power steering squak on start up?

[Bulli]

I start my car today. It sat all night in temps between 10-25 degrees Fahrenheit. I start the car this morning and there is a noise for about 2 seconds.. Goes away for 2 seconds and comes back for 1 second...... It sounds like the power steering pump.. I don't think it's the engine but i don't know....
After the car is warm up or you restart it, there is no noise.


The car is a 02 with 40k miles on it and probably original fluid.
The car is hard to steer when cold to and i can hear and feel the power steering pump struggling.

i looked trough the garage and i have STP power steering fluid and Prestone power steering fluid for GM cars... both are about half full. And probably sat for at least 2 years.

I am planing on pumping out the fluid from the reservoir and putting in the STP fluid in for a really short period of time..
probably under 50 miles. Repeat steps and add the Prestone. Drive for about 100 miles. I will be going to Wall-Mart today and will get some better Power Steering fluid for the car.

Q. Is ATF type F fluid ok? better then PSF?
does ford recommend any specific type of fluid?

 

[xpeteyjtx]

Hey,
What car do you have? Have you checked the manual for fluid specs? You can certainly do the siphon/refill method, but I would drive it for about a week, not 100 miles. There are other methods also, but I will let others with more experience help you out.

How many miles on the car? Original belt? Original tensioner? Belts/tensioners sometimes make more noise when its colder, especially on start up.

 

[Bulli]

its a 2002 Ford escort Zx2, 40k miles.
All belts original....
You make a good point with the belt idea.
thanks ill look into that

 

[cos]

Definitely siphon out what's in the PS res and refill it with your PSD fluid. You might want to try that once a week unitl you've used up what PS fluid you have on hand then do it once/yr with Mercon V ATF.

I had a '99 ZX2 (great little car!) for 7 yrs. I siphoned out the PS res every other year and refilled with Redline D4 ATF - the steering was always smooth and quiet regardless of temps.

 

[OVERKILL]

Mobil 1 ATF, Amsoil ATF or RP ATF. I've had phenomenal luck with all of them in Ford PS systems.

Ford calls for ATF in their PS pumps.

 

[Bulli]

well i ended up buying Prestone all mileage power steering fluid w. stop leak and conditioner.

It was 3.17 for a 32 fl bottle.

I already put the STP in there and after driving around the block 2 times the fluid is as dark as it was in the beginning.. Boy talk about filthy...

Sometime this week i will repeat this step and use the regular prestone i still have.... then i plan to put in the one i just bought and keep it in there if it will be all clean already...


would there be a problem if i don't use ATF?


On the prestone bottle it states" Formulated for use in GM, Ford, DimondChrysler, and most foreign cars and light trucks"

 

[OVERKILL]

ATF is typically "better" than PSF. Ford pumps operate at high pressure, which is why they call for ATF.

 

[Whimsey]

Originally Posted By: Bulli
its a 2002 Ford escort Zx2, 40k miles.
All belts original....
You make a good point with the belt idea.
thanks ill look into that


Try a true synthetic Mercon or MerconV ATF. Do a 2 quart "turkey baster" fluid exchange over a course of several weeks of driving. This should replace the factory fluid with the synthetic ATF. Your cold sluggishness should improve.

As far as the noise I have a Zetec 1996 Contour with the same steering set up as you and it makes an extremely brief squeal at start up. It also does this in the warm weather, especially wet weather. I've recently had all my belts and tensioners replaced and it did not help the squeal. I live with it. My Contour PS uses Type F ATF. I waited 9 years to chance the factory PS fluid. I replaced it several times with Type F fluid and it did not change the shifting, still ok in the winter. But new fluid has to be better for the seals and the rack and pinion unit.

Whimsey

 

[PT1]

Try RP Maz EZ ps fluid...it will quiet that pump. Eliminates the famous GM pump growl.

 

[charbaby]

I start my car today. It sat all night in temps between 10-25 degrees Fahrenheit. I start the car this morning and there is a noise for about 2 seconds.. Goes away for 2 seconds and comes back for 1 second...... It sounds like the power steering pump.. I don't think it's the engine but i don't know....
After the car is warm up or you restart it, there is no noise.


The car is a 02 with 40k miles on it and probably original fluid.
The car is hard to steer when cold to and i can hear and feel the power steering pump struggling.

i looked trough the garage and i have STP power steering fluid and Prestone power steering fluid for GM cars... both are about half full. And probably sat for at least 2 years.


Bulli,
What does FORD require for your P/S fluid? I thought it was ATF! Especially in a ZX-2 which is as much Ford as it is Mazda.

 

[Bulli]

it requires Mercon V fluid..
What are the effects of using power steering fluid?

 

[StevieC]

Amsoil makes a really good Power-Steering Fluid they just came out with and I'm using it in my SUV and it really made a difference to the pump noise... No Whine at all now...

 

[charbaby]

Originally Posted By: Bulli
it requires Mercon V fluid..
What are the effects of using power steering fluid?


I don't know! I have heard of using any ATF in a P/S unit that requires Mercon(FORD) or ATF-4(Chrysler) or Dexron(Toyota and others) but not a P/S fluid in a unit that require some sort of ATF as it's P/S fluid. There are others Im sure that have tried with succuss, using P/S fluid in a unit requiring ATF and visa-versa but I really don't know from experience.

I once used STP P/S fluid in a Honda and the Honda hated it. The steering was stiff and the return was poor. So I drained and refilled it with Bardahl Honda Power Steering fluid from Wal*Mart and everything was fine again. I also used Honda Power Steering fluid in a variety of GM vehicles and the Honda Power Steering fluid cured the "Morning Sickness" that the GM P/S units were experiencing at one time.

 

[Bulli]

well i was in a store today and saw some Motorcraft Mercon V
Automatic transmission and power steering fluid. Bought that.!
Still gona use the Prestone for the flush

 

[sprintman]

Loose belt