Put the catch container in a bucket or other vessel so it can't tip over. You can buy a package of assorted vacuum plugs at any parts store for a few bucks, should have the 3/8" one needed to plug the return nipple on the reservoir. I had an extra from the first occurrence in '09 so now I have two unopened. I bought 5 bottles of fluid, but only used 4 like in the video. I cut it to the length I needed, probably about 3 1/2 feet. and used a hose clamp to attach it to the return hose once its been disconnected from the reservoir. I picked up about 5ft of clear vinyl tubing for about $8, 3/4" I.D., 1" O.D. I used the basic procedure outlined in this great video: It wasn't hard, just need the right tools and an hour or so. Well, this time I decided to do the whole flush with reservoir replacement and also replace the O-ring so I wanted to post a few tips and such here. Maybe it was the fluid was just getting old and thick and starving the pump if the screen filter clogged, who knows. Then I remembered I'd had the same problem back around 2009 after driving up north for a day of skiing (again it was pretty cold, like teens or lower.) Back then I'd discovered the reservoir TSB but didn't want to mess with the fluid flush and don't think I knew about the O-ring so I just changed the fluid in the reservoir (1 new bottle) and cleaned the gunk from the bottom and that seemed to solve it in the short term. After letting the car sit in a warm garage for a half hour the problem would go away so I was sure it was either the reservoir TSB issue or O-ring failure. I drove my wife's '05 one morning a couple weeks ago to drop my kids at school about 5 mi away and when I returned after about 25 min of driving in sub-20 degree temps, there was a constant whine even when not turning the wheel and when I turned to enter my driveway it got much louder. I saved myself a couple of hundred dollars easy by trying this first. I cut an old 10mm wrench to about 3" in order to get to the bolt around the belt and hoses. It took me about 10 minutes to take the 10mm screw out due to close quarters and 20 minutes to put back in. If you don't see a leak and the reservoir is topped off this could be your problem. If you look inside the reservoir you will see bubbles, that's not good. This air builds up and doesn't let the pump do its thing. I did talk to a friend that deals with hydraulics and he told me that what can happen is that fluid will slip by the O ring and cause cavitation, like when a prop on a boat cavitates in the water it causes air to be pushed with the water, in this case the fluid. The old one still looked fine so I doubted this was going to work or keep working but it's been fine now for 2 weeks. But when I opened it up it was already the new orange/red O ring. The fix was to replace the old black O ring with the new "orange/red" colored ring. The ring cost 65 cents and a bottle of Honda steering fluid was $5. The fix was to replace the existing "O" ring on the inlet side of the Power Steering pump. I figured I would try this before I take it back to the dealer and go through incompetent arrogant Honda service writers that look at you sideways when you even mention a recall. Looking on these forums I found a fix that sounded to good to be true. Just recently when it got cold here in Chicago, my pump started to whine and kept getting worse. I had the power steering pump changed at around 115k on a goodwill basis that cost me $125.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |