Noisy Power Steering

LightningCrew · #1 11-29-2005, 02:03 PM

{Posted in "Other Powertrain", but not sure how many people read that forum}

Just had my transmission rebuilt and after driving the truck a few days, I have found I have an intermittent buzzing noise (sounds like an electric razor in the dash). At first I thought it was something to do with the tranny, maybe something electrical, but after playing around with it some, I found it only occurs when idling in OD and that the noise fluctuates when I turn the steering wheel. Buddy of mine who has been a life-long Ford man says he thinks it is the steering pump going bad. I also read another post on here where someone went in for a tranny flush and that the shop accidentally flushed the steering pump lines instead of the tranny lines. Is it possible that this occurred and maybe they put the wrong fluid back in?? I checked the fluid level and it is full - in fact, it is a little over the MAX level. I read the manual and it says not to go over that level. Could it having too much fluid be causing the noise??

I have not called the shop to ask if they made a mistake because I really don't expect them to admit it if they did.

Any help or info is appreciated!!!

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adrianspeeder · #2 11-29-2005, 02:19 PM

Ford says that the P/S fluid is good for the life of the truck, and no scheduled maintenance is required. I call BS on that and simply use a turkey baster to quickly drain the reservoir every other oil change, then top off with fresh Mercon ATF. It's only about a 1/3rd of the total fluid, but once you do it a few times you should be good to go.

Super quiet operation and no pump failures here.

Adrianspeeder

WVtrucker · #3 11-29-2005, 07:16 PM

Mercon ATF in the powersteering..... wow, glad i haven't had to add anything. I would have put powersteering fluid in it without a thought. Not sure how much difference there really is though.

Fords are notorious for power steering pump noise. Check the fluid level. I baked one once by doing the stupid thing of taking the ps pump off to change the water pump (thats a whole other saga in itself) and all the fluid ran out of it. I then proceded to drive it for a couple days until I noticed it wasn't working very well. I guess with all the antifreeze and stuff I missed the PS fluid on the floor. Live and learn.

adrianspeeder · #4 11-29-2005, 08:08 PM

I don't really think it matters. Just makes it handy that the PS/transfer cases/manual trannys/and auto trannys all take Mercon or mercon V for the 4R70w.

Adrianspeeder