Dark Brown Power Steering Fluid - 00 Accord EX 5spd, 2.3L Vtec
 

I bought my car 3 yrs ago and am just now starting to pay attention to maintenance. Have been getting oil changed & rotating tires but that's it. Don't have records of previous owner as I bought from ghetto dealer in Grand Prarie, TX near the place where all insurance co's take their totaled vehicles. Not a good sign in hindsight...

Midas told me that my psf should be flushed. I googled a bunch, went to Honda, bought their psf & turkey basted the reservoir. It's dark brown & i've read contradicting things about what to do & what the prob might be. I have 108K miles on it. don't wanna keep sucking it out and putting new fluid in if there is a prob with something else that needs to be addressed.

No leaks, least I don't think so. Do I need to be concerned about replacing o-rings, screen, hoses, etc or can I just keep sucking the old fluid and putting in new? Help!!

If you want to make a mess, you can disconnect a hose at the cooler (steel tube bent into a big hairpin out in front of the radiator). Lift & support the front of the car & turn the steering back & forth to drain most of it out. Then it doesn't take forever to dilute the dirty stuff out. That will also give you the opportunity to clean the reservoir bottle. There's a fine mesh screen down low inside the reservoir.

Does the PS system have any other problems? It seems like it doesn't take very long for the fluid to get dark, but it still works fine. There is NO scheduled interval AT ALL for the fluid (personally I refuse to believe any fluid lasts forever). 108K miles sounds like a good time to change it, not exactly overdue.

Hey Jim,

Thanks for the quick response!! I have no other problems, at least that I know of. Drives fine so far & no weird noises but I haven't checked the psf level yet since I sucked the old one out and replaced about 2 days ago.

I'd prefer not to get sprayed trying to flush it out if I don't have to. So, you say just b/c it's dark brown doesn't necessarily mean that I need to replace parts? I've read that the dark brown fluid means something like the hoses or seals are deteriorating & that flushing the old fluid isn't gonna do any good.

When you say change the psf do you mean flushing out the old by detaching hoses and draining or by change do you mean just sucking the old fluid out and pouring in new fluid?

I have to get my timing belt & water pump replaced so I may just ask the shop but I don't trust them to be honest with me.

I've done it by draining & filling. I suppose you can also do it by running the car - drain into a bucket while pouring fresh into the reservoir.

I would not mess with it any more if you have turkey baster-ed it and refileld with fresh fluid. The fluid will get dirty in no time at all. It does not mean anything is wrong.
My motto has always been: "If it aint broke, don't fix it." - I know that does not apply to maintenance, but I do not thing psf is a big maintenance item at all.
example: My Accord has about 162k on it and I have NEVER checked the psf. My power steering doesn't make any noise and works fine, so I leave it alone.

And don;t ever listen to what shops liek Midas tell you. Especially in these economic times, they are looking to get every dollar they can out of you.
Example: I was getting my tires rotated at the tire shop not too long ago (free rotations for life with purchase of tires there so i take them up on it.) Anyways, is kid you not, I listened to them tell EVERY SINGLE PERSON int here that their "air filter was dirty and needed replacement." They even told me mine was dirty, but they didn't have a replacement for mine since I have an SRI. Then they charge like $30 to replace it when the part costs them maybe $10 - and people fall for it.