Power Steering- Friction Modifier?

[fuelrod]

Hi all-
My name is Bob, and I'm new to the forum- it looks great! I'm psyched to find a spot to ask lots of question about my explorer (and hopefully answer some eventually as well!). Here's my first:
2003 Explorer, 44K miles.
Power steering pump replaced @ 15K and 22K miles due to excessive noise when hot, and 'that feeling you get in the wheel when the fluid is low'.

It's doing it AGAIN, except this time it's not whining like usual, it's a lower pitched groan. It first showed up as only a 'dragging' feeling in the wheel, then came the noise. I brought it to the dealer, and they told me it needs friction modifier, and about 2 weeks worth of use to solve the problem. They put the friction modifier in, but were unable to give me an explanation of what the actual problem was or why this would fix it. I can only assume that the friction modifier is an abrasive they're pouring into the system to open up some tolerances... (just a guess). If this were the case, wouldn't ALL explorers need this? I'm a bit uneasy with the way this has been handled, and am hoping that some of you guys might have some experience in this area.

Thanks a ton in advance- I'm looking forward to some good chats!

-Bob

 

[tweakedlogic]

Friction modifiers are supposed to reduce friction inside the pump and steering box. kind of like slick 50 in the crank case. there are a wide variety of opinions on whether or not they work. I personally prefer pure synthetic fluids. I have had the best results with this as synthetic fluids don't have anything that dosen't help with it's job. Such as synthetic oil doesn't have anything in it that doesn't lubricate and clean. Natural oil has all kinds of stuff that can't be removed during the refinment proccess, the stuff that causes sludge and soot.
you can combine friction modifyers with synthetics most of the time. check the lable if you want to go this route.
All my cars are fully sythetic. and every oil change I run a really good fuel system cleaner.
If you pump goes out again, don't replace it with a stock pump. there are several aftermarket pumps out there that are fair better than OEM, for just a little more. If you install it yourself, you will probably save money over having a stock pump installed by the dealer. look into those
good luck.

 

[97BlackX5.0]

welcome to the forum.... a wonderful first question.... hope you get things worked out.... i personally believe a brand new pump should not be worn out in 20k miles.... my truck has the orig pump with 133k on it and no leaks or noises....

 

[Jefe]

Welcome!

Did you or a shop swap out the PS pumps? What type of fluid are you using? ATF or PS fluid? Whats the fluid like (clear, dirty, burned) by the time the pump starts to get noisy?

 

[fuelrod]

Thanks for the replies fellas-
The truck is on it's THIRD ps pump already. Again, it's got 44K miles... :fire: It's all warantee work, so I'm not paying for it, but it's starting to get old... I don't want to keep doing this until my warantee runs out.
To be honest, I don't know what they're using for fluid- it could be ATF... clear red, nice and clean looking.

What are you guys thinking??

-Bob