The car is a 2005 Honda CRV. I haven't changed the power steering fluid ever because the Honda dealership says that it's a life time sealed system.
The fluid looks filthy and smells kind of burnt. The wheel is stiff to turn and doesn't have a lot of power assistance. After driving I can see bubbles in the reservoir. When I took a look at the return line I noticed that it's been leaking. It looks like it's been doing this for a while as there's dirt/grease caked around the bottom of the reservoir and return line.
So it looks like I'm going to have to change out the fluid and put on a new return line. I would imagine if the fluid is dark brown - black, then the filter inside must be dirty as well. I thought of just buying a new reservoir thinking that it shouldn't be more than 20-30 bucks for a plastic bottle but to my surprise I called the dealer to find that it costs $100. I think that's pretty ridiculous so I was wondering if there's a way to take apart the bottle and clean it?
I thought of just emptying the bottle with a turkey baster, removing the lines and then taking the whole bottle out. Then, wash it out and put some kind of cleaner in there and rinse and repeat.
Then change the return line and replace the o ring where it connects to the pump (they are known to leak). Then just change fluid as normal.
Should I change the other high pressure line as well? I don't see any leaks on it so I figure I don't need to.