power sterring fluid
 

hey guys i have the notorious power steering whine, and i heard synthetic automatic transmission fluid helps quiet it down, so next time i change engine oil, im doing the power sterring too. it there any special way of going about this or anything i need a heads up about? a how-to would be nice also. thanks

twist power steering fluid cap counter clockwise

remove power steering cap

fill with liquid

replace cap, twist clockwise

lol

Still have to drain it.

meh.. details

ah yes... gotta the ol' ford steering whine eh??? hell i just turn up the tunes so i cant hear it!!!

yea mine puked powersteering fluid awhile ago when i took the cap off to check the level. then i forgot to put more in and i got that whine. put some in the other day and it doesnt make a sound now

mine does it when full with fluid too.. its all the time just hop in it turn the key and crank the steering wheel and it whines.

mine does it unless i have the motor hot and its been running for over an hour lol, but its loud and obnoctious

Disconnect the return line on the pump.

Disable the fuel or spark so it won't start.

Crank the engine over to pump the fluid out (but not all of it, you don't want it to go dry)

Add fluid.

Repeat until new fluid has cycled through the system.

Replace return line.

Check fluid.

Fix the fuel or ignition.

Start the engine and turn the steering wheel "lock to lock" a couple times. (to get any air bubbles out)

Sit back and drink some beer!

ok sound sgood, thanks!

Before you do the above. Check the bearing on the pump. You will need to remove the belt tension. Then just grab the pulley and wiggle it. If it feels lose your pump is dying.

If your pump is on the way out the fluid swap will not make the sound go away. Trust me, my truck sounds super charged to an extent. However it may buy you some time till it dies.

wait so you are saying you have a new power steering setup?

Well I do, its just in a 302 swap.

What im saying is check the play on the pump. This way you will know if the bearing is going bad or its the ford whine. Mine the bearing is going, but i did flush and fill with synthetic anyway.

thanks for the info

today I drained the reservoir at my PS radiator, then put in about 3/4 of a bottle of Lucas Power Steering additive....night and day difference.
I just put a reman pump on last Feb.

Mobil 1 ATF worked well for me

so you saying its quiet now?

Don't dry steer the wheel, do figure 8's from lock to lock while moving, much better then doing lock to lock while stationary. Just my 2 cents.

it isn't 100% quiet now...but it is a huge improvement. While driving with the windows down, I don't hear it. when moving slowly in a parking lot (backing out of a spot), there is just a little bit.

oh wow, yeah i need to do that. i hear it from the time i start and even going 35 in 3rd. its so annoying! so you got a reman pump and put new oil in it?

yeah, we put a reman unit in from carquest, new ATF fluid. I was a bit hesitant to put the Lucas Power Steering Stop Leak in it...since our fluid is ATF...but did it anyway.

I found a pretty easy way to do it. Pull the low pressure return line at the little radiator and hold your finger over the hose. I let the fluid run down my hand and let it drip off into a pan, didn't really get any fluid anywhere. If I were to do it again, I'd put the whole thing in, but I don't think I drained enough out.

ok thanks for the info. tomorrow im going to stare at my power steering for hours to get familiar with it lol

where is the power steering return line on my 94 ranger xl 4.0 v6 4x4 thanks a lot

The return line is the rubber hose its normaly held on with one hose clamp.

Wirelessly posted

No other way to say it but Try to suck out most of the fluid from the reservoir and the replace with mercon/atf v. Do this like every other day and eventually you'll have all atf in it. I did this for a week and all whine went away. Use a good high quality synthetic or blend Atf.