Flush done. Been a couple of weeks and all seems well so far.
I did end up doing things how I said I would and things went mostly ok - with only a bit of mess as i learnt a lesson about getting the level right at the end
Normal disclaimer. I don't know what I'm doing. Don't follow me. This might be dangerous or risky in ways I don't understand.
To start, this was the setup ...
- CLEAR silicon tubing to get the old stuff out - 10mm ID - two meters.
- Funnel for getting the new stuff in
- Syringe for getting small amounts of old stuff out and and new stuff in
- Couple of little cable ties to make some end caps
- Some little 10mm tube adaptors to connect the silicon tube to the LC fluid return line
- 5 litres of Toyota D-III ATF (could have used 3, ended up using 4)
- A big oil change tray and some big bottles for the old fluid to go into
- Pliers to get the return line clip off
The 10mm (internal) silicon tube and adaptors came from the local fish pond shop. If you can find one go there - it's pennies compared to the stuff online. Tube and adapters were about £3. The syringe I had knocking about from a cheap pack I got on Amazon a couple of years ago (for doing brake fluid flushes on the bikes).
My overall goal was to replace as much fluid as possible without introducing unecessary air into the system. Same principle as chasing old brake fluid out with new. I think it worked ok and certainly made bleeding the system very easy (barely needed it at all).
Important note: I didn't want the power steering pump to run and suck in air while things were not connected so the engine was
OFF and the keys were
OUT of the car for the whole process. I didn't start the LC (or let the keys go near it) until the lines were reconnected, the level was (poorly) checked and the resevoir lid was on. I'll do it this way again - but with a better level check.
My method was something like this ...
I jacked up the front of the LC (on axle stands) making sure both wheels could turn unobstructed from full lock to lock and put an old shower curtain down on the ground to catch any mistakes. I then made a couple of little "end caps" by cutting off a few inches of silicon tube, bending the end over tightly and holding it tightly in place with a cable tie. Pic above should show what I mean. This was to go over the resevoir return inlet to stop new stuff from falling out as I put it in. I didn't take many pics but this should give you the general idea ...
Pic shows the disconnected black return hose connected to my silicon tube and my little home made end cap on the resevoir inlet to stop new fluid falling out when I put it in. Other end of the silicon tube was in a waste bottle on the ground.
For clarity (in case someone is as unsure as I was a month ago), the fluid comes out of the bottom of the resevoir via the big hose down to the pump, through the system and back into the resevoir via the small hose on the side. The plan was to interrupt that flow by disconnecting the small return hose and directing it into a waste bottle instead of back into the resevoir (via the clear silicon tube so that I could see when the fluid changed from old brown dirty stuff to new clean red stuff). As the new fluid goes into the resevoir, through the system and into the waste bottle (instead of back into the resevoir) it's purging *most* of the old fluid out of the system. If you manage to keep that flow going without sucking air into the system then bleeding the system at the end is a breeze. Not the end of the world if you do suck air in - but muuuuuch easier if you don't. Two people on the job will greatly help with that - but I didn't have my helper so it did get tricky,
In the pics abouve you can see the colour of the old fluid in the little end cap (that came out of the resevoir when I first disconnected the tube). It's pretty dark and clearly used to be red - not at all the clear stuff I thought it was. What a pointless drama and hassle that was trying to work out what was in there
. Still, I'll take the win knowing it was the right stuff in there all along. It looked clear on the dipstick and clear on the tissue I wiped said dipstick with
. Maybe I could have sucked some out to be sure but I wasn't prepared to do that until I was doing the job because I would have just dropped it or something making the level even lower than it was and still not be happy mixing fluids. Blah blah blah - I got it wrong - but in the right way. Lesson learned. Win.
Anyway. The job. I stuffed an old sheet underneath the resevoir filling the engine bay gap to catch any fluid that came out. Do this. I prepared the silicon tubing to length with an adaptor plug already in the end ready to push into the return tube when it was off - and made my home made end cap ready to push over the inlet pipe on the resevoir. I made sure the silicon tube was long enough and routed down into a waste bottle that wasn't going to fall over.
I removed the resovoir cap and set it safely aside where it wouldn't get lost, broken or dirty. I got my pliers. I took a breath.
The clip holding the return tube on was easy to remove with pliers but the tube itself has been on there a loooong time. I moved very slowly, carefully and patiently with the old rubber and evetually encouraged it down off of the inlet pipe - and of course all of the fluid in the resevoir started to come out. But that was ok - I had a three step plan.
- Step 1 - notice that the return hose was not under pressure and was happy to just rest there without adding to the leak crisis
- Step 2 - Activate the "quick finger plugging" method that I had mentally prepared and practiced before hand
- Step 3 - Activate the "They can't see me - I'll just tell them I didn't forget to suck it out with the syringe" plan
So, return hose disconnected, I pushed the end cap onto the resevoir inlet pipe and connected the silicon tube to the return hose. That's the state of play in the above pictures.
From here on it's just a case of pushing new fluid through the system to wash the old stuff out. For that, I just gently and slowly turned the wheels from full lock to full lock over and over and over, KEEPING THE RESEVOIR TOPPED UP as I went, until I could see the fluid running nice and clean through the silicon tube. Sounds easy right?
With two people this would be a very easy job. One slowly steering lock to lock while the other keeps the fluid topped up in the resevoir. On your own, it's tedious. It only takes from lock back to center to start pushing a decent amount of fluid through the system - so if you don't want to suck in air that's a lot of forwards and backwards. Even if you're leaning on the wheels themselves (as opposed to running backwards and forwards using the steering wheel) it's difficult to see what's in the resevoir. If you can, get someone to give you a hand for 10 minutes.
Anyway, many many many cycles between lock and lock and topping up later and I was happy the fluid was coming through clean enough. The system holds 1 litre and I ran 3.5 litres through it before I was happy - but I used 4 litres by the end to be sure (including little top-ups while bleeding). I then had an unopened 1 litre bottle left to keep for top-ups if needed.
I let the resevoir run almost empty on the last lock-to-lock pump out so that I could reconnect the return hose without too much more mess. Which I did. Silicon hose off, end cap off, return hose back on to the resevoir. Took the time to carefully replace the return hose without twisting or damaing the old rubber. A little patience can save a real headache here I reckon. Then I carefully replaced the clip with pliers - back to exactly where it came from (no point creating new squash damage on the hose). Then topped up the resevoir to level (using the dipstick to check - not to the top).
Then it was on to bleeding. Now as I understand it, bleeding is exactly the same process as pumping the fluid through the system (lock to lock to lock to lock) - except everything is connected back up and you're just recylcling the new fluid through the system pushing the air out. It's obviously important to keep checking the resevoir as you go and make sure the level doesn't drop enough to suck air in otherwise you'll be there a reeeeaaaallly long time. Sounds like a mistake I would make - but not this time. I went the other way
Doing it again, I would bleed the system by doing the lock to lock over and over GENTLY AND SLOWLY to release as much air as possible (if any) with the cap off. I would then PROPERLY check the fluid level with the dipstick, replace the cap and continue doing the lock to lock over and over until I was happy. Check the fluid wasn't bubbly and that the level was good then move on to the final bleeding stage with the engine running.
This is not what I did.
Instead, I did the lock to lock carefully and gently with the cap off, checking the fluid level properly as I went and topping up as necessary. The level did drop very slightly but not much - less than I topped up with it
. In short, I started with a good level but didn't check the level well enough after the first round of bleeding before putting the cap back on. In my defence, it's almost impossible to see what the fluid level is on the old 120s at the best of times let alone with new clean fluid. Oh for a later model clear bottle!
Anyway, the fluid level was too high. Only just - I could still barely see it in the resevoir - but enough to squirt out from around the cap when I started the cap-on lock to lock stuff. Being on my own I couldn't see what was happening from the side using the steering wheel so it made a bit of mess by the time I noticed. Good to know the pressure release valve in the cap is working though.
So, the lesson here is that the level is important - which I knew - but it's also really quite a precise requirement - which I didn't so much. I'm sure there was some air in the system too but even so I was surprised by the out squirt - it's not like I filled the resevoir up or anything
. Maybe wrap some rag around the resevoir when you do this just in case.
Anyway, I cleaned up, took the cap back off, checked the state of the fluid with my syringe (was still clean and not frothy) and topped it back up to level. This time I took it slow and used the syringe to get it just right. Replaved the cap and got back to lock to lock action for a while.
I then checked the level again, made sure the cap was on properly, got my rags and stuff out of the engne bay (away from the rag hungry fan) and moved on to bleeding with the engine running.
I don't know enough about the system to know how and when the pump is engaged or when and how the system is pressurised, so I played it safe. I ran the engine for just a few seconds then checked the level. Nothing looked iffy and nothing splurted out. I then ran it for a bit longer (without steering input) to be sure. Level was good. No froth. I then ran the engine for a bit longer and did a few lock to locks, checked the level and all was good. So I went into full bleed mode with engine running and as many lock to locks as I could be bothered to do. There were some squelching and gurgling sounds but not much and when I got bored I checked the level. All was good except for maybe the slightest level drop. I topped it up with the syringe getting as close to the mid cold mark as I could (it wasn't cold by now but certainly wasn't hot) - and replaced the cap.
Then it came down off of the axle stands and out for a test run. A slow one. With some gentle three point turns in both directions before I went anywhere and a few stops for level checks along the way (I took the syringe, funnel and fluid with me just in case). All was good.
So, as far as I know all is well - but as I write this I'm thinking I haven't checked the level in a while. I'll let you know if it's all fallen out.
Final thoughts? ..... it's an easy job made even easier if you have two people. All in all only took a couple of hours on my own. Get the levels right when you're bleeding and when you're done. I'm kinda hoping that the cap release valve gave out before any old seals in the system - I suppose we'll see
I hope not... I'm sure that would be a nightmare job to replace or "service" the rack - if it's even possible.
