power steering fluids.....

[ulllose]

For some reason I cant use the search feature so I figured I would post.

Book says MOPAR power steering fluid,,,,,,,,,any different than power steering fluid that says meets GM/Ford/Chrysler specs.

Car went extremely hot today and lost most of my clutch, I was sitting in parking lot for about 15 minutes with car running and it was about 93 out, I heard a "ding" and noticed the gauge pegged!!! anyways went to push clutch in and had nothing, so shut car down and let it cool off some and then drove home. I checked my power steering fluid and noticed it is extremely low. Not too sure where it went

 

[ulllose]

Ive read that 04+ cars use the atf+4 but not the 03's. Im guess you would not want to mix the two fluids

 

[Sonoman]

The 2003 model used Power Steering Fluid as a factory fill (Mopar 04883077). 2004+ Vipers used ATF+4 as the factory fill, and it is a preferred fluid. I believe a 2003 can be fully purged of the
original fluid and converted to ATF+4, but do not mix the two together.

Also keep in mind the cold fill line is about two inches _lower_ than the hot fill level, so the fluid level will look quite low even when properly filled when the car has been parked until fully cooled.
If you look at the dipstick there is a "C" level about 1/4-inch from the bottom of the stick. The higher mark is the "H" (hot) level. Apparently, you need plenty of room for thermal expansion here!

 

[ulllose]

Sonoman---thanks for the reply, Im not looking to purge the system at this point, seems like a winter job but i was wondering if the mopar fluild 04883077 is any different than power steering fluild i o=would buy from autozone that meets gm/chrysler/ford specs. I would not think so, but need to know for sure before topping it off. Thanks for the heads up on the marks on the stick, and I did notice and have no idea where the damn fluild went in the first place!! I'm hoping that is my problem why the fans did not turn on.

 

[Sonoman]

As far as the Autozone fluid, I guess it depends on how much you trust the brand. For instance, with Valvoline or Castrol on the ATF+4, they have been certified by Chrysler. For another brand that states they meet the specs but never bothered to get it officially certified, it may or may not be fully compliant. Bit of a crap shoot there, which always makes me a bit squirrelly on an expensive car. Don't know about the Power Steering Fluids since my '05 uses the ATF+4. Maybe do a quick 'Net search on the brand in question and see if it is certified by Chrysler?

If so much fluid leaked out that the cooling fan no longer works, your power steering should be sluggish also. Such a leak should be spottable with an inspection light. Are you sure the fan is not running (it is difficult to see with the hydraulic drive and all the hoses in the way)?

 

[ulllose]

I am not completely sure if fan is running or not, once i made it home the temp went down about to 220-230 and i shut the car off and opened the hood, i was going to start it back up and see what happends but in the mean time I checked the fluild and noticed it very low, so figured I would fill it up first. When i heard the "ding " and noticed the gauge and went to push the clutch in and get moving but had almost nothing for pedal resistance so at that point I shut the car off. Steering felt fine believe it or not, which make me wonder about the fluild being as low as it is.
I dont have a issue getting the mopar fluid from the dealer, but i was in the garage when i posted this and had a quart of valvoline power steering fluid on shelf.
Not a spot of fluid anywhere and I just had the car on a lift switching the coilovers and went over the whole car from underneath. Sure I could have missed something, wont rule anything out.

 

[VIPER R]

The fact that you overheated would lead me to the cooling module. Try turning the A/C on and see if it turns the fans on. Check those fittings and lines for leaks.

 

[ulllose]

Ok, i topped off the power steering with about 3-4 ounces and then started car up, sounded like "something" was making a real funny sound and got louder when rpm's went up. I was under hood looking while opening the TB and could not locate. anyways figure I would take it for a drive and c if I could make the car overheat or go over the 200 mark on the guage. After several runs and letting the car sit and idle it would not go over 200 and the fans were on. Plus did not have that weird sound anymore, not a power steering whine but maybe the fans make a strange noise when low on fluid, idk. I cant believe 3-4 ounces of fluid would make that much of a difference. Yesterday when I said it overheated I never seen any fluid from radiator steaming out or anything but the gauge was pegged at 260 red light on had zero clutch and car was barely running so It was not a faulty gauge the car was that hot! Again checked for leaks and not a drop anywhere

 

[ulllose]

Update---- Put car on lift and noticed the front of the power steering pump has a leak. So time to buy a new one and switch it out so I can leave on the Hot Rod power tour Wednesday

 

[ulllose]

Update, steering pump was bad, I had to get one through the dealer all last minute, so I paid 315.00 plus tax for just the part and switched it out at my house. Pump looked to be leaking around front bearing. The new pump did not come with pulley so had to hit autozone for a power steering pump puller.......just a FYI