My truck has a whiny power steering pump, and the steering is a little stiff. I wanted to try and change to a synthetic fluid beofre I have to change the pump. Can anyone give me a quick step by step on how to drain the old gunk and put in the new stuff? I use ATF right? THanks guys

As far as draining it, just take the hoses off.

The FSM says "DEXTRON II or equivalent".

Good thing I bought a case of ATF. I'm flushing the tranny and tcase today. Might as well do power steering too.

quote:

Originally posted by 92PathSE:
The FSM says "DEXTRON II or equivalent". .

You mean DEXRON III, don't you, Will ?

quote:

Originally posted by dboy:
My truck has a whiny power steering pump, and the steering is a little stiff. I wanted to try and change to a synthetic fluid beofre I have to change the pump. Can anyone give me a quick step by step on how to drain the old gunk and put in the new stuff? I use ATF right? THanks guys

I just disconnected the lowpressure side( has the soft line) and very briefly started the engine- not forgetting to put a drain from the soft line into a drainpan- while pouring fresh ATF into the reservoir. I think it helps if you turn the steering all the way to the stops, several times while you're doing this.

WArning- this is a very brief writeup. Without some helping hands, you're destined to drain dry the powersteering pump, as the speed at which it pumps the fluid through is quite fast.

YOu need someone to start pouring fluid as soon as the engine starts.

And then, only keep the engine running for a second or two ,

until you know how fast the old fluid is flushing out and the rate at which you can pour new fluid in.

Have a couple quarts of DexIII on hand.

What year is your FRonty?

On Nissan's website they have all the factory service manuals.. I think for 20$ you can access the FSM for your year FRonty and download all the goodies you need.
http://www.nissan-techinfo.com/nissan/

It said Dex II. I guess it was printed before III came around.

hillbillie, thanks for the help. Ive got a 2000 v6. the color of it right now is reddish. It should be that color right? SO how long should I have a friend turn the wheel while I pour in the new stuff? Wont the new stuff look just like the old stuff? I just want to change it to put synthetic in. Is it not good to just let it drain and run until completely empty and then just pour in a whole bunch?

quote:

Originally posted by dboy:
Wont the new stuff look just like the old stuff? I just want to change it to put synthetic in. Is it not good to just let it drain and run until completely empty and then just pour in a whole bunch?

I don't know about just letting it drain out w/ the engine off. I don't know if that will even work. Yes , it's red.

The FSM will tell you for sure.

Fresh fluid is a good thing.

you could always call nissan and see if they would be helpful enough to let you know how its done. But ive never tried this so i dont know if they would help you.

Did mine yesterday:

I would have thought the return line was the "upper" one at the reservoir, but it's not.
So I suck out what I can from the reservoir, pull it up out of the bracket and turn it on its side and suck out the rest, then loosen the clamps. Pull the upper/supply hose off first (it will be easier) and then CAREFULLY work the lower/return hose off. The reservoir has a long skinny plastic nipple and you don't want to break it off.
Stick some sort of hose over the return line, clamp it, and point it forward/down out the wheel well into a jug or such, and stick a long-necked funnel with a big reservoir up top (the kind you can dump an entire bottle into) into the supply line. Pre-load 2 quarts into the funnel. Have someone start the engine and let it suck the funnel down and shut it off. Add half a quart more and have someone start the engine for a moment and shut it right back off a time or three until the funnel is emptied but you haven't sucked the line itself dry.
Let the drain line finish running out, then hook up the reservoir again. The last half quart should be enough to top things off. Start the engine and crank the wheel back and forth a few times, then re-check the level.

Brent

I am a little confused on which hoses you guys are speakin of. I see three hoses. 1 from the top of the pump goes down below the pump and it has a softer type of material on it, 1 hose is from the lower part of the pump to the reservoir at an angle, and 1 final hose from the bottom of the reservoir going straight down below the pump. Which is the return line and which do I clamp and at what location? Sorry for the newb questions.

You will only be dealing with the two connected to the reservoir. The return should be the one coming in from the bottom of the reservoir.
As for clamping, I don't remember but I think I was just saying to clamp the extra hose you use onto the end of the return line so it won't fall off and leave fluid pouring out all over the engine bay and/or suspension.