had the ace system fixed but i suspect garage used atf fluid not the cold climate fluid that should be in there, so i would like to flush it and refill. When I removed the filter from the valve block only a tiny amount of fluid escaped. so what would be the best way to flush it?

 

The procedure below has worked well for me in the past. My '00 Disco II has 276K on it and the ACE works great. If your fluid is clear in the reservoir I would not do anything. If your fluid is dark, then follow the procedure below. I use power steering fluid with Lucas Power Steering additive and have had great success. This is what I use in Indiana and has worked fine.
The procedure was one put forth by Disco Mike some years ago.

Reinstall everything. Open the filler cap on the ACE portion of the combined reservoir and fill it with power steering fluid. Start the engine and allow the fluid to circulate. Shut off the truck and use what I have used, a turkey baster syringe and draw out all the fluid. Continue to do so until the fluid in the tank is clear, then add at least 1/2 bottle of the Lucas power steering additive. Should be good to go. Of course, monitor your fluid levels and check for leaks.

 

thanks, i have seen that approach, except the additive bit

 

The ACE and PS systems share fluid. My old truck had ACE but new one does not, so I'm a little familiar with the system.
I wouldn't put any additives in a system with ACE. Instead, switch out your fluid for Pentosin PS fluid in the green can. It's expensive ($30/qt) but it made a huge difference in my PS system when I changed mine recently. I used a baster approach to remove as much of the old fluid as I could, half filled with new, clean, non-Pentosin PS fluid to use as a flush, ran then engine for a few minutes, then used the baster to remove that fluid. Half-filled the reservoir with Pentosin, ran the engine again, then emptied and did the final fill.

 

no they do not share the fluid, as in it is not the same container and you can have different fluids for each, although technique both should have cold climate power steering fluid

 

Yes they do. It's one divided reservoir for both.

 

Hmm, reading the RAVE it seems to imply that the two reservoir chambers are separate, although both systems use the same type of fluid. I know that when I added fluid to one chamber, both would fill, so perhaps mine was broken internally. I stand corrected.

 

yes exactly, they should be separate. i have seen ones as you describe, i suspect they failed internally and ended up sharing the same fluid, which should not be an issue. or maybe it depends on the year model, maybe they did some which were not separate. the fact that they have 2 taps do seem to imply they should indeed by separate.

 

Right. The two caps always puzzled me! I never thought about checking to see if it was supposed to be that way, since nothing appeared to be damaged and both systems worked fine.
In any case, don't skimp on the quality of the fluid you use if you do replace it.

 

hmmm, yes i understand. basically that is why im asking how to flush the system, but i think it is not really possible to do it as I was thinking without being 'intrusive', as in pulling out pipes that can become a leak