How weird was that? I go to my car after work and it's almost freezing outside. Started the car & upon trying to drive it, the steering all of a sudden became so heavy. Like there was a loss of power. Then after turning the steering wheel left & right a couple of times, the power steering came back. Does this appear to be normal in the cold? Thanks for any suggestions.
Loss of power steering?
- Thread starter murci
- Start date
the cold weather could have cause a sticking valve in either the pump, hydraulic cooling fan or the rack. Also, and more likely, the PS fluid could be low, and it sucked up an air bubble. I would keep an eye on it and try to isolate it. With the right tools, one could figure out what is going on if it was actually still doing it, but if not, its a shot in the dark.
murci, there is another potential here...IF yours is a 2003 SRT-10...there was a recall on the engine cooling fan module on nearly 1300 of that year's Vipers...some of which had power steering failure due to a part migration to the PS system...as you know, the PS pump drives the fans using PS fluid.
Check to see if yours subject to or has had the recall !!!!
Check to see if yours subject to or has had the recall !!!!
Steve- Wow, that totally slipped my mind! good catch... a loose check ball could certainly cause that.
murci, you can go to the Dodge site listed below to see if there are any outstanding recalls:
http://www.dodge.com/webselfservice/dodg...rm%28%27R%27%29
http://www.dodge.com/webselfservice/dodg...rm%28%27R%27%29
Tom F&L GoR
Enthusiast
By posting in this section, I assume the car and fluid are relatively new, but those symptoms are why Cold Climate Power Steering Fluid (a semi- or full-synthetic) was developed. The pump would "push" fluid that was inside the pump itself, but the cold fluid in the reservoir would not refill the pump as fast, so the pump actually sucked air and ran empty for a moment. With use and heat the PSF would tend to thicken, so cold temperature performance will get worse with time. It will also show up if the car sits for an extended period in the cold. Please let us know the outcome.
Tom, I believe that D-C has discontinued the "Cold Climate stuff"...that, coupled with the increased duty load in the Viper SRT-10/Coupe possibly are two of the reasons that 2004's thru 2006's use the Mopar ATF+4 fluid in the power steering/cooling fan system. Certainly some 2003 SRT-10 are now using the ATF+4.
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