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Just changed the power steering fluid in both of my 60,000 mile cars by removing whatever I could with a turkey baster. To my surprise, the fluid was kinda clean, so I just refilled it and I'm now just leaving it until next time. This was a simple preventative measure, and I did my brake fluid the same way. Yes, only part of it gets changed this way, but it does help. I don't get some people who just drive and drive and never maintain anything except the very barest minimum. The way I see it, it's costing me a lot of money to own a nice car, and I'm paying this money so I can get around reliably, so why not maintain it? They're just cheap or lazy.
Be weary of using ATF in place of power steering fluid. Yes, it will work and did come from the factory in some older vehicles (both are a hydraulic fluid) but you need to know exactly what type was used. Some ATF has detergents in it that can cause foaming in a power steering system which degrade the PS pump seals much faster. Ford used to use ATF in their power steering systems (Haven't verified if they still do) but again it is important to know the formula behind what they are using as many are not interchangeable. Some vehicles like Honda are not compatible with any type of ATF.
The safest bet is to buy PS fluid and then you know what you're getting into. A quart of transmission fluid runs about $5 and a quart of power steering fluid runs about the same. So really there is no benefit to gambling with trans fluid instead of using PS fluid unless you have some laying around and know what you're doing.
I saw something yesterday that made me come back to update this.
Went outside after work to go home and saw a big puddle underneath the front bumper on the driver side. I started looking, (power steering shares use with the master cylinder (known as a hydroboost)) and one of the PS lines has a check valve stuck, forcing ps fluid out of one of the connectors. The fluid was old and looked burnt (likely original). On the F250, they have an issue with the check valve sticking when the fluid gets old which causes spongy brakes and notchy steering. Both of which are symptoms my truck has and can be cured by replacing all the PS fluid. I cleaned out the system and replaced all the fluid with brand new Mercon SP (ATF fluid on the F250) per spec last night and it's like brand new.
So yes...... changing your fluids is important.
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