Hello All. my neighbor has an 03 GC lately the power steering has been getting noisy. the pump seems to whine more than my 05 caravan. when you turn the wheel there is a loud growling noise which seems to be coming from the rack and pinion.. i removed the hose from the fluid res tank plugged the fitting on the tank and put the return hose in a bucket. run the engine till it started to spit air then poured 2 quarts of atf+4 into the tank while the engine was running when it started to spit air again, i re connected the hose then filled the p.s. tank to the proper level. the noise seemed to get a bit better.. has anyone had this type of issue with these power steering units? the pump seems o.k. just noisy... i do know it is not the upper strut bushings i have delt with these before.it is definately p.s. related i told them to run it for a few days to see if the fresh fluid will help. P.S. i just wanted to add the old fluid that was removed did not smell burned or discolored. i run it thru a filter and no shavings...
vipergg
09-24-2008, 09:09 PM
Yeah this is a common problem . Sometimes it can be fixed by doing what you did and refilling with ATF 4 , other times it can be fixed by replacing the PS reservoir which "supposedly gets slightly plugged in the screen at the bottom of the reservoir. Had this problem on our 2004 and it was mostly fixed by draining the reservoir and refilling though I will reserve judgement until it gets really cold out again when it usually gets a lot worse.
05es
09-25-2008, 09:37 AM
just an update. the neighbor talked to me this morning and said the noise is gone now!! they went for a several hour trip and she had not heard the noise.
JSlot
09-28-2008, 02:35 PM
I'm no expert, so please take my reply for what it's worth! :) I had the same issue with my '03 Grand Caravan (102K miles). There is/was a recall on two of the power steering hoses. I ignored the recall until my power steering started making the sounds you describe. I had the hoses replaced at the dealer and the noise stopped immediately. This is just an FYI. Good luck on your diagnosing the problem.
