Here's How To Pick The Right Power Steering Fluid For Your Car 

All the answers are right here. 

Power steering fluid is a fluid driven by a pump that supplies fluid under pressure to our steering rack. This allows us to turn the steering wheel which turns the front wheels effortlessly. Those that have driven an older car with no power steering will know how awesome this simple technology can be.

The older power steering systems are pretty simple. It consists of a steering rack, some pressure hoses for the transfer of pressurized fluid, a pump that pressurizes the fluid and a reservoir to be able to monitor the fluid condition and level. Just like any other fluid, power steering fluid breaks down over time and can become dirty and filled with contaminants. These contaminants come from the internal parts of the system, metal to metal contact eventually causes wear and small metal particles get picked up by the fluid. As the fluid circulates through the entire system all these dirty particles can find small crevices and eventually cause leaks or begin causing abnormal wear on the bearings of the power steering pump. In order to prevent this and prolong the life of the system we suggest replacing your power steering fluid once every 2 years or 24k miles.

BMW:

Everything prior to the NXX engine family of cars, BMW used ATF DEX III as OE fill oil in the power steering system. This was true for all cars except those fitted with active steering or hydraulic suspension. The cars that utilized active steering or hydraulic suspension had CHF11S specified.

Currently all OE catalogs have been updated to show CHF11S as the only option for the entire BMW lineup. If you have an older car and you mix CHF11S you will shorten the lifespan of your system. You can convert an older system to use CHF11S but you have to completely flush the system out a few times. A good time to do this is if you have leaking hoses, and you will be replacing them all along with the reservoir. Oh you say your hoses are not leaking? They will! It is a standard feature none of us BMW owners signed up for. Keep in mind the reservoir has an internal filter that is normally not replaced throughout the life of the system. Again Lifetime does not mean that it will last forever.

You can find the reservoir here.

Is your P/S cap leaking? Of course it is! It too is a common feature of virtually all BMW power steering systems. Your replacement cap will now only specify the use of CHF11S fluid regardless of application. So if your old cap said you need to use ATF now it will state use CHF11S. The engineers finally said it is cheaper to go with the CHF11S logo on the cap than to make two different caps with 2 different part numbers.

If your BMW had red fluid filled from the factory or belongs to the cars produced prior to 2006 you almost always will have ATF DEX III filled in the power steering system. The only time CHF11s will be used prior to this is when the vehicle is fitted with hydraulic suspension. Don't worry very few of these cars made it the USA. If you are unsure of what kind of fluid your car is supposed to use please do not hesitate and give our service team a call (860)388-9001

We offer a quality ATF DEX III fluid here:

1 Liter
Top Tec ATF 1200 (1 Liter) - Liqui Moly

If your car had Active Steering, hydraulic suspension, or was is 2006 or newer you most likely have CHF11S in your power steering system.

We offer CHF11S, and Liqui Moly Central Hydraulic System Oil:

1 Liter Pentosin
CHF11s (1 Liter)

1 Liter Liqui Moly
Central Hydraulic System Oil (1 Liter)

Mercedes:

The older generation of Mercedes cars was fitted with power steering fluid based on the 236.3 spec. This was a fluid that had similar properties to transmission fluid and it was yellow. Most Mercedes cars produced prior to the year 2000 used this fluid. Part # 001 989 88 03 10. If your car was made in the 21st century there is a high likelihood that the fluid used was CHF11S.

For the older generation we offer a Febi version:

1 Liter
Power Steering Fluid - Febi

For the newer cars we offer CHF11S and Liqui Moly Central Hydraulic System Oil:

1 Liter Pentosin
CHF11s (1 Liter)

1 Liter Liqui Moly
Central Hydraulic System Oil (1 Liter)

Volvo:

The older generation of Volvo cars prior to 1998 used DEX III fluid as original fill in the power steering system. Sometime when the S80 came out and entered the market Volvo changed the fill specs to CHF11S. After a few years circa 2002 Volvo decided to change the fluid to CHF202. CHF11S is synthetic and CHF202 is partially synthetic. These two fluids are interchangeable and can be mixed.

For the older generation we offer DEX III

1 Liter
Top Tec ATF 1200 (1 Liter) - Liqui Moly

For the modern Volvo we offer CHF202, Rowe Hydraulic Oil, and Genuine Volvo Fluid

1 Liter
CHF202 (1 Liter)

1 Liter
Rowe Hightec ZH-M (1 Liter)

1 Liter
Genuine Volvo Power Steering Fluid (1 Liter)

VW/Audi

The older generation of VAG cars were filled with simpler fluids. Today with the advancement in technology we have 2 easily compatible fluids. Many models from the early 2000’s and newer are factory filled with CHF202. Most models produced between 1989 and 2005 can use CHF11S. The good news here is that both CHF11s and CHF202 are completely interchangeable and are the same color (Green). Most models produced prior to 1989 have had their systems filled with DEX II transmission fluid. DEX III is perfectly fine to use. Older system can be converted to use CHF11s or CHF202 only by flushing the entire system out. Do not mix ATF and CHF fluids.

For the older generation we offer DEX III

1 Liter
Top Tec ATF 1200 (1 Liter) - Liqui Moly

CHF11S is offered here for the modern VAG products

1 Liter
CHF11s (1 Liter)

1 Liter Liqui Moly
Central Hydraulic System Oil (1 Liter)

For those that wish to use CHF202 we have it available here

1 Liter
CHF202 (1 Liter)

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Written by :

Michael Roselli

Michael Roselli is FCP Euro's Content Director