dsl21

Hi , when I start my truck in the morning ,temps in the 20s , when I turn the wheel,or step on the brake, something makes a groaning noise,and the brake petal viberates,after warm up it acts like normal, how can I fix this, thanks

daveg

That "something" is your power steering pump, which also provides power assist to the brakes. Dumb idea...when the pump goes out, you loose steering & brakes. The truck can be driven that way, but you'd better eat your Wheaties &
leave plenty of room between you & anything ahead of you. I just replaced the pump in my '99, $65.00 & $45.00 core charge. Moderately difficult job, takes a 15mm wrench & deep socket to get it off.
Hopefully you are just low on fluid & need to see if there are any leaks in the various hoses, or at the seal at the bottom of the steering box above the pitman arm.

Red3quarter

Mine does the same thing when it gets below zero, i've been told it just because everything is cold. Once I go down the road a few miles its warmed up and fine. But at 20* my truck doesn't do that.

PoorMansCat

could be some moisture/water in the system. When the temps get really cold, the water could be freezing... You might drain and refill the entire system and see if it helps???

dsl21

is this a weak thing for these trucks , should I refill with lucas

Doj Dewd

i had the exact same issue. don't change the pump yet, flush the system and switch to synthetic.

this fixed the problem on mine.

when it's really cold the conventional fluid becomes very thick and creates massive pressure. when this happened on mine it would actually gush out of the ps pump cap, check to see if yours is doing it also. synthetic does not get nearly as thick at the cold temps. regardless though, try the synthetic first before you change a pump.

daveg

Good idea, I'm going to switch to synthetic, it get's pretty darned cool here.

torquefan

There is a p/s additive called "Lubegard" that is very successful in dealing with these cold weather problems. I usually combine it with a fluid flush.

dsl21

thanks guys, I will give that a try

BigGameJames

ya mine does the same thing but just recently it started doing it WAY more...i want to try the synthetic before anything else...what synthetic should i go with?