Power steering fluid all bubbly!

[LDTexas]

Too much New Year celebration?? Ok really, what a way to start the first Monday in 2010! Now I need some feedback. Here's what happened...
Weather temps dropping this week so I moved my 2001 Dodge 3500 diesel close to the garage so I could plug in the heater last night. My truck has always had some power steering issues since day 1 (bought it used in '01 with less than 5000 miles) but nothing that I could pin point at that time. With age, I've noticed when she's cold, the power steering is not smooth and tends to growl at times unless you're accelerating (thank goodness for standard transmissions). Well last night, I cranked her and moved her about 10 feet and killed it. Plugged in the heater, did a quick check on the drive way for any fluids and there it was... power steering fluid hitting the ground. It was literally bubbling out of the canister. Hubby opened the canister and the whole thing was frothy. Naturally that meant putting fluid into it before driving off to work this morning. So what's going on with my girl? :confused:

[keydl]

It has to suck air into the pump to generate foam, it could have been low on fluid. A leaky front seal can cause that but it usually shows leak on the ground and the level is low.

It will probably need blead to get the air out, moving very slow dial the steering wheel lock to lock 3-4 times starting with the resivore full, stop the engine and refill. Repeat until the fluid level stays full.

Sucking the current fluid out is good if you have the stuff to do it, and filling with new. A partial change like a filter change on the transmission.

[LiveOak]

LDTexas,

Welcome to the forum! I suspect the power steering fluid reservoir was low (and/or in poor condition requiring replacement) and air became introduced into the fluid when the engine was started and the pump started circulating fluid.

The cold weather aggravated this condition by greatly increasing the pour point or ambient temperature viscosity of the fluid.

Try replacing the power steering/brake booster fluid. I replaced mine and the wife's truck by drawing the old fluid out of the reservoir with a oil suction pump I used to use on my Sea Ray when I had it. I have also used plastic 2 stroke oil mixing syringe I purchased at Walmart. In anycase, you want to draw the fluid out of the reservoir as much as possible and ideally empty it, replace with new synthetic fluid (I used Valvoline power steering fluid).

Once you have filled the reservoir back up, start the engine and turn the steering wheel left and right, lock to lock. Shut the engine down and repeat this process until you are drawing out nice clean fluid. It may take a few repetitions of this to achieve the desired clean fluid, but this is the simplest and easiest way I have found to flush/replace the power steering/brake booster fluid.

This cold weather has been tough on just about everything.

[steevecalvin]

Remove the filler cap/dipstick from the reservoir. Withdraw without spilling the fluid using "fluid removal tool," Dispose as per applicable procedure for hazardous material, the spent fluid that you removed.Next, fill up to the recommended mark the reservoir. Take care of the "cold" or "hot" marked on the dipstick and accordingly fill up to the required mark. Now start the engine and move the steering for a few times from left to right a couple of times. On having done this make your final check of the level. This gives you the final level to which the fluid has settled.