91 explorer power steering issue

[beachfairy]

I have that power steering whine thing going on. Here is my question:I recently acquired this vehicle. On its second day with me-it refused to start and i had to have it towed. When the tow guy came-we had to push it and turn it out of a parking space. The tow guy turned the wheel to the full lock position-at which time i noticed the milky brown-ness of ps fluid on the pavement. at that time i didnt know it but after reading this post-
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=129579

it could mean that he blew the seals out of my steering system?? I dont recall the whine prior to this. Bummer-annoying. where are these seals? many and numerous or what? Steers just fine - just makes that noise. Thx

 

[Rick]

Have you checked the fluid level since then? When operating the steering with the engine off the reservoir cap is usually the first thing to blow. Sometimes the cap will remain on, but fluid gets forced past the o-ring.

 

[TedJ]

Yep if you turn the wheel to full lock rapidly with the engine off, fluid will spray out of the PS resivor. I found this out the hard way, I was working on the truck, had the front end jacked up, and wanted to move the tires so i could get better clearance for whatever I was doing, cranked the wheel quickly to full left and it sprayed fluid all over the underside of my hood, the fender, and the engine. It made a @&$&#! mess. My hood liner still has a oily spot from it... and it scared the heck out of me.

-Ted

 

[beachfairy]

ps issues

Yeah feeling a little bit stupid. The fluid was low-i did know to do this just...
at any rate-some improvement with the noise but what does that milky coffee colored ps fluid mean? Time to do something.

This is my first explorer and first ford in awhile-I am liking it but it seems to be keeping up with the Fix or Repair Daily scenario. It has lots of issues-the power windows dont operate-the motors run so i guess i have to take off the door panels and get a look at that problem.

Thanks for the assistance....I did find a lot of useful info on here about the U-joint/vibration on acceleration issue-going to try to change that on the weekend.

 

[shamaal]

FWIW, Autozone has the power steering pulley removal tool as a loaner.