4runnerFireman

Hey people, hope all is well, thanks for taking the time to read this for a sec!! Stats are in my signature, quick question to see if any of you have any experience with Power Steering fluid. I know this topic has been covered some, but this is a question that I could not find an answer to.

As we all know, ATF is required in the power steering. I flushed mine out and replaced the fluid a couple months ago. I used SYNTHETIC ATF fluid to replace it. Valvoline Dextron IV to be exact. Also, as we all know Dextron IV is backwards compatible, so it's good for using when Dex 2 or 3 is required. Am I gonna run into any problems running SYNTHETIC vs NON-SYNTHETIC in the power steering pump?? I just thought about this afterwards, and I'm curious if I messed up and should flush it back out and replace with regular ATF. Not sure about Yota's but I know in Honda's the type of power steering fluid can be very important in terms of seal degradation and so forth. Thanks to anyone who has any insight on this subject!!

02SE

FWIW, I drained the factory fill Dexron fluid out of the power steering system on my '97 4runner, and replaced it with Mobil 1 synthetic ATF, about one month after I bought the 'Runner new.

I've repeated that several times over the years, still using the Mobil 1 Synthetic ATF. No problems at all to date.

Most people never bother to change their power steering fluid, and eventually have problems with the pump, the rack, or both parts.

I think you did a very good thing for your power steering systems longevity.

pendrag

I switched to Castrol Dextron VI (6) on the power steering pump on my 1999 2.7L. That was 4-5 months ago, and no problems yet. I've just been doing incremental changes (8 oz swap at a time). I'm also running Dextron VI in the ATF, also no problems.