Consult needed - Power Steering Fluid

[3930dave]

Some dealers are worse than others.

A lot of the time you can get fairly straight answers from the Parts counter guys. They get yelled at by the in-house mechanics if they screw up on parts, so there is a bit of a self-correcting loop there, in terms of Part/Vehicle knowledge.

If the Service "Advisor" overcharges you for frivolous work, the dealership owner usually doesn't mind pocketing the $.

Unless you have a really noticeable difference in your anti-freeze (Canuck talk, I mean coolant ), I'd either test it or dump it.

Too many shops aren't content with only charging high prices, they'll often skip doing the work too.

Rgds, D.

 

[California]

Too many shops aren't content with only charging high prices, they'll often skip doing the work too.

That's what got me started on this thread.

The PS cap looked dusty and untouched, and took an extreme amount of force to remove. After I put it back on, it took the usual amount of force to unscrew the next time. My feeling was that my attempt was the first time the cap was removed since the car was manufactured, late 2004.

 

[3930dave]

That's what got me started on this thread.

The PS cap looked dusty and untouched, and took an extreme amount of force to remove. After I put it back on, it took the usual amount of force to unscrew the next time. My feeling was that my attempt was the first time the cap was removed since the car was manufactured, late 2004.

Hear ya'.

The longer I live, the more I trust my instincts.....

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

P.S.

In terms of hydraulic circuits (PS, Auto Trans.....) a nice addition/add-on is a Magnefine filter. Provides additional mechanical filtration, magnetic filtration, and has a good bypass built-in to allow for the filter plugging or being in service way too long.

Not mandatory, but is Nice To Have, if you are going for longevity with hydraulics - esp. for applications with little or no filtration stock.

Rgds, D.

 

[doxford jim]

3930Dave,

I have one on my transmission line to radiator cooler of my old F250.
Not long ago I had to replace the injection pump on my Dodge Ram truck. Do you know if these filters would work for diesel fuel and what filtration do they claim . Might be a reasonable filter is the flow rate is high enough.
Just a thought.
Thanks

 

[3930dave]

3930Dave,

I have one on my transmission line to radiator cooler of my old F250.
Not long ago I had to replace the injection pump on my Dodge Ram truck. Do you know if these filters would work for diesel fuel and what filtration do they claim . Might be a reasonable filter is the flow rate is high enough.
Just a thought.
Thanks

Hi Jim - The Magnefine filters I'm familiar with are for oil products, AFAIK they won't handle diesel fuel.

I don't know the Dodge aftermarket that well; perhaps somebody like Racor would have something appropriate. Different application, but I think Scooby has a detailed thread concerning his Racor installation on a BX series tractor.

My general sense is that modern IP's that are diaphragm based are really sensitive to input side restrictions, of any type. One way to be safe is to never go past the recommended filter change interval, and with the price of IPs, I'd probably change the stock filter early, esp. if I had the slightest inkling of suspect fuel quality.

As you touched on, flow rate is critical, so some people have created problems ignoring that, and just focusing on a low micron filter spec. I'd check Diesel Power magazine or the like, for the big name players in after market fuel filtration.

Sorry about the drift Cali !

Rgds, D.