, however was happy to find you. PS drain and replace is actually pretty easy for the average guy/gal/home-gamer. I do rather like your tip about disabling ignition to not run the pump dry. Can't believe people are still getting scammed with all these 'flushes' in 2021....
my steering in a 90 windstar sounded like it had rocks in it and was very difficult to turn. I did the change as described above. It now runs fine. I want to thank you so much as you saved me from scrapping the vehicle. thank you again
Changed the power steering pipework on my focus at the weekend, then used your method to flush the system afterwards. Worked a treat!! Great vid. Thanks 👍
Reservoir holds like 1/8 of all the fluid. Even after doing that three times, you'd be only replacing about 1/3 of the fluid and each time, removing clean fluid with it. You won't introduce air with this method unless the reservoir is low enough to suck in air.
Love your videos, always very helpful, I’d probably jack up the front tires off the ground so there’s not so much friction when going from lock to lock, thanks
I have a 1994 Ford Escort. After watching this video I flushed out the brown power steering fluid using this technique. Fairly easy, even though I have never done a power steering flush before. Luckily, I wasn’t having any problems. I hope the new pink fluid prevents any future issues.
You must remember that there is oil inside the steering gear, and without actually turning the steering wheel while flushing you are not flushing this out. The pinion valve only opens while turning, so you are not flushing out the old oil in the gear. Part of the flush must include a complete right turn to lock and then a complete left turn to lock. I would recommend after you see the clean fluid from the hoses, run the starter while turning the wheel to lock right (hold it tight right for a second), then run the starter while turning to lock left (hold it tight left for a second). Repeat if needed. There is normally about a 1/2 quart in the gear at all times.
+Mike C Thanks for the advice. After changing the steering gear in my 07 Freestyle, I took you're advice and turned the wheel as per you're instructions to flush the (Used, Pull a part) gear out.
Also,have been meaning to mention that your camera work(lighting,angle and focusing) is excellent! I've been noticing that watching plenty of videos since I've discovered your channel a few days ago. That,combined with filming in a dealer shop environment where you're pressed by time,plus the editing work require a huge amount of effort! Your effort is much appreciated! Keep up the good work man!
I found after you go lock to lock a few times, turn the engine off and suck the fluid out of the reservoir and replace it with fresh fluid it helps get the air out faster.
It's obvious, from the hundreds of unanswered comments, that you can't over explain any procedure. People have various levels of mechanical knowledge and experience. You want to know, just so much, until you get confused. Others, need more knowledge, as it relates to other systems within the car.
Something I do on vehicles where the crank position sensor is hard to access (late model 5.4L 3V) - put the vehicle in clear flood mode (accelerator pedal all the way to the floor, hold it there prior and during cranking). This cuts the fuel injectors off, so the engine won't fire. This doesn't always work, so test it out before doing the fluid flush.
A good reminder for all of us to change our power steering fluid! My wife's Dodge Caravan is due! So are our other 2 vehicles. Guess I have more items to do on that honey do list!
Did this on a relatives 95 conti. It called for type F fluid(anything pre-96 requires Type F - nothing from Ford changes that). The pump was very noisy and he got an ungodly estimate to replace it. After 15 minutes and 3 qts of type F it is quiet as a mouse for weeks. I also pulled a vac, made an adapter from a rubber cork. I pulled the PCM relay because it was easier. So, if you are hesitating to do this procedure and have an older Ford- do it NOW! This fluid does wear out! Don't know if the noise was from the air or just 150K mile fluid but probably 50K is a good interval for this service.
Great video. On my car i just jack up the front end then remove the return hose put a container under it all and w the car off turn the steering wheel and filling with new fluid.
Hey, thanks for your video effort. but what I do is just take off your return line and have it dumping into your waste oil can, and with the engine nice and warm, (With 2 people ) just run your engine , and while continually adding fluid, turn that steering wheel back and forth .at least 5 -6 times block to block, and watch that witches brew drain out, until you see perfectly clear fluid dumping out, and there is no chance of any air issues as long as you don't let that reservoir get to low, then just let it run till full operating temp.and adjust your level, I've done this at least a 100 times and never had a problem. But thanks for sharing your abilities.
I spent more time than I care to admit chasing down the whine noise and that stupid screen was blocked with sludge. A shot of carb cleaner fixed it right up. Nice little secret filter there.
You had sludge? Did you use the correct fluid and not mix two types of fluid? I saw a vid on a Audi and someone topped it off with one of the wrong fluids and it was like it had been filled with grease the way it reacted in there. It wouldn't surprise me even one bit if he had to replace his whole power steering system rack, pump and hoses. It probably caused problems with his rack and pump later on. This does not end well when it does happen because replacing those parts can be really expensive.
Also if you have a system that is a Hydroboost you need to change things a little bit. You have two fluid return lines to the reservoir. So if you just remove one you get dirty fluid in the clean. So remove both and plug the two connections and extend both into a dump can. Then step on the brake peddle a number of times while your doing this. Clear hose in this would be nice to see when the fluid is getting removed. The hydroboost assembly has an accumulator that holds some fluid. So when you firts get things hooked up and step on the brake you will see a load dump out even with the engine off.
Excellent video I like it I have the 2008 BMW 750li the power steering was leaking very small drops of fluid , I purchased the power steering sealer that didn't help much , After watching your video it was very easy to flush the steering system. I flushed it with Castrol transmission oil with 3 quarts worked perfect but I let the car run while the old fluid was draining out to 18 liters empty paint pail, Now my car runs fine it took me 1 hour to complete . Thanks for posting it helped me a lot.
Just flushed my power steering fluid on my 2013 edge. Your method worked great. I had my kid crank it over for me while I added fluid. My engine light came on now, I'm sure it's from unplugging the crank sensor. My question is will it go off by itself or should I reset it? Thanks again for the very in depth and well put together video.
I would use a clear tube for this just to see when the fluid starts to become clean. I use CHF-202 in my Volkswagen and that stuff is not cheap. This stuff is very thin and has a high viscosity index of 302. Just look at ATF and most don't come close to that. A high viscosity index is often a sign of a synthetic oil but not the only distinguishing characteristic of such fluids. The way you are doing it seems to be a good way to keep air from getting in as long as the car does not start (would drain the reservoir much quicker and suck air in). I know it is very similar on most vehicles and an just looking for the better way to do mine since mine is due for a change. I might even check the screen in the reservoir to see if it should be cleaned out. You would be surprised how dirty they can get but that screen hopefully prevents the worst of it from getting in the pump and rack. I say the worst of it because no screen is going to stop 100% of all nasty stuff from getting in but it is a lot better than no filter at all. In a vid about changing the fluid on a Mercedes I saw they have a removable cartridge filter which looks like the element you would find inside an oil filter. It even has metal caps like the element you would find in oil filters. I only know because I was looking to see how everyone else is doing theirs and it is mostly similar with the return line redirected to a container and the wheels off the ground to allow easy turning of the steering wheel to purge the old fluid while adding new to keep air from getting in.
Great video. I replace the power steering fluid and brake fluid with every oil change. I suck it out of the reservoir and refill it. Its an easy process and it provides new fluid at shortened intervals.
I tried this today with my new PS pump. It did not work. It did however result in a broken CKS pigtail clip. So now that won’t stay plugged into the sensor. I ended up turning the key to the accessory position and cycled the wheel back and forth. That worked the mercon v through the system and it did great. Hooked everything back up, wedged a pry bar against the sensor, started the truck and cycled the wheel back and forth while my vacuum pump was hooked up. Did 2 separate rounds of that and got all the air out. Tomorrow I’ll splice in a new CKS pigtail and hope it’s all good.
Good procedure but I would add that on many reservoirs, including my Freestar, there is a fine screen that gets plugged. I removed as much fluid with a syringe, removed the reservoir from the three grommets (rotate out from the bottom slip in grommet), remove the hoses, then thoroughly cleaned the reservoir and internal screen. I temporarily put the reservoir back in place with a cap over the small return fitting, the Freestar the return fitting is hard to get to so after the procedure. When the procedure was complete, I did have to syringe out fluid again and tip the reservoir to reattach the return line. I did a slight alteration on your procedure, rotating the steering while cranking to get more of the dirty fluid out of the rack. No air in the system when complete and you could see good pump flow in the reservoir when complete.
Great Video! You spoke about the screen filter being dirty. What do you do if it is dirty? Can these be replaced without replacing the whole unit? Thanks
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Should be good ? 2007 f-150 I'm asking u because u seem to know a lot about fords. I just don't want to screw anything up... Thank you sir for ur response. ..
I use a small pump that hooks up to my battery. Sucked out the reservoir, took the hose off and stuck the pump hose down the power steering hose and sucked down to the pump😊 get the pump, easy! 20 mins
Great job.That does work on some. Now show us how on a mid 2000's f150 5.5l. bet on that one you do the suck and fill through the fill cap. You are turning the steering wheel while you crank?
I used this method after watching your video on my 03 Ranger 3.0, also replaced a leaky low pressure hose, worked great! Thanks. Any tips on how to replace the seal or O-ring on the large nut that is right up against the power steering reservoir, not the one that has the high pressure line (I saw that video and changed it it was spot on) but the larger nut that the nut of the high pressure hose goes into as mine leaks. Thanks for helping so many of us out. Great information and very educational videos as always. Hope to hear back from you :)
On my long lost 04 that had a whiney pump at 100k kilometers. I dumped the fluid and replaced factory oil with Amsoil and pump was quiet and responsive 8 years later at 424k kilometers
This was the simplest video on how to completely flush your power steering system I have seen yet! I did this to my '07 Lincoln Town Car and it worked extremely well. Question; Is the power steering pump supposed to stop working after you exchange about five quarts of Motorcraft Mercon V transmission fluid?
Tried this today on 2017 F250 with 46k on the clock and not having any issues just doing for maint. .. all it did was make a mess out the top of the res., nothing out the hose into bucket... figured I had the hoses swapped so I set it up off the other hose and capped its port on res..... still nothing out the hose to bucket... gave up. at least I got the old fluid out of the res. and those 2 hoses... refilled with fresh Mercon LV and went lock to lock. no noises and steering fine. oh well at least I got some new fluid in there.
Great video! I've never seen this method, and being completely impressed with you I subscribed.I thought turning the steering wheel while stopped with the full vehicle weight on the tires caused damage. I only turn my steering wheel when my wheels are rolling, even if just inching along to get out of parallel parking. Am I wrong?
I used this method on my ford focus and it worked amazingly well. I now have a Subaru outback and am wondering if this same method would work on a foreign vehicle??
Great video thank you. Can you make a new video Super duties 2020 models on power steering flush and fill. No one has one on the RU-vid . Thanks so much you're quite informative.
I have a 2001 Grand Marquis, and am thinking of doing this. However, for mine the belt is easy to remove, so I thought of just removing the belt and turning the pump by hand. That would save wear and tear on the starter, as well as let me see what's going on better. Something to consider on RWD based platforms.
Where can I get the cap you used to cap off the power sterring resivoir where you diconnected the line? Thank you for all the amazing videos have a blessed sunday.
I have not done it this way before, normally what I do is have the same set up but I jack the front of the vehicle up and just turn the wheel back and fourth to pump the fluid out and keep filling the reservoir also. The vehicle is off the whole time also.
Hey good video. I did want to point out the cost of the fluid .4 quarts of mercon 5 is like 40 some bucks..seems quite a bit just to flush a system that only hold less than a quart..
Great video thank you for all the great tips have really enjoyed your channel for severl years now. How much Mercon V do you recommend I order for this flush 2006 Ford F-1505,4 L? Also what brand and model hand pump did you use with the resivoir cap adapter would like to get that set for my shop. Thanks again have a wonderful weekend. -Paul
Good video, just a couple things.... Why do you disable the ignition and use the starter motor instead of just letting the motor idle ? If you do a better job of keeping the reservoir topped off you won't get so much air in the lines. Also, I believe that Mercon V is a synthetic blend and not truly "full synthetic". Never the less, still the best to use.
I follow the Ford procedure and it works very well with no chance of damage to the customers car. If you have a helper and the perfect funnel and someone to pour as fast as it pumps then go for it. Be prepared for a mess though and possible pump damage....
Yes! 99 5.4 F150, I recommend high compression clear 3/8 line, my Hardware Sales .45 cents a foot compressed, crimped over any bend. I fixed the crimp, fluid flowed. I recommend 8 ' of transfer hose. With all said, Wow Brian! I had little flow, actually pumped up, what may that say? Thanks as always!
The easy and clean way to do the fluid change is get a hand pump (available in most auto parts stores) That has a cap that's designed to screw on to a QT./ GAL container. Pump out the old fluid in a bottle and refill with new fluid....You'll still have some old fluid in the lines but it's no big deal. It's a neat and simple process.
Quick question, I was reading the comment down below and saw that you recommended Mercon LV to someone who had a 2015 Ford F150.... I have a 2013 Ford F150 Lariat 5.0 Should I use the Mercon V that you have listed, or will my vehicle require Mercon LV. Thank you again for your videos!
Thanks for the video, it's really helpful! I'm a new subscriber and love how informative your videos are! I just ordered a MityVac and the good metal extension tool you used. Had a quick question about MERCON though. I have a 2004 and 2010 Mercury Grand Marquis. The Haynes manual says 1996-2008 models should use MERCON and 2009 and later should use MERCON V. Should I stick with those recommendations from Haynes, or is MERCON and MERCON V interchangeable in this case? Would I be able to use MERCON V in both of my cars? I don't know what the difference between the two are? If MERCON is the route I should go for the 2004 do you want to add an Amazon link so I can purchase through your store? Thanks in advance if you are able to reply!
Mercon V is retro capable and is the best latest technology. Valvoline Max Life Full Synthetic ATF supplies Ford. Get it for $17 a gallon at wally world free shipping over $35 spent.
thanks for the video. How do you know, the air is completally bleeded in the final stage, when you keep turning the wheel from lock to lock? I know you wait for the bubbles...but when do we know 100% all the bubbles are really gone? can it be that the bubbles arent coming out anymore for a while, and then they pop up again? thx
Great video. Just wondering, why do you crank instead of starting the car fully? Does this method work on a Lincoln LS? My power steering fluid is kinda milky.
This is the same question I have. If the purpose of cranking is to turn the power steering pump, why not just let the car run and then you dont need to hold the key and listen to the cranking?
Well, it's obvious that Ford does not make their own fluids. So, what we have to find out, it who makes it for Ford. Theirs will be the same as the Mercon V in the nice Ford labeled container without the nice higher Ford price. If anyone knows, please update us here, I will search as well.
Mobil1 has a great fully synthetic Mercon V compatible fluid. That's a quality brand, and can't imagine it would hurt anything that is specced for Mercon V. The system doesn't really care if it says "Motorcraft" on the container or not.
In the 2005 F150 the power steering and trans cooler are linked (maybe I’m wrong??). My trans cooler lines burst so I replaced the lines and cooler. Now the power steering binds up presumably due to air which I can’t get out. Will try a vac instead of moving the wheels the old school way.
Flushing the power steering unit helped me alot the only thing is it didn't show me how to change the power steering hose or the screw that screws into the power steering unit of a AU3 tickford xr6
