also you can send in a sample to blackstone labs to see how much water and contaminates are in the old fluid .
I have used them many times in the pass on other cars i owned.
http://www.blackstone-labs.com/

 

THAT IS COOL.

Will DEFINITELY use in the future!

 

I took the car up the road to a reputable shop. The owner is a Mechanical Engineer and has worked on MB, BMW, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Porsche etc for over 30 years. The shop is run by him and his son. When I pulled up they were working on a Porsche Boxter.

Even though my wife and I flushed a bit out I still wanted to have someone that works on these types of cars everyday take a professional look at it. I am not a dummy but I also know that another pair of eyes is always helpful.

I took the Pepsi bottle with me. After having them take a look at the car they both agreed with my original evaluation that the only way the fluid could have become that black in just 11,000 miles is that it was re-used. They did a thorough check of the power steering system. They flushed the system twice. Completely draining the system, refilling with fresh fluid, running the car and driving the car then re-draining it again just to be sure all of the old fluid was out.

While the car was there I went ahead and had the oil and filter changed. They use Eni high performance engine oils.

I have had my car back for 2 days and let me tell you I feel like I got a different car back. The car feels smooth and the steering feels like it did when I first purchased the vehicle.

I will give it a couple weeks and report back.

But I just wanted to say that I have learned a great deal throughout this entire situation. Always double check the dealers work. I had the dealer tell me there was nothing wrong with my car and my shocks were visibly leaking oil. I took detailed photographs of everything. I have even had a dealer damage one of my rims and TRY to say I did it. However, to their surprise (being the **** ******* they have made me become) I took photographs with a date and time stamp of each rim on my phone before I gave them my keys to have tires put on. Boy were they pissed, but I protected myself and got a new rim out of the deal. I had proof that the scratch was clearly not there when I handed over the keys. It is pretty darn sad that we have to resort to such measures to protect ourselves from being screwed over these days.

The only thing I never double checked is what it actually turned out to be. The power steering fluid was re used. They had to have dumped most of it into a bucket and then poured it back in and gave me the car back. A year of headache over $50 worth of oil and a $2500 rack an pinion replacement. Pretty darn sad if you ask me.

I will keep an eye on it and will report back if there are any new developments.

Some may think this is dumb however I want to help anyone out there that may run into this sort of problem in hopes of preventing the amount of heartache and ticked off weeks that I had to endure. If I am able to help one person then all of my effort reporting on here was worth it.

Take care.

 

Oh ya..

Change your power steering fluid at least every two years. If you drive your car a lot for work then change it every year. That is what I have learned and that is exactly the same thing the shop told me to do that did the flush. I agree with them. $150 every two years to help prevent possible problems is worth it in my opinion.

 

Another possibility is them using ordinary parts store type power steering fluid instead of the recommended CHF11S, assuming yours takes the same as my '08.

I haven't been active on the MB boards as I usually find myself on the BMW hangouts. First time I'm coming across your thread. But one look at the symptoms in your OP and I knew it was the fluid.

Our 08 came with a red-orange PS fluid since new. When it was time to change I used the service manual-recommended CHF11S and the steering got noticeable heavier. But since my BMWs are all this way it was a welcome surprise.

And good point on checking dealer work. That's good advice and it applies to all shops. If you look at my log you'll see where I routinely gut a shop's work. I never got angry, but I did insist on correcting the issue, or just fixed it myself.

I always remind people the "master tech" usually isn't the one working on your car. It's that $12-an-hour intern doing that. Case in point, "expertly repaired" by BMW themselves. I even found a couple more items since I originally posted that.

 

This is the first time I have ever run across something like this. So learning experience for me.

Yes Petosin CHF-11S ( about $1 per oz) is the fluid that goes in my car as well. The reservoir is black and the dipstick is also black. The only thing I can think of is using a meat baster with a clear tube or something similar to temporarily suck up the fluid from the reservoir to check the color / condition of the fluid.

Now I know and can keep an eye on it. If I choose to keep my car now that I am finally happy with the way it drives, I know to have the fluid changed every other year which I will do religiously now.

Thanks for all of the replies.

 

I wanted to report back since it's been a week since the fluid flush. I feel like I bought a new car. It is amazing how much different the entire driving experience has changed with just fresh power steering fluid. That was definitely the problem. Worth every penny on having it done.

 

Very glad you've figured it out.

Now you know in the future ALWAYS check fluids in systems like these!
Brake's and power steering, coolant, all should be checked on a regular basis!

Congrats on your "new" car!!! Hahaha

 

Oh I have always checked the fluids. Religiously

The only way to CHECK the color is to suck fluid out and look at it. How many people on here actually do that? Also I just had a brand new rack and pinion installed 11k miles ago.

As I said earlier i never in a million years expected them to reuse power steering fluid in a brand new rack. The way I figured it out was using a meat Baster from the kitchen. Sucked a bit of fluid up and it was jet black. At least it's easy to check that way. Can't check it using the dipstick as it is black.

to be clear to anyone reading this you can not just check the power steering fluid level with the dipstick, yes that is important as well but you have to check the condition of the fluid as well. Easiest and cheapest way is to pick up a meat baster with a clear tube from the dollar store.

If it's black change it! Very simple.

I have a foreign car shop 2 miles from my house, I am lucky in that respect. I could have done it myself but for $120 ? Why bother jacking up the car and laying in my back. Had the oil and filter changed and a service B done while it was there. Changed the air filter myself.

For service I doubt I will be going back to the dealer unless it's warranty work.

 

I am the same way with my dealer. Although I just ran out of warrentee (WOOO Cmon mods!!) so now it'll just be Anti-Theft parts and key fobs!

 

A couple weeks have gone by and the car is still handling great! So if you have a W204 or earlier and you know that or are unsure that your power steering fluid has ever been flushed properly, my advice to you is go get it done ASAP. You will not be sorry.

From now on I personally plan on doing it once a year. For $120 to have it flushed up the road it is not worth it to skimp here. A new pump is significantly more than that then add in the cost of the oil that goes with the pump replacement. I could have oil flushed every year for 5 years before i reached that price. so that is my personal plan, maybe a little over kill but i don't care. to simple to just have it done during a service.

 

very happy for you enjoy.
I love my w204
had many many w205 as loaners and I still prefer the w204 just feels better on the road.
much more planted on very high speeds.
w205 rear end gets very twitchy in high speed turns and bumps.

 

First of all, a million thanks to 2014c300 for the thread. I have the exact same problem on my 2013 W204 Coupe with Sport Package. Aside from being super light at high speeds, it occasionally become rock hard at slow speeds (usually normal at low speeds). I immediately checked my fluid and realized it is milky (almost white). I will attempt to transfer it to a clear cup and post a picture here. Any suggestions why steering fluid be white?

 

first off take it to a shop and have the steering system flushed. They may need to drain and refill several times. Also have them inspect for leaks, cracks in system, water is getting in somewhere.

 

Thanks for the reply. I flushed the system myself 2 times with 3 liters of Pentosin CHF 11S. Each time with around 1.5 lt. I will post pictures soon. I also sent the old milky fluid to Blackstone labs for analysis. I will post the results as well.

I was suspecting air coming in from the low pressure side. So I inspected hoses and steering fluid cooler. Everything looks good. You mentioned water. What are the possible areas and sources of water to enter the steering system? I appreciate your guidance on this. Thanks a bunch.

 

Check the condition of the cap and the seal. Sometimes the simplest fix is the fix.