Digging in deep this week, really fuckered my power steering by taking someone's word that ATF = Power steering fluid... NOT THE CASE!
Ordered a new one from Detroit Axle, took about a month to ship because they found something wrong with it and reremanufactured.
Since I have to remove part of the exhaust pipe I figured I'd replace my oil pan gasket while I'm down there. Also got new brembo brake rotors cause I think my recent poor mileage was due to new pads rubbing on cementite build-up (hot wheels, feels like I'm driving against some resistance).
So far, got the car up, wheels off, banged out the tie rod ends (probably gonna replace those too), removed the crossmember bar and exhaust from header to catalytic converter. Since my power steering system is contaminated, I ran 3 bottles of honda power steering fluid 1 at a time through the system, turning the engine on (before removing exhaust!) steering hard left to hard right, and catching the fluid out the return hose.
Catching the fluid was a challenge, ended up cutting a hole in a bottle:
Came to a halt while getting the steering valve pipes loose. They're 12mm 14mm and 17mm. Had all of them except the 17. Got a 17mm flare nut wrench from autozone, duralast brand, it SUCKS! Do not ever get those! It's got a thin surface area to connect to the nut and is just rounding it off! ordered a craftsman, should be in tomorrow.
So I moved on to the oil pan. Drained the oil, got most of the bolts off. Some are really tricky next to the transmission.. about to drop the oil pan, gonna clean it out with engine degreaser. Using a fel pro gasket cause I couldn't find an oem, read not to use silicone or sealant on it? Is there anything else cool to do with the exhaust pipe off?
Bookmarks