92 lumina trans/ power sterring help

[phsoccer12]

ok yea im stupid ive already cam to this conclusion but neway what happened happened and now i need to figure out a fix ..i recently got a car off someone and i noticed my e brake gauge was on so i simply thought maybe adding some brake fluid would be ok not thinking i added it to my powersterring fluid spot so now my ps is gone and i have added real power sterring to it since then and it work for a second and then goes out do i maybe have a leak somewhere now and thats why , is there a way to flush my system or something is this really bad for my engine. help needed please and thank you

[jeffcoslacker]

Well, if the fluid level in the P/S resevoir keeps dropping, then you might have blown a seal or hose, but if it is full, but just not funtional, you could try removing the return hose at the steering rack, and let it all drain out, then refill it. If you aren't able to do that, get a turkey baster and suction all the fluid out of the res, refill with fluid, let it run, turning the wheel lock to lock, then suction it out, refill, and repeat until it starts working right. Eventually you will dilute it enough that it should be OK if the wrong fluid is all that's wrong. Brake fluid SHOULDN'T really hurt anything in there, as it conditions rubber and seals, but it would have reduced the weight of the P/S fluid, possibly enough to make it not work.

[richtazz]

try flushing the system like jeff said, and hope that fixes it. brake fluid may not be compatible with the seals in a powe steering system, so you may have damaged all your components. If you would have done the opposite (put p/s fluid in the brake reservoir) you would have to replace everything, as p/s fluid causes seals in the brake system to swell effectively ruining them. I hope for your sake the opposite isn't true.