My dad has managed to top up the oil in his mondeo via the power steering reservior! (The nearest cap to the dipstick)

Ive syringed nearly all of the fluid out of the reservoir, but it looks very like powersteering fluid, not oil (red in colour) looks like the oil is heavier as I worried and has sunk down the pipe.

The car hasnt been run since he put the oil in. If I managed to get the hoses off where they go into the pump and into the rack and get the fluid out will it be enough?

Or will just above the pump be enough?

How different are the fluids?

How much shall i charge for the service!

You could try removing reservoir and flushing out with brake cleaner then refill with fresh fluid

i ran my van for ages with oil instead of ps fluid, no harm that i saw.

Unlikely to do any harm, ATF is a mineral oil with viscosity not far off Zetec spec engine oil.

If memory serves, the two are pretty similar, (both being an oil), diference is that engine oil is more viscous than PS fluid. If you refill the reservoir with fresh fluid, over a period they will combine, and everything should work fine. IMHO Ray

Blast, beat me to it. Memo to self, must type faster.

[Edited on 21-3-07 by Chippy]

Thanks for the replies, very reassuring!

By the way its a Duratec, but im sure the oil isnt different!

Think the Duratec version uses a special fluid for the PAS not ATF.

ATF? I always took that to be Automatic Transmission Fluid am I wrong? Or is this similar to PAS fluid?

Ive drained the fluid up to the pump and refilled with Ford PAS fluid. Should be enough to sort it.

Most older cars used ATF in the power steering.