First I noticed my power steering pump leaking fluid a couple of days ago, and it making a bad noise,now today my brake warning light won't shut off. I thought it might just be a sticking cable due to the freezing temperatures we are having now but no matter how many times I put the e-brake on and pull the release it won't shut off. So I pop the hood to check the fluid level and now the hood pop is stuck and won't let the hood shut all the way. So anyone walking buy can just pop my hood up, not to mention how unsafe it is to drive like this.

And since I bought the truck 3 months ago with 76k on it and no warranty it will all be out of pocket to fix. Not a good start to the new year.

 

as far as the hood goes... pop it up... mess with the latch maybe a little wd40 and eventually you should be able to get it to shut...

 

I tried that with no luck. I think it is the release under the dash, it feels like it is not letting the cable return all the way for the latch to reset itself, if that makes any sense, lol.

 

The cable for both your hood and e-brake could be shot. Shouldn't happen on your truck yet, but it could. The brake warning light also comes on if there's an ABS issue, but I think it might throw a code for that as well.

We get below 0F temps up here 6 months out of the year, well below 0 for a good chunk of that, so I don't think your cables would be freezing, unless of course the shielding was damaged. Soaking the cable in penetrating oil for a few hours at room temperature should rule that out.

Your power steering pump will make noise if it's low on fluid.

 

Man! That sounds bad

 

One problem solved. One, of what looks like a nut to tighten the cabel, was stuck somehow in the opening where the cable goes into the hood mechanism. Once I saw that and pushed in back into place the release popped into place and the hood now shuts.

As for the brakes I have yet to get a CEL, or the ABS light to come on ands the fluid is OK. So my guess is a bad sensor, or something. The brakes are not sticking at allso I don't think there is a problem with the brakes themselves.

The leak in the PS is a fast one, if I fill it all the way, by next day it will be almost all gone. I had not seen any leak when I bought the truck so I'm guessing its new. It looks to be coming froma unit under the truck when I slidunder it to get a look. Probably the PS box?

 

Bobbert,

Lossing all your PS that fast should make finding the source easy. There have been problems with the 2003-4 hoses and fittings. Some have corrected the problem with just a better quality clamp. My hose was replaced under warrantee, just short of 36,000 miles.Check the simple stuff frist.

Just a word of advice, my power steering requires AFT +4. Been told that universal fluid will damage the internals and seals.

 

yeah use a couple hose clamps and replace all the clamps from the Stg rack to the pump, and deffinitly make sure to use ATF+4....Pwr Stg fluid will damage the seals....as for the brake thing, you could try adjusting the parking brake...kind of a long shot but it might be worth a try

 

hanks for the tips. Hopefully they work.