Power Steering reservoir and fluid help

[ChrisUK]

Hi,

I have a late 2004 X5 E53 3.0D and I've noticed that occasionally after driving for half a minute down the road and brake I get a groany kind of noise. I thought it might have been something in the engine not fully pumped etc due to be cold but I cant remember ever hearing this sound in the past 3 years of ownership!

I wondered if it could be something to do with the power steering reservoir. I looked online and the reservoir I seem to see all the time has a different cap to mine?! Mine does say ATF on it and its located near the front of the engine near the coolent cap.

When I unscrewed the cap with ATF written on it I can see that the fluid is bearly touching the bottom of the ajoined small plastic dipstick level.

Once Ive heard the noise as described above it may happen once more but more often that not it never comes back until the following day after the car has been stood for some time. It doesnt do this when engine is warm. Braking and steering doesnt seem to be effected to be honest. The car has 94k on the clock and has been serviced by BMW but no idea as to when the power steering fluid was last changed.

My questions are;
1) I am looking at the correct reservoir arent I (it has ATF on the lid)?

2) Can I use Castrol Transmax DEX III Multivehicle ATF fluid as a topup, drain/refresh? Or does it need to be simply Castrol DEX III?

3) Could this be the problem?

Thanks for your help,
Chris

[Bimmer Tool Rental]

Yes the black canister with ATF on the top is the one. You want just plain old ATF. Dextron, Mercon, or other may not be recommended. If you have mixed you will have to do a full drain and refill. There are articles out there if you search Google on how to do this on a BMW. You should replace this resevoir as it has an integrated filter. If you are hearing a whining likely it is the power steering. Best of luck!

[killcrap]

Originally Posted by Bimmer Tool Rental

Yes the black canister with ATF on the top is the one. You want just plain old ATF. Dextron, Mercon, or other may not be recommended. If you have mixed you will have to do a full drain and refill. There are articles out there if you search Google on how to do this on a BMW. You should replace this resevoir as it has an integrated filter. If you are hearing a whining likely it is the power steering. Best of luck!

You can ignore most of this posters suggestions.

The power steering reservoir will be marked with a cap that says ATF. The power steering system on your vehicle takes automatic transmission fluid. Also known in this case as Dexron 3. Dexron 3 is offically no longer in production as all licenses have expired from GM. In the past BMW supplied Dexron 3 from GM, it is now supplied by the aftermarket community. Any reputable supplier such as Shell, Penzoil, Valvoline, Total that markets Dexron 3 can be used. It is not advisable to use another GM Dexron 6 because of difference in viscosities.

The power steering reservoir does contain a filter, however I have yet to see one need to be replaced, as the cap does a good job of altering the user to use ATF, unless you follow the posters suggestion of putting a different fluid in, you will never have to replace this reservoir. However due to its ventilation system design, the fluid will accumulate carbon and moisture over time as well with heating and cooling cycles can degrade the fluid. It is never advised to replace this filter unless it has been tampered with.

[Elvis 3.0]

others can chime in but I thought Dexron III or higher ATF was the recommended fluid? In any event there are several opinions on the pros and cons of a a top off v. full flush (drain from hose) v. siphon and fill. The most important thing will be to have the proper amount of fluid in all instances. So, the very least ensure that 1) you top off your fluid and that it reads between the lines on the stick on the cap, 2) that you crank the wheel all the way left and all the way right and re-check and re-top off in the reservoir, and 3) I would also drive the car in a parking lot and do extreme left and right and again re-check and re-top off. All this should be done after you decide what route to go down.... here is a well circulate video from BAV Auto that you can watch and Slick has a nice right up on what he did if you do a search

DIY Video – Changing Power Steering Filter and Fluid – BMW and MINI | Bavarian Autosport Blog

[ChrisUK]

Thanks for your input you guys. I did watch that youtube video last night. My reservoir doesn't look quite like that though and appears to be directly joined to the pump itself.

It has a part number of 7692 974 533 by LZ Lenksysteme

Changing the fluid should be simple enough as mine looks pretty dark and is currently just touching the very bottom of the dipstick!

I'll have to look around for the right ATF but I don't know if my local Halfords has any! I've read that it should also be synthetic but I don't think that Dexron 3 was?!

Thanks again