Hey guys, I'm beginning to wonder if this just something that all of our Ford's do, or just the ones that I drive.
My 97, my dads 93 f350, and our old 89 f150 have all done this since they were purchased.
They all have a power steering whining sound when turning the wheel, is there any easy fix for this, or is just something I should live with?

 

welcome to the wonderful world of ford power steering pumps. that wahy there are so many tech articles on how to upgrade to a saginaw pump. they even sell brackets for it.

 

Mine has a loud whine also. I was going to flush the fluid since it looks nasty but I will have to look into that pump swap.

 

Someone on another thread recommended using friction modifier.
I haven't tried it yet so I can't tell you if it works.
I also heard it said that we shouldn't use power steering fluid in them. I was told that they required Ford ATF.
Maybe someone who has tried these fixes will chime in.

Randy

 

thats right, tranny fluid. might try a rebuilt form autozone, a1cardone is checker and there junk. i put 4 in a row on my 70 mustang, either they leaked or made noise.

 

It's the way our pumps are made, usually upgrading to a Saginaw will solve this.

 

Mine has always made noise when turning. I recently had to replace it, and the new rebuilt one is even more noisy than the old one. I'm not happy with it at all. I makes noise while just sitting there idling. Its not loud, but I can hear it. It just annoying. I know thats not right. I'm starting to consider the Saginaw conversion.

 

Thanks guys,

At least I'm not only one putting up with this noise


I just put some power steering fluid in mine the other day. Is there anything I should worry about by putting that in there?

 

so far my 92 is the only ford truck of this generation that i havent heard the pump whining in, every other one either did or had it swapped for a 'naw

 

ANY Ford C2 pump (the big ugly aluminum ones with built-in oil reservoir like you have on your truck) will whine eventually if it ain't whining already, it's just the way they are made and swapping factory tires out for a set of big *** tires don't help the situation either. They also like to start leaking around the big o-ring that seals the reservoir to the pump body.

The C3 pumps (small black cast iron, remote reservoir, used on 4.6/5.4 engines)... well I can't say I've ever heard one whine unless it ran out of oil. I am thinking of swapping to one of these instead of a Saginaw but I still need to look into the pressure and flow specs compared to the Saginaw and C2 pumps to make sure it's actually an upgrade performance-wise. Reason I want one of these C3 pumps is because they're smaller and you can mount the oil tank anywhere the hoses will reach. I have a York 210 compressor mounted on a homemade bracket directly above my stock steering pump, so checking the oil level in the steering pump ain't the easiest thing to do. Had to cut the dipstick off the cap so it would clear the bracket when removing it. A remote mount reservoir would be awesome.

 

Wow. Glad I read this thread. The '96 I just bought has been well-used, and I was wondering if the PS pump was going bad.

But it WAS low on fluid, and I poured in some PS fluid, NOT ATF. Did I just kill my PS pump?

 

No, that won't harm the pump, but ATF works better.

 

Your pump should be fine. My 96 had p/s fluid in it when I bought it, PO didn't know any better I guess. Actually he seems to always have taken the truck to a mechanic to be serviced... his mechanic didn't know or care about fluid type either it seems.

Just pull a return line off and zip tie it in a bucket. Have a helper start the engine as you pour in transmission fluid and turn the wheels to circulate the new stuff thru the system. When it starts coming out nice and clean, shut it down, reconnect the return line, clean up and have a beer.

Also, do it in grass or sand or something too, just make sure to keep the dirt out of the lines. Not only does it keep the mess down, but it's easier for the front wheels to turn which will ease the stress on the front frame rails.

 

It's easier to jack the truck up and use a couple of jackstands.