Car has 250K on it and have been using lucas for about 2 years now. The steering wheel is hard to turn when the engine is cold but when it warms-up it gets a lot easier but not 100%. The pump will also whine for ~3-5 secs upon start-up but would go away. Lately, I have been adding lucas when I notice that the fluid is low but the fluid would push out from the reservoir and be almost all over around the reservoir.

My plan is to replace the pump with a 95K mile pump just to keep the car for another 1-1.5 more years.

So do you guys think that I should just keep the the lucas that's in there or should I flush it out with a B/G flush system and go back using honda pwr steering fluid?

Thanks for your input.

 

Have you check your Rack N Pinion in case it was leaking inside the Inner Tie-Rod Bellow's Boot? It shouldn't leak any pwr str fluid from the Rack N Pinion.

 

First off, you should never have to top off power steering fluid. It's not like oil where it could be lost in the combustion process. You're losing power steering fluid somewhere. Figure that out first.

Second, always use Honda reccomended fluids. They don't have to come from the dealer, you can use stuff from parts houses but make sure the fluid clearly states that is for use in Honda/Acura power steering systems.

As far as the whine, are you sure it's not a belt that is making the noise upon start up? Seems alot more likely to me, but at the same time that would not account for the steering wheel being hard to turn when cold.

 

I recently just replaced my ds lower ctrl arm, inner/outer tie rod and ps outer tie rod.

I'll have to check that rack-n-pinion for any tear.

Would that belt whining go away after ~3-5 sec or is it b/c the pump is not getting any p/s fluid b/c it's wearing out?

 

I will say very specifically, Honda recommends using ONLY Honda fluid in the steering rack. In fact, even the aftermarket stuff says whether to use in Honda's or not. I bought some for when I flushed my system at Advanced Auto and the bottom even says for Honda use only.

Personally, I would change the fluid to the correct stuff, the pump whining is probably due to its age and use of fluid that may have a different viscosity/working temp/etc than it was designed for.

 

Thanks MuffinMan. BTW, does Advanced Auto flush out your pwr steering system?

 

Not to my knowledge, might vary by area. It really is not difficult to do, just can be messy!

You want to remove the rubber hose from the pump to the reservoir (believe it's the top one) position that tube so that it can drain outwards (probably need a funnel to catch it since it is short and not very flexible)

Start the car up and turn the wheel slowly from lock to lock. Having a second person do that is great because you do NOT want the reservoir to empty completely and run the system dry. So you'll want a lot of extra fluid. Just do that process until the old fluid runs out completely and you are left with nice clear/new fluid coming out the hose. Stop the car and reconnect the hose to the reservoir.

After it's been connected you want to go from lock to lock more to clear out any air in the system. I believe the Helms manual has the 'How To' for changing the PS fluid.