Power steering noise?

IDIBRONCO

IDIBRONCO
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I feel that the Saginaw pumps are actually better than the Ford style. Partly because they were used for so long by more companies than just GM, and partly because they don't have the "normal" Ford power steering pump growl". I do love my fords and will not switch to another brand, but I can still poke fun at the power steering pumps and the electric fuel pumps they put into gasoline powered vehicles in the late 80's and early 90's. Both items made a lot of noise when the engines were running.
 

IDIBRONCO

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I suspect it might have more to do with color coding of fluids to find leaks, but I might be wrong.

At least in terms of older vehicles:

oil: brown/black
transmission: red
power steering: clear
coolant: clear'ish (but more watery)
I'm thinking that the power steering fluid is a little bit thicker than ATF, but I could be wrong. I haven't looked into the viscosity of either one. It just seems to be thicker when I pour it out of the bottle.
 

Cubey

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Oh... and the Prestone power steering fluid at walmart said in the fine print on the back not to use for a complete fill, only use for topping off. No idea why.
 

Cubey

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Huh... maybe it was the SuperTech that said it. I didn't like the idea of the Prestone because it has stop leak in it too. When replacing a pump, it doesn't need additives to swell up the seals. The SuperTech didn't have stop leak so I eyed that. I know SOMETHING said not to use it for a full fill, but it seems it wasn't Prestone. I can see the label for that online but not SuperTech. (Edit: SuperTech has stop leak too...)

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chillman88

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I personally haven't heard of ATF eating seals, but I have read about it creating varnish or something like that over time in a power steering application.

For what it's worth, I've been running Dex/Merc in my Dually with hydroboost without issue. I'll probably flush it with power steering fluid at some point, but it hasn't given me any trouble so far.
 

Cubey

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This is what I’ve always used. Says no stop leak in the specifications. They list it as GM, but I’ve never seen that on the bottle, and I never knew. About 90% of what I work on is GM trucks so...

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/PSR9832


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Napa brings up transmission fluid when I search for power steering fluid for vehicle specific on my 85 E350. Without the year it only shows two Royal Purple products, one titled as power steering fluid but the photo shows "max atf" as what it is.

Vehicle specific search on O'reilly brings up this prestone without stop leak: https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/...power+steering+fluid+-+vehicle+specific&pos=1

But I wonder what the difference is between that and the store brand. Oh and this one specifically says Saginaw too.
https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/...oline-club-wagon?q=Power+steering+fluid&pos=0

It's a bit too much trouble to get the ATF out now since it's all freshly done and not leaking. If this pump doesn't last for whatever reason, I'll use power steering fluid next time. Unless I can get a tiny syphon hose in the reservoir around the pump. I could undo the return line, but that only gets out about half by gravity drain. Well, we will see. I might grab a quart when I return the other pump and have it on hand in case i decide to try to change the fluid.
 
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IDIBRONCO

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Unless I can get a tiny syphon hose in the reservoir around the pump. I could undo the return line, but that only gets out about half by gravity drain.
Not to mention that you'll still have a lot of fluid in your cooling lines and the steering box itself. I'd say to run it for now like it is.
 

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