rgray80

Been a month since I had my C63, loving every minute of it. Since this is my first step into the AMG world. I wanna explore and learn everything I can about my car. So looking under the hood, I noticed this reservoir contained under the engine cover. Anybody can tell me what it is? When I opened it, it was empty. What spec should it be filled with?

Mikegpr03

Buddy that's power steering

bhamg

This stuff:

m a x i m u s

ive actually never checked my PS reservoir ... is it supposed to show as empty?

bhamg

There's a stubby dipstick under the cap. There's no way to tell how much down the OP's fluid is but it could easily be 12oz+.

ECSTuning

rgray80,

We have the Power Steering Fluid for your C63 available on our website. You can get to it by clicking HERE, or by clicking on the photos below.





Please let me know if there is anything I can help out with.

bhamg

^ That's a good price from ECS on those fluids. The easy way to "change" fluid is the turkey baster method. Mine (Target @ $3) withdraws about 7oz of fluid each time. Four sessions will do it. My fluid was quite clear to begin with at 30K miles but absolutely crystal clear when I was done. I did it over the course of a few days of normal driving but if you do it in one session just remember to introduce some fore-and-aft vehicle movement at the same time as the side-to-side when circulating the PS fluid.

Ingenieur

What's the procedure for checking?
Hot or cold?
Engine on or off?
Audi was at full cold
+10 mm when hot

bhamg

The dipstick has four markings - two each for hot and cold levels. I used a kitchen measuring cup with spout and simply replaced what I extracted each time. Final adjustment I did cold after not driving the car for a few days.

D C

Don't know that rocking that car will do much, but you need to turn the wheel lock lock to lock several times to get all the fluid circulated.
So if your doing the turkey baster method, you'd want to suck out all the fluid you can, refill with fresh, turn the wheel lock to lock several times, and repeat. Ensure you don't turn the wheel at all with the reservoir drained or you'll suck up air into your system.

After your last refill, you'll want to turn the wheel lock to lock again as a final check so any air bubbles are worked out of the system.

bhamg

My BMW tech once told me not to do just the side-to-side stuff and it just stuck in my mind. I googled it now...TIFWIW.

Whilst turning the wheels if the vehicle is stationary with the engine at idle should not cause any damage to the power steering system, I would not do this excessively since there is no object to this. The only reason I would see someone wanting to do this is turning in a tight area or parking. Also, do not keep the steering in the full lock position. Back it off ever so slightly. By holding the steering at full lock for a prolonged period, you are getting the relief valve in the pump to work thus causing excessive heat and premature seal failure. With the engine off: The ratio of a power steering rack is less than that of a manual rack. This means that without power assistance, the power steering rack will be way harder to turn than the manual one - it's designed to work with pressure from the pump. However, the wheels may be turned but it is not advisable since damage may occur to the torsion bar within the steering rack. I would first try to get the car into a bit of motion forwards or backwards before doing this. www.powerbrakeandsteering.co.za

D C

And I agree with everything that was written in that, but it's not describing how to change the fluid. It appears to describe the general operation of a power steering system. The back and forth movement is how to turn the wheel without the power steering system operational while the car is stationary, without damaging the steering rack.

I would say shaking a car side to side and front to back is how to get air moving/out of a system. So there may be merit in that as far as getting all the fluid out of the reservoir. If you drain the PS reservoir, that's all your draining. You aren't affecting the fluid in the lines at all. And you need to turn the wheel lock to lock to get all the fluid circulating.

bhamg

I no longer remember the context of the conversation with my tech but it must have been about renewing the PS fluid since I've always done that as a regular maintenance procedure for my cars. He was probably trying to tell me not to go full lock for the reasons stated, hence the forward-and-back component. In general, for anyone contemplating this, a total drain of the reservoir is entirely unnecessary IMO. Just suck it out and replenish while using up one liter of PS fluid and you're done..

Ingenieur

I exchanged mine with the baster
I put the front end on jacks
Do one full slow lock to lock each exchange
If you know
the system volume
The baster volume
And the number of times you repeat it
You can figure out the dirty fluid (or clean fluid)

Assume 20 oz volume
6 oz removed per cycle
Cycle.....dirty
1.....14/20 70%
2.....14/20^2 50%
3......14/20^3 35%
4......14/20^4 24%
And so on
The more you exchange per cycle the better
Actual system capacity is 0.8 liter

zcct04

That was good! Just guessing here - you really are an Ingenieur? What kind?

bhamg

It was pointed out to me that I wasn't very clear about how I stretched out the fluid renewal. Basically I did 7oz at a time driving around normally the rest of the day, and then drawing out 7oz the following day etc. until it was done. What I would suggest though is saving 4oz of fresh fluid for the inevitable top-up later.