Killer info! I bought some instructions from a certain site on how to do it that recommended on flushing the fluid by letting the pump pump the fluid out into a bottle with the return hose unplugged. Of course, without letting the pump ever run dry. I'll take your advice on going with the power steering fluid.

Can you elaborate on what that adjustment screw on the power-steering box does and why it leads to premature wear on the system?

The adjuster moves pieces inside the recirculating ball mechanism closer together and removes extra slop. If you over tighten the box, you will lose the box's ability to caster back straight ahead after a turn, and you'll wear it out very quickly. The tight tolerance "squeezes" the chrome balls inside and it wears out the parts inside. Tighten it too much and you'll crack the chrome coating on the balls. Loosen the jam nut (standard threads) and turn the inner Allen key bolt counter clockwise 1/4 turn at a time. Even this approach is incorrect, as the FSM specifies exact torque measurements for the input shaft of the gear box. Without putting a torque sensing tool on that input shaft as you adjust, you're working blind.

I disagree about the power steering fluid. My manual says Dexron 3 ATF, and that's what I use. Dex 3 is Dex 3 no matter what year it is. No it's no longer licensed but manufacturers have to keep the specs the same as in the 80s and 90s or it won't work in the transmissions that call for it. ATF has extreme pressure and antiwear additives to deal with the heat, shearing, and rubbing of metals. A power steering system will see the same environment, but not as severe. If you want to be proper, buy Mercedes power steering fluid from the dealer.

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@Mannys9130
Thanks for your information, bud!

Now, I don't want to start a whole 'PS fluid Vs. Tranny fluid" discussion, because I am convinced that in the end it won't matter much anyway (since most of our steering boxes are either super worn out or have been overhauled by now), but this thread has some interesting information in it:
Power Steering Fluid/ATF Question

Pay attention to this quote by H-townbenzoboy:
I thought it was interesting, and it is one of the reasons I choose regular power steering fluid.
The other reason is that I just wanted to see nice clear fluid, instead of the black crap that was in there when I bought it, and if I can choose between red or clear, I think clear looks better aesthetically...

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"The MB W123 is so bulletproof, you can drive them forever. Which is a good thing as it takes that long to get anywhere."
Betsie: 1984 W123 300D (hobby, 280k miles)
Myrla: 2001 Mazda Protege 2.0 ES 5spd (daily driver, 130k miles)
The Turd: 2007 Toyota Camry (wife's car, 118k miles)

Wow, even with how clapped out my panzerwagen is, I don't think I want to take a risk further wearing out the steering box by working blindly. I'll leave it be.

Did some searching and found this thread from 05. Whunter (Roy) said to use Power Steering fluid or the old type "F" ATF fluid.

Flush your power steering - baby its gross in there

Here is an interesting idea using an electric drill.

Power steering hoses/flush on the 87 300D


Charlie


sent from my pos computer

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

That's how I did it, before I bought the instructions, it seemed to work great, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything. I'm waiting for my filter to show up in the mail but had a quart of PS fluid sitting around and did an initial flush which helped, still though, it's got filthy again real quick. That's a good idea to flush with two cheap'o bottles first. After reading everything, I've come to the conclusion that it's probably best just to use PS fluid.

@NeversayDIEsel
Sure, that is understandable and entirely your choice. I'd still flush the steering box though and refresh the fluid that is in there.
Keep in mind though that ton of folks (myself included) have "blindly" adjusted their steering boxes with no ill effect.

Just make sure to keep some slop in there and it should be fine. Recirculating ball steering will never be as tight as rack&pinion.

__________________
"The MB W123 is so bulletproof, you can drive them forever. Which is a good thing as it takes that long to get anywhere."
Betsie: 1984 W123 300D (hobby, 280k miles)
Myrla: 2001 Mazda Protege 2.0 ES 5spd (daily driver, 130k miles)
The Turd: 2007 Toyota Camry (wife's car, 118k miles)

Once the filter comes, I'm flushing two full Quarts for sure! I'm almost tempted to flush another quart through while I wait for the new filter as the system has been so neglected. When I got the car, it was whining like crazy, I opened it up and found it had no fluid in the reservoir! I quickly topped it off with PS fluid, now I've come to realize that before it was leaking red fluid and since I've started using PS fluid, it doesn't seem to leak very much at all, maybe .75-1 oz lost over the entire year.

Sounds familiar. Betsie had no visible fluid in the reservoir when I bought her either and was whining as well.

She still sometimes whines when I quickly steer from full lock left to full lock right or visa versa, but overall the steering (still) seems to hold up fine, even with it having run way too low for who-knows-how-long, so you'll probably be OK.

__________________
"The MB W123 is so bulletproof, you can drive them forever. Which is a good thing as it takes that long to get anywhere."
Betsie: 1984 W123 300D (hobby, 280k miles)
Myrla: 2001 Mazda Protege 2.0 ES 5spd (daily driver, 130k miles)
The Turd: 2007 Toyota Camry (wife's car, 118k miles)

Just had some time on my lunch break to flush another quart through, just used O'rielly's PS fluid. It's starting to come out much cleaner now, figure 2 more quarts of the stuff plus the new filter should have it good as new. This time I flushed it with the engine off, just by turning the wheel left and right, I found this to be a much lower stress and much more effective way than by using the power of the pump.

I'm planning on just using O'rielly's PS fluid going forward, any reason not to?

I took a look at that bolt you were talking about, Ceristimo. Unfortunately, it looks like someone has already backed it out quite a bit, hopefully this hasn't done further damage. I figure I'll just leave it alone.

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Send me an email & I'll give you a link to the 126 FSM. Streatch did a write up on refurbishing the steering box. There is a specific method of adjusting. I suggest you not just crank on the adjuster without reading the destructions.

I note that the destructions and specs are similar between my SDs and 00 diesel Ram. Apparently all street vehicles need similar steering feel.

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85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.

The pic of mine is shown at a differnt angle but there is about 6 threads exposed on the screw. It does not look much different from yours and I was able to adjust mine.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel