"Wrong power steering fluid" ??

[Jeff Appelbaum]

Also at the dealer, I tell them that when the truck is warmed up, at times making a hard, slow turn, the steering wheel shakes, as if the power steering were cutting in and out. They flushed the fluid and tell me they, "suspect the wrong fluid was used."



How can this be? Truck is '05 with about 10K miles, and I am the orig owner.



:wacko::wacko::wacko::wacko:

 

[RobertBob Michael]

Someone may have turned the steering wheel while the engine was not running. This causes air to enter the power steering system. All Explores will do it if the wheels are turned left or right without the engine running. Ford knows about this "little annoyence" but does not have a way to keep it from happening. It should go away with time and driving. Also, make sure that they checked for leakes at the front steering rack. It the rack is leaking this will also cause air to enter this system.



At the dealer they know all this and most likely said "wrong fluid" to cover up an issue that the didn't feel like explainig. As long as you didn't have to pay for "a system flush" you should be OK. Make sure that everything is working correctly after they did the work. If not and you still have a problem, I would take it back and have them check for leaks in the power steering system.



The samething happened to me when I bought my ST.

 

[Jeff Appelbaum]

Thanks for the info!

What year is yours?

 

[Dre L]

If you go to the quickie lube, they may have topped it off with generic Power Steering Fluid, whereas we use Mercon ATF as PS Fluid.



I had a quickie lube guy "top mine off" with a squirt, I have not had any adverse effects, but I make sure that if I can't do my own oil change, I tell them not to do anything other than change the oil and filter, and I watch them like a hawk.

 

[RobertBob Michael]

No problem... My ST is a '02

 

[Hal S]

We have seen SSM's that refer to using Mercon fluid ONLY, and that ANY other fluid may cause noise/chatter issues.

I have seen the Ford "lube techs" using the wrong fluid also, so it isn"t just the quickie lube that might have topped it of with the wrong stuff.

 

[EddieS'04]

I havent research the power steering fluid issue in a long time. I was always under the impresion though that type F trans fluid was good for all fords. I have used it for years in my fords. The Trac is still new. Not sure about it.

 

[Gavin Allan]

My '03 manual says to use "Type F" in the power steering.

 

[Tom Schindler]

Gavin,



Interesting. The manual for my 2002 says to use Mercon Tranny Fluid.



Found an online copy of a 2003 owners manual.



Look where it says what fluid to use in your power steering system.

[Broken External Image]:





Tom