Wrong power steering fluid, potential issues because of

[Boardbuilder]

Long story short, loaned out the car for a few days and 7-11 brand power steering fluid was put in the system.

Already purged and disabled the power steering. Found 2 bad hoses.

I'm wondering what else may be affected by this, like will the power steering pump have been compromised by the non-OEM fluid?
anything else I should be worried about?

Thanks in advance for the input.

[VIPER1988]

You might get lucky if you got it flushed out fast enough. If not, you will likely be replacing every hose and seal in the whole power steering system. Same happened to me. Let my stepdad borrow car. He didn't tell me until a month later that he put generic store brand p/s fluid in. I ended up replacing everything before i finally got the leaks to stop.

[lostforawhile]

you can buy kits to rebuild the pump, pretty easy to rebuild

[Dr_Snooz]

If it were mine, I'd flush a few bottles of Honda fluid through it. The wrong fluid eats the seals in the rack. You don't notice it for a few months until the tie rod bellows blow out and then you have messy leaks everywhere.

I'll be putting either soy oil or canola oil in mine before much longer. I'm very pleased with how canola is working for my brakes.

[Boardbuilder]

I'm surprised at how fast this fluid damaged the system, about 3 1/2 days of driving did a number on it.

Very interesting about the fluid alternatives you mentioned, Dr. Snooz. I thought about that a while ago but never did any homework on it. I noticed that the pump oil I use for machining was very similar to the OEM honda fluid but never thought about using it in the car...

[Dr_Snooz]

Very interesting about the fluid alternatives you mentioned, Dr. Snooz.

Oh boy, did you ask for it. LOL

My theory is that we don't use petro oil because it's better. We use it because there is an oil cartel that suppresses alternatives. I suspect it is rather quite crummy at lubricating, which is why it requires so many additives and additional processing to make it somewhat decent. My guess is that vegetable oils are superior in just about every way, and there is also some data to support that guess.

Canola-based Motor Oils (http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/ncnu02/v5-029.html)

Anyway, I am currently running castor oil in my truck diff after learning that the 1916(?) Cadillac used castor oil in the diff. It's a 1-ton truck that pulls a trailer. After 15k miles, I'm not having any issues. Last week I pulled the trailer up "death hill" here (so named after I got my brakes hot coming down it). It was around 100F and the diff got up to 120F. I don't think I've ever gotten it hotter than that. So it's great. You can follow the fun if you want.

http://www.3geez.com/forum/classic-honda-community-chat/78265-using-castor-oil-differential.html

I'm also running canola oil in my master cylinder on the 3g. It is also doing great, pedal feel is a little harder because canola is a lot more viscous than DOT 3. Next time I'll use soy oil. Canola and soy have the same boiling point as DOT 3. Better yet, they aren't hygroscopic and I can buy a gallon for $8 instead of a quart for $8.

For my research, I just gathered freeze points, smoke points and viscosities for all kinds of veggie oils. I eliminated anything that would freeze at ambient temps here. Cali, so ambient stays pretty high. Then I started looking for viscosities and smoke points that would match the fluid I'm trying to replace. I'll probably try canola in the crankcase of the 3g here in the next couple days. It's a little thin, so I have my doubts. Fortunately, I have an oil pressure gauge, so I can pull out if the pressure drops too much.

I'm basically looking for truly green replacements (not just crap at Autozone that comes in a green container) for all my fluids.

Motor oil - canola
Trans oil - canola
ATF - canola
Brake fluid - soy
PS fluid - soy or canola
Coolant - cheap vodka

[Jafir]

Coolant - cheap vodka

Alcohol was pretty common anti-freeze decades ago. The main issue back then was that it wasn't "permanent" and it had to be added every winter.

[Dr_Snooz]

It could also eat away at our aluminum heads. Glycerine is another option, though seemingly impossible to find locally.

OP, what issues are you having with the steering now?

[cygnus x-1]

It could also eat away at our aluminum heads. Glycerine is another option, though seemingly impossible to find locally.



You need to find someone that makes their own biodiesel. Glycerol is a byproduct of the refining process and usually gets dumped because nobody wants it.

C|

[Boardbuilder]

Other than the obvious of disabling power steering, no issues. The bad hose I found on the return to the reservoir had sprayed fluid on the engine so I degreased it, as engine fires aren't too much fun. This weekend I can check the whole PS system and get things back on track.