Power steerings use hydraulic fluid to move the piston in the steering box and push the steering rods left or right. As any other fluid in the vehicle’s bowels, the steering fluid has to be replaced at a certain amount of time or mileage, as well as after a maintenance operation performed on the steering system.
Replacing the power steering fluid is not hard at all and can be done right at home using a large syringe and a piece of rubber hose that can be attached to its nozzle. Also, read your vehicle’s manual to see what replacement fluid suits your model.
To perform this operation on a 2006 Toyota Highlander, open up the hood and locate the steering system fluid container. It should be on the passenger side, close to the damper’s mounting point.
Now, with the engine off, remove the container’s cap and use the syringe to extract all the fluid. Then pour the replacement fluid in the container according to the indicated level.
Turn on the engine now and do a couple of steering locks both left and right, then check the fluid level and add as necessary.
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