5 gulps into the bucket

 

I do believe your making this process MUCH harder than it really is... I have been trying to decide whether I should explain to you how to do a flush by removing the return hose from the reservoir.. but I do honestly believe that this might explode your mind...

 

Thank you!!! Finally an answer. I'm grabbing the hose and a bucket right now.

Oh Wait!!!! How long of a hose will I need to reach the Jeep?

 

start a new thread on that one, i'm out of ideas... lol

 

DEX/MERC is good, it has detergents in it.

just let him do the turkey baster for now.

 

I've run atf+4 in all my vehicles (Chrysler) for years now. No problems.

 

I started out trying the PS fluid change with the turkey baster method; it was a failure on my wife's 1996 Grand Cherokee Limited I6 4.0L.

Very little of the old dark brown cloudy fluid was extractable from the PS pump reservoir, even using a big veterinary irrigation syringe instead of the clumsy baster, only netting about a cup of fluid. There is a plastic floor in the reservoir just below the length of the dipstick/cap with no way I could see to reach beyond it.

So I rethought things, deciding to let the system pump itself dry. I removed the air cleaner box to get easy access to the power steering gear. I disconnected the return line at the power steering gear using a crowfoot wrench, not the return line as others have done, and put the end of the line in a deep jar while the Mrs started the engine. Wow! Another pint of nasty dark brown opaque fluid came rushing out, then it sputtered and spat for a while ejecting another ounce or so of oil and air.

I reconnected the return line, refilled the reservoir with fresh Valvoline Power Steering Fluid P/N 602241. I filled the power steering reservoir just enough to fill the power steering gear and hoses, then just a little more.

As Mopar Power Steering Fluid P/N 04883077 is discontinued by FCA, Valvoline is the fluid of choice, and is priced right. The Valvoline product meets the same Chrysler specification MS-5931. Do not substitute Mopar Power Steering Fluid+4 P/N 68218064AB (this is not the same product as Mopar ATF+4) as my dealer told me it is incompatible with older vehicles, something about dissolving the rubber hoses and O-rings. They told me the official recommendation for older Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep vehicles now that call for Mopar Power Steering Fluid P/N 04883077 is to use Mopar ATF+4. NEVER use brake fluid.

Next, I made a dumb mistake. Several YouTube videos said to raise the front wheels off the pavement, then start the engine and cycle the steering wheel from full left to full right several times (the Jeep Service Manual advises doing it 20 times) to circulate the new power steering fluid throughout the power steering gear and displace the remaining old fluid. I didn't see the need to jack up the Jeep, so I did the cycling on the ground. I then removed the reyurn hose once again from the power steering gear and pumped out the reservoir into the deep jar. What came out was kind of like oil, kind of like yellowed shaving cream. It didn't dawn on me the high system pressure from cranking the wheels back and forth under load half-a-dozen times would dissolve the trapped air into the oil, something like the nitro-brews they serve at the local pub.

In any case, I purged it again, refilled it again, cycled it again (on the ground), purged it and refilled it one last time. The hose connection to the power steering gear hose fitting torque is 28 ft-lbs. Everything was put back together, the PS reservoir refilled to the top (hot) fill line. We went for a short drive doing figure-8's at a nearby supermarket. Stopped, topped off the reservoir again, the fluid in the reservoir looking like sloppy yellow whipped cream, then went home and parked the Jeep over night. The next day, the sloppy yellow whipped cream had changed back into oil, and the reservoir's level had dropped about 3/8". We used sightly less than a full quart of Valvoline Power Steering Fluid.

I sampled the power steering fluid and am satisfied with result. There is still a tinge from residual old power steering fluid, but not bad. Clearly, most of the old working fluid is replaced. The repair shop we sometimes use changed my PS fluid for me about five years ago using I suspect something like the baster technique. Sampling the fluid after that change was a disappointment as the new fluid was conspicuously dark and murky. NOT THIS TIME -- amber in color and transparent.