[rick100]

So frustrated at the moment. I wake up this morning and I felt the steering wheel is harder to turn than other times , no big deal , I drive to work and it seems fine , however on tighter turns it just does not feel like always. On my way back from work , I go driving around my neighborhood , with windows down and doing 360 turns both ways. Car felt good , however on 1 or 2 turns I felt like the steering wheel was getting harder when I had the steering wheel closer to the either end.

Anyways , I ve had my suspension checked 2 weeks ago due to my cabin being louder and specially louder on a left turn , mechanic tells me everything looks good but it could be the bushing. Not sure if this would somehow make my steering harder?

So today after testing the car, I go open the hood and locate the steering fluid reservoir, just like any other car, I just want to make sure fluid is top up. Here is the problem , I can not open the reservoir, I have tried with a rug, hold one hand on the reservoir , other on the cap to avoid breaking the bracket. It should not be that hard to remove. I was able to remove all the other caps except for the one I need

Here is the question though , is the cap sealed on some cars?? , looking closer with a flashlight it almost seems like it is sealed. But it cant be , how else am I supposed to fill the steering fluid , or check it. I do not want to break it , so as stupid as this question may sound , can you guys please confirm that the cap is not shut seale on some models? . I m pretty sure this is the steering wheel reservoir, location is on the top right , beside the 3 stage intake and it has CHF 11S ONLY which I googled and it is a steering fluid type.

I m willing to give it another go , but I just dont want to end up breaking it . Any tips would be helpful

Btw I inspected the hose and there is not leaks, I was able to inspect the pump and no leaks , also no leaks on my driveway

[ctuna]

Should come off righty tighty lefty loosy.

CHF 11S is steering fluid on these not used
elsewhere. The entire reservoir is pretty cheap.

How old and how many miles on the car?

[rick100]

Originally Posted by ctuna

Should come off righty tighty lefty loosy.

CHF 11S is steering fluid on these not used
elsewhere. The entire reservoir is pretty cheap.

How old and how many miles on the car?

anticlockwise is not coming out , but if its supposed to come out then I ll try a soft jaw plier or something. And yes , it is a cheap plastic reservoir that I m afraid to break.

Its a 2011 328 with 65 k miles. Actually the steering fluid was change like 20 000 miles ago , Im wondering if the mechanic that changed the fluid , put it too tight or something.

I had to hands on it with a rug.

[mecheng77]

Put a cloth with a large pair of pliers. If you break it you can easily buy the reservoir

[BimmerNugget]

I have a 2011 E90 328i as well. The PS Fluid cap should come off with ease. It's like opening a gatorade bottle for me. If yours is stuck on then probably the fluid hasn't been changed and the dirty fluid and gunk binded the cap down.

I would replace the entire PS fluid reservoir since there IS a filter at the bottom of the reservoir. At this point your filter is probably clogged as well. There is no way to replace the filter only, you must replace the entire reservoir. They are cheap tho, like $50 or less.

If you can't get CHF 11S or it's too expensive for you. You can use Prestone European Power Steering Fluid, it meets CHF 11s. That's what I used in my car. $3.97 for 12oz at Walmart.

[OTO335i]

Originally Posted by rick100

anticlockwise is not coming out , but if its supposed to come out then I ll try a soft jaw plier or something. And yes , it is a cheap plastic reservoir that I m afraid to break.

Its a 2011 328 with 65 k miles. Actually the steering fluid was change like 20 000 miles ago , Im wondering if the mechanic that changed the fluid , put it too tight or something.

I had to hands on it with a rug.

How big is the rug your using to open it with? If the rug is really heavy then it would make it harder for you to open the reservoir since the weight of the rug is dragging behind you and you're trying to pull the weight of the rug as your trying to open the reservoir. You should try a rag, its lighter lol (I know you probably meant rag I'm just messing with you)

On a serious note, the reservoir isn't sealed shut so it's possible the mechanic put the cap on too tight. Try placing the rag on it and open it with a big pair of channel locks or something similar. I'm sure you'll crack her open!

[BSM n54iS]

what in the hell is going on here, am I right in picturing somebody having an area rug spread out over their engine bay trying to get the PS fluid res. open?! lol

[rick100]

Lol by rug i meant a towel

Anyways i was able to finally get it open. I almost broke that holder with 2 screws . Got some soft jaw pliers with a small towel around lile someone else suggested. Tried a few times until the cap became loose
Fluid level is good and fluid is very clean . Funny enough this morning my steering wheel felt perfectly normal. Not too tight or anything. So i m not sure what the hell happened yesterday. Maybe my pump is about to go or something..

[OTO335i]

Originally Posted by BdSM n54iS

what in the hell is going on here, am I right in picturing somebody having an area rug spread out over their engine bay trying to get the PS fluid res. open?! lol

lol! I pictured a rug hanging over the fender and onto the ground. One of those thick ass rugs too!

[lukasB]

OP just need to get some pickle jars and practice, you'll get there

[rick100]

hahaha. Actually 2 other guys from work bigger than me also tried and gave up. Same as me , they were afraid to break the reservoir. ( specially the mount)