Initial Maintenance - Power Steering Fluid

I noticed the power steering makes a slight bit of noise on the Mustang when turning at low speeds.  It isn't anything significant so I really did not think much about it.  When putting in the steering limiters, I was turning the wheels side to side in the garage and fluid squirted out the overflow hole in the power steering reservoir.  This caused me to look a little closer to see how bad the power steering fluid looked and I thought it best to look into a bit further.

I have a large syringe that came with a hydraulic clutch kit that I used to pull a little fluid out of the reservoir.  It was a fairly dark brown color that makes it appear rather old.  I checked the receipts I was provided and the owner replaced the steering rack in October 2024.  When that happened, they charged him to flush the power steering.  Either they didn't do the job or there is something else going on with the system.

I decided that I would just use the syringe to get all the fluid out of the reservoir.  As I did so, I noticed that in the fluid seemed to be something black suspended in the fluid that didn't fully dissipate.  The lower the fluid level, the more of that black fluid was in what I removed.  I'm not sure if it is black from deteriorating hoses, wear inside the pump, or residue from the back rack that is still in the system.  

Rather than get covered in fluid, trying to fully pump it all out, I just added new ATF.  I then drove the car around a little expecting the new ATF would clean the system a bit and I'd just keep repeating this until the system looks clean.  After driving it for a few miles, I used the syringe again and the fluid looks even darker now that before.  Before, the fluid was a little translucent when held to the light but this really isn't.  Perhaps that is due to everything circulating as I had not driven it lately when I first pulled some from the system.  

With the color of what is coming out, I think a full drain is in order.  If the older, darker stuff is setting at the bottom, a full flush might be the only way to remove it.  To do that, i really should replace the hoses.  Since I don't have hoses, I'll refill it, drive it some, and maybe repeat the process to see if things get any better before deciding how much I want to invest in this project.