This latest cold snap has my truck puking out PS fluid. It sits in a warm garage all night but sits outside at work, it seems to spit PS fluid out the cap and if you check it is rather foamy. I am going to fill it but is my booster or ps pump done, I run the lucas oil additive that helps it in cold weather but other than that is normal PS fluid. Steering and brakes are acting normal at this point once truck has run for 1-2 minutes when started cold.

Anyone experince this as it has never happened to me before.

Jason

 

hey jason,

i had this problem a couple winters ago. if sitting in cold for too long, after starting the truck, it would moan and groan and eventually i found it was leaking from the pump. i let mine go long enough that it started to affect the power assist of my steering and brakes. i tried flushing and refilling - did not work, was advised to replace pump - instead i re-flushed and re-filled with a synthetic fluid.
the synthetic fluid seems to have cured the problem. i have had zero issues since switching to synthetic. fwiw - i used a valvoline product.

hth,
jason

 

I assume a flush means sucking out the current fluid from the resevior, or can you take a hose off somewhere and drain it? I might have to dust off the factory manual it is something I have never done before

 

hey guys

I think I might having some of the same issues. Usually when I drive I hold the steering wheel a little to the left to go straight and when I left off the truck pulls to the right. But today for the first time I noticed when I stop or just press the brakes, the truck pulls to the left even with my hand off the steering wheel, but then when I left off the brake, the truck will pull to the right again.

Any ideas?

I checked my brake fluid and it was a little brown? Could that be affecting it? Or could it just be my brakes all together?

 

i have heard of guys sucking it out and replacing it. i had a shop do mine a couple years ago - they said they flushed the system, so i just assumed, like you, that they removed a hose somewhere . . . sorry, i don't know exactly what they did.

if you were to suck it out and replace it, i would buy an extra bottle of synthetic fluid because you will have to top it up the first time with synthetic after the first round of removing the dino, and let the pump run for a bit to circulate. but i think some dino would be left in the system, then suck it all out again and top up with synthetic - after that i think it should be good to go. i am not a mechanic by any means so i would consult someone else prior to doing this. . .

later,
jason

 

i don't think your problem is related - you mentioned brake fluid - we are talking about the fluid in the power steering/brakes assist pump, not the fluid in the master cylinder of the braking system. our symptoms are loss of the power assist while braking and steering, as well as overflow from the cap of the ps pump. all this due to COLD weather (dino fluid becomes too thick/viscous, thus taking the path of least resistance)

jason

 

GW, mine just did it here on the weekend. I was freaked as I thought my steering box just puked a seal. But it was from the cap.

Oh and don't buy that pre-mixed 50/50 long life Antifreeze.. I got a case of that from Frieghtliner and did a flush over the summer. My Espar went down on overheat and found my engine was a Slurpee!!! -37 rating my rear!!!

 

Easiest flush method

Pull the return line off, point it into a pail, and start the truck, have the cap off, and be adding the new fluid as fast as it will take it. When the fluid coming out, is the same as what is going in, you are pretty much flushed, shut it down, do up your connections, top it off, and drive away.

 

YIKES!

Did you replace your PS oil with Synthetic then LD? I could only find the lucas additive and put that in to top it up but I am still looking for a synthetic in town.It isn't whining anymore but we will see when I leave the office today

J

 

No Synthetic yet.. I want to go to synthetic in the PS.. It puked again this morning. Seems that it can't take full return when the pressure relief lifts in the PS pump/reservoir. All that flow just comes out the cap.

 

Are you guys using P/S fluid or ATF? Not sure about the 2nd gens but my '03 calls for ATF the in P/S system. ATF has more antifoaming agents in it then P/S fluid does. I've swtiched a few of my vehicles over to ATF from p/s fluid. Seems to work well for me.

 

nailed it. all you need to know about flushing a ps system right there. get someone to cycle the steering a couple times to help flush the box if you want.

 

You can get Redline synthetic PS fluid at Mopac. '03+ call for ATF+4 like Clay said. I switched mine once-didn't seem to like it as much as the Redline stuff. Mine was still making noise though at the Edmonton meet even with the synthetic.

 

What other synthetics are available? Amsoil?

 

Anyone tried the Lubegard stuff in the purple bottle? Bill (Infidel) has posted about it a couple times, I'm trying to track some down.