I have a 1990 Honda Civic & the power steering cylinder is leaking & it calls for HONDA ONLY P/S Fluid. The problem is I'm over 150 miles from the closest Honda Dealer.
Has anyone else run into this & does anyone know if you can use another fluid???? It sats in the owner manual that use of ATF may damage the system.
Thank.

Craig

 

We do not speak of the "others".

lol jk :P

 

Other fluids may not be viscous enough for the pump, meaning it's working harder than it should be... Stuff like this I would personally drive the 50 miles, just to be safe lol. But, it's a 1990, if you want to risk it than it's up to you.

 

Yea I'm going to have to park it. The problem is the round trip is 300 miles. We'll have to take the old stand by, our Blazer. My wife has a job that is 78 miles away tomorrow & boy it is hard to drive the Blazer at 16-18 MPG when the Honda gets 35-40 MPG. But it isn't worth taking a chance of messing something up. After looking at a diagram of the Rack & Pinion it appears there is a return hose real close to where I see the leak. I have to put it on ramps to get under it to really get a good look. So we'll drive the Blazer & Saturday I'll get it on my ramps & hope it is just a return hose leaking.

Thanks guys.
I asked this question on the Honda Civic Forum but there are mostly young people over there & not a lot of mechanical experience, so I thought that somebody over here might also own a Honda & ran into this problem. I get a lot of great info here & completely enjoy being a part of this board. Most of my experience is Ford, GM & Chrysler. I left the 1 off & just went back & fixed the distance to a Honda Dealer.

 

Wow, 150 is alot further lol.

I can't see a Honda Civic forum being full of experienced people with mechanical knowledge lol... just the age group that most Civic drivers are.

 

I got an answer were I didn't really expect the to find it. The Honda Civic Forum one of the guys there ran into this himself. He said he called Lucas & their Power Steering Stop Leak will mix with Honda. He also told me that he has seen P/S oil that is compatible with Honda in the parts house. So somebody aftermarket is making an oil that will work. We have a NAPA Store here so I'm sure they will have it or be able to get it.

I apologize for posting in the wrong section. Thanks to the Mod that moved it. Again I apologize, I wasn't paying attention. I seldom ever post anything that isn't Blazer related.

 

Actually i've seen WAY more technical information on a honda forum than i have on this one....
I see WAY more "Yeah i had my mechanic do...." on this forum than any other i go on....

 

The http://www.hondacivicforum.com/forum/ is pretty good. There are a bunch of good people there. But a lot of young kids that want to learn & ask questions. I'm really one of the old men over there but it is all great.
My problem turned out to be a pin hole in one of the rack & pinion bellows. They hold fluid.
So I turned the hole up & for now I'm good. I will order a new bellow.
Napa had Honda P/S Fluid.

 

Good, glad it all went well.