My 1st tutorial here, so go easy on me ^_^. This tutorial is to exchange your power steering fluid completely (from my understanding). I would say it was 2/10 on a difficulty scale and I got excellent results. I'm not a mechanic and am putting this together because I couldn't find any common consensus on how to exchange the fluid on a Vibe. So I took a stab at it in my own way. Some mentioned emptying/filling the reservoir every year or so, others talk about running the car with hoses taken off etc. I feel the way I did it was easy, clean, and safe for the car and I was able to do it alone.
Things you'll need:
A Vibe/Matrix. Mine is a 2003 Vibe AWD.
Dexron III Transmission Fluid (per Manual) - 2 quarts. You MIGHT get away with 1 quart, but better to be safe than sorry. Found this at my local Autozone. Most Autozones didn't carry it and recommended Dexron VI instead, but I wanted to use Dexron III so I found another one locally that had Dexron III.
Victor Siphon Pump/Small hose. This is $3 at Autozone. For draining reservoir and using its hose. Link for reference.
Autotec/Gallon Hand Pump. This is $8 at Autozone. Only need it for it's long hose, short hose, and hose fitting. Link for reference.
Drain Pan. (For old fluid)
Paper towels. (Cleanup!)
Funnel. (To insert new fluid)
Pliers. (For clamp on inlet hose on Power Steering Housing)
Step 1:
Siphon/Pump as much fluid as you can out of the Power Steering Fluid Reservoir. I used the siphon for this, although it was a pain and didn't work well. The hole is quite small so the bigger hand pump tube would be very difficult to get all of the way down. Draining this helps less mess when you take a hose off.
Step 2:
Put small hose from Hand Pump Kit into the reservoir fill hole, and put funnel into that. Note: The hose was difficult to get into the reservoir housing.
Step 3:
Using pliers to loosen hose clamp, pull power steering inlet hose off of the reservoir housing. Place long piece of hose from the "Hand Pump" onto the nipple leaving reservoir, and put it into your funnel. (Or you can plug this nipple somehow instead)
Step 4:
Put black adapter from Hand Pump kit into the hose that you disconnected from the reservoir inlet nipple. I used the clamp to make sure it didn't leak. Then connect the long hose from the siphon kit to the other end of the black adapter and run it to the drain pan on the floor.
Step 5:
Jack up the entire front of the car so both tires are in the air, place the vehicle on jack stands. (This could be done anytime prior to now as well)
Step 6:
Pour Dexron III fluid into the funnel that is attached to the tube & reservoir until its waiting in the funnel.
Step 7:
7A) Turn the key just before you would start the car (to when the dash lights up and windows/locks work) and turn the steering wheel slowly all the way to the left, holding it all the way for 2-3 seconds and then doing the same to the right. You'll see fluid start draining from the reservoir inlet hose into through the adapter and hose into the drain pain below. My old fluid was brown. The new fluid is red.
7B) Add fluid to the funnel/reservoir as needed until you see the fluid turn red as it goes through the drain hose.
Step 8:
Make sure the fluid is at a decent level in the reservoir and disconnect everything and reconnect the inlet hose to the reservoir nipple.
Step 9: I had no issues from this point on, but I think it's good to make sure you have no air in the system. So now you should probably "Bleed Power Steering System" which is 51-3 Steps 2 & 3 on the Service manual. (Attached for reference) It's basically: Check fluid level, jack up front of vehicle, turn steering wheel slowly all the way to each side several times. Lower vehicle, start engine. Idle for a few minutes. Turn steering wheel end to end again several times, stopping at the full lock position for 2-3 seconds as you turn. Stop engine. Check for foaming or emulsification in the reservoir. With level vehicle and engine off, check fluid level based on reservoir marks.
and that's it!
My Power Steering Fluid now seems to be completely exchanged and is nice and red instead of brown. I'd recommend you check the level a few more times over the next 100 miles as well.
Here are a few pictures of how it looked using my setup. When I think about it, you could probably skip steps 1-3 and just have someone pouring new fluid in as you turn the wheel in step 7.
Good luck!
