I had a strange thing happen this morning. The truck started making a heck of a racket when I would turn the steering wheel. Like the power steering pump was going out, or was low on fluid. It would make a lesser noise going straight ahead, but when I turned the steering wheel even slightly, the noise got really loud. Like a groan and chattering sound.

I check the fluids every Sunday. I had checked them just two days ago, all were fine. I checked the power steering fluid, it read full on the dip stick. I looked in the power steering reservoir, it looked low. But on the dip stick read fine. So I added some power steering fluid just to see. Took the truck for a drive, and now it's not making any noise at all. The fluid level is way above where it should be, but the sound has stopped. What the heck could it be? Was it just low fluid level?

 

I hope you used ATF+4 ..... our steering fluid is the same as our transmission fluid. Otherwise you may have a bigger problem on your hands now.

 

Yeah, I knew about that already.

 

Alright, and did you inspect the rack for any small leaks where you may be losing fluid/pressure? And is the wheel hard to turn or anything, or just making a lot of noise?

 

I looked and didn't see any leaks. Wheel turns fine. No noise at all now. I was driving it get someone to bring me home from the shop when it stopped making the noise. So I drove it for another 15 minutes or so, noise never came back. I don't understand how it could be reading full on the stick, then add more fluid, and it stops.

 

maybe you got some air into the system, cavitated the pump somehow and now it's bled out.

 

Yeah, I would let it sit over night and see what it does in the morning. Theres a good chance its a cold issue problem, and when you added more fluid, it just so happened that it warmed up enough not to cause the issue anymore. I know my fluid is about a quarter inch above the full mark ..... I slipped a little and put in too much fluid when I was topping it off once.

 

I'm going to take it for a drive in a few minutes and see if it does it again. Maybe another quick drive after that just before dark.

As far as I can tell it's not leaking any fluid at all. I park in the same place in the drive way, and at work. I haven't noticed any leaks. At least if it is, it's not enough to show up.

 

That would be my guess. Mine growled once and was hard for a brief second, but it only did it once. And it never came back...then I found the fluid was just a touch low.

I did this last time I topped mine off...

 

Well I just drove it to get something to eat and to the car wash. Drove maybe 5 miles and 20 or 30 minutes, and nothing. Thanks for the help.