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Urgent help please! Bmw e91 330d power steering fluid

5K views 9 replies 2 participants last post by  Jake_butcher 
#1 ·
I bought pentosin chf 11s for a power steering flush. Ive drained and filled the reservoir with it but not started the car or turned the wheels.

On looking closer, the cap says ATF ONLY! The problem is, bmw only put a green sticker over the top of this saying chf 11s, many owners have had theirs come off blow off revealing the ATF ONLY or not knowing if it was ever there.

The old fluid is murky and brown, however could be 197k miles old.

Pentosin is green, but the old stuff could have been a long time ago.

As far as I know my car does not have active steering which can effect fluid type.

Help!!
 
#3 ·
The colour of the old fluid would indicate that most likely it was ATF. You are talking about flush but you have only changed the content of the reservoir? You could have done a proper fluid flush by removing the return line (and block its connection on the reservoir) and guide it to waste container. Then engine running top up the reservoir constantly with fresh fluid. Preferably have a friend start the car and turn wheels from end to end while doing this (front wheels in the air for lower resistance). Then turn of engine when the fluid is clear on the return line. For this you'll need 2-3 litres of fluid.
 
#4 ·
Ah ok, perhaps it is atf. I'm going to ring opie oils tomorrow morning and see what they say. Yes I stopped at filling the reservoir as my understanding that once I turned the wheels it would mix into the system, or am I too late? I am hoping that if its the wrong stuff I can simply suck out then do the steering lock to lock flushing procedure with the correct fluid. Cheers.
 
#7 ·
Don't know if there are any tutorials about the flush but it's quite simple. I'll try to explain.

Suck the reservoir as empty as possible. Remove return hose (Nr.14) from the reservoir. (Put something under to capture the fluid before removing the hose so you don't make a mess.) Use suitable clear hose on top of the return hose to make it long enough so you can guide the old fluid to some canister. You have to plug the connector for return hose on the reservoir. One alternative is to use a piece of hose with the same diameter as the return line connected instead of the original return hose and raise the other end so that it's above the max fluid level. You can support it with cable tie on the side of the reservoir. Fill the reservoir with fresh fluid. Raise the front of the car so that both front tyres are in the air. Open the fresh fluid bottles (3 litres) so they are easily at hand. Now you have to ask your helper to start the engine and slowly turning the wheels from end to end. Be prepared to constantly poor new fluid in the reservoir (it drains quite fast). You'll see on clear waste hose when the new fluid starts to come from the return line. Ask your friend to turn of the engine. Now just put the return hose back on the reservoir and top up the reservoir.
 
#9 ·
If the system is just drained there will still be old fluid trapped. Just out of interest you can take fluid sample from the reservoir to see how it looks after the fluids have mixed up. Also if you removed the banjo bolt connection the gasket rings should always be renewed. Now that you have two different fluids in the system I would still do a proper flush after you have sourced needed equipment.
 
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