86 560SEL

i tried to do a flush.. had wife in the car.. but couldn't keep enough fluid in the reservoir to even get a chance to try to turn the wheels. as soon as she started car, the fluid disappeared and i could barely pour it in fast enough to keep the reservoir from going dry. had her turn car off after just a few seconds. ran through two quarts in hardly any time.

so changed the filter and filled reservoir with fresh ps fluid.. original stuff was red, obviously ATF. as the car has only 76K miles, probably original stuff. so now have mixture of PS fluid and ATF. and it's still red colored.

__________________
R Martin
Dallas, TX (Addison)

86 560SEL, 128K

I had the same problem with my '96 E300D (W210, OM606NA). I used most of a gallon of inexpensive NAPA PS fluid. For the next change, I'm considering two possibilities

(1) put a clamp on the return hose so the fluid doesn't drain so fast; I should then be able to keep the reservoir full but am concerned about the pressure building up to dangerous levels.

(2) remove the belt and turn the pump by hand; that may require taking the weight off of the front wheels so the steering wheel can be turned without power assist.

Jeremy

__________________

"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

Rotating the engine with the starter (intermittently if necessary) might be a third possibility to consider. Best done with the front end elevated.