2002 GC Steering Noise...

I have a 2002 Grand Caravan. When the van is "cold" first thing in the
morning, there is a nasty noise coming from the steering system -
kinda sounds like Godzilla.

Once the van has warmed up - after 20 or more minutes, the noise goes
away.

This noise is directly related to the movement of the steering wheel.
If the wheel is striaght, no noise, when I turn the wheel - LOUD.

I presume that this is the pump working very hard. I have checked the
Power Steering Fluid levels, and all is fine there.

There is about 98,000 km on the van, and I have an extended warranty.

I am just looking to see if there have been any common issues with the
pump and/or steering rack before I take it in. I like to at least have
an idea of what is going on and make suggestions when I take my car
in. In many cases my suggestions have lead to resolution to the
problem!

All advice and opinions appreciated.

Thanks

 

The first thing to do is have the P/S system flushed and clean fluid added.
Not a warrantable item

Glenn Beasley
Chrysler Tech

 

I thought maybe that was the case. My owners manual says that the P/S
fluid is ATF+4, so I guess this will be a "chrysler only" flush & fill
then.

Any idea what the approximate time / cost is?

 

MY 2002 GC had a groaning whining steering issue more than once.
The first was covered under the C20 recall, the ps hoses had too much
curvature and over time did not hold their shape, resulting in the hose
pinching and restricting the flow of fluid.

It happened again after the recall repair and they claimed the ps pump
was bad and the resevoir was leaking.

With extended coverage the repair was mostly covered, but most
importantly the fluid and labor were covered.

 

Mopar branded ATF+4 is available in WalMart now - cheaper than from the
dealer. They also carry their in-house Super Tech brand of licensed
ATF+4 for even less $$, but I don't trust it, or let's just say I'm not
willing to take that risk - but that's just me.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

Walmart Canada?!

 

sound like a bad pump

 

typical dealer response lets sell them maintence before we fix the real issue

 

Actually judging from the number of posts I've seen here and elsewhere
in which flushing the p.s. with new fluid fixed noise problems, I'd say
that was good advice.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

really i can't even count how many p/s pumps i have replaced for the same complaint
gm too

 

This is what I suspect.

I had to replace a pump on my 1994, but that was at more like 180,000
kms! NOT 98,000 kms!

Then again, I did not purchase my 1994 until about 125,000 kms. So
maybe the pumps only last between 80,000 and 100,000 kms! That is
pretty damn bad if you ask me!

It will take me a while to get on with having this addressed, but I
will post back updates.

 

Glenn has been a frequent disperser of knowledge here; please don't bash
him. I for one would hate to lose his assistance and expertise in this
forum.

 

Steph,

This personal feud has been going on here for longer than you'd care to
know. Glenn has shown that he can take care of himself and Philthy also
contributes to this newsgroup as well.

Bob
..

 

it's the truth i know i have seen it and still do esp. were i work now
sorry you don't like it come to think of it
a guy comes into my shop today with a noise his van makes backing up
i find a worn motor mount and a bent upwards skid plate smacking the all
wheel drive unit so we bent the skid plate bac and let him go no charge and
i say if it is fixed ok, u owe us 3000.00 grand if not we will need to
replace that mount so it sits higher
he laughs and tells me how the local dodge dealer wanted to sell him a new
trans for 2800.00 then when he declines the dealer states they do it for
2400.00 the guys says no thanks and drives the van away to the local trans
shop that replaces the speed sensor and it's all fixed and that was 75000
miles ago hes at 148 k now.
dealer's suc thats why they try to scam maintence out of customers and the
vehicles go back 3 times befire it's fixed how many times have you heard no
problem found??? glen is the exception and as he becomes the top dog as i
was he will be expected to fix more and more hard warranty stuff while the
lower level techs get all the easy flatrate hours and he will also leave
the dealer, very few techs retire from the same dealer

 

Did you ever get your van fixed? I just discovered I'm having the same
problem If you got it fixed let me know what you did. I'm going to
take the advice from fellow board members and try the p/s flush and new
added.

Thanks

 

This may be unrelated, but I have had a simular issue with both of the
Dodge Neons I own (2001 and 1995).
In my case, this only occurred when it was fairly cold outside. I did
notice that if I plugged the block heater in, there was very little, to
no noise, even at -45'C (my cars only ever get plugged in at temps
below -30'C).

As I mentioned, I do not know if this totally applies to this issue,
even though mine is also steering pump related.

Mike
mlawrenc(at)gmail.com

 

Not yet.

My extended warranty has a $100 deductable per invoice - no matter how
much work is done. So I am looking into a couple of other issues at
the moment. I will likely schedule the van in for a couple of days and
get a loaner some time in the next month.

I'll let you know how it goes.

 

If you notice when the temperature gets cold outside the complaint of Power
steering noises start to rise with the vans,convertibles, Pt cruisers and
so on.And im sure other manufactures as well) The fluid does not circulate
very well on cold mornings and that is the most common fix is to flush the
fluid. You keep selling those pumps Dirty!!! And you keep telling people
they are fixing the noise. But the real fix when you replace those pumps
is because when you remove the pump you are removing the old fluid and
install new fluid......so what is fixing the problem? The pump or fluid. I
will give you a hint (ITS THE FLUID)

Glenn

 

I will see what the dealer recommends. I have no objection to a little
preventive maintenance. After all, if I do that, and the noise
persists, then they have NO CHOICE but to fix the problem under my
warranty! Certainly not the worst that could happen. And at that point
the problem would either be the rack or the pump - neither of which I
would really want to pay for out of my own pocket!

And seeing as I likely have a van with 98,000 kms, and the original
fluid in the P/S system, then it is probably good PM to flush the
system anyways.

Thanks Glenn

 

When my 02 Grand Caravan was near new and still under full factory warranty I got a recall notice in the mail that the power steering hoses were defective and needed to be replaced. After taking it to the dealer for this, the power steering started making those noises when I started it cold in the morning. It took 3 or 4 more trips to the dealer for them to get rid of the noises. At first they told me that the problem was "air trapped in the system" and tried to bleed the air out by just turning the wheel all the way lock to lock several times. When that didn't work they flushed the fluid. Twice. But the noise persisted. So they finally replaced the power steering pump. And that fixed the noise. But what puzzles me most about this is that there was never any noise from the system before I brought it in for that power steering hose recall. Was is just a coincidence?