What could be causing this power steering noise?

[Dave S]

The power steering on my 2000 AWD Explorer makes a growling or rumbling noise when turning it to the left or right at slow speeds It typically happens after you have come to a stop and are backing up or trying to park and turning the wheel either left or right. There is no noise in normal driving when turning corners. Plus the car must be warmed up since the noise does not occur when the car is cold. For clarification, the noise I am talking about is not the normal noise you get when turning the wheel to the full lock position. This noise occurs while the wheel is being turned.

Anyone have any thoughts on what might be the problem here?

 

[96limitedX]

ford PS pumps are notoris for being loud. the one on our 91 f250 5.0 is brand new and it still whines. not near as bad as the old one. but even with full fluid it still does. but both of the Exs are quite pretty much anyway.

have you checked the fluid yet?

 

[aldive]

Replacing the PS fluid with synthetic PS fluid can do wonders for noise reduction. It worked well for me.

 

[monkeydude3]

Yeah, as long as your fluid is full you shouldn't have anything to worry about. My family has 3 Fords, (explorer, aerostar, F 150) and they all have loud power steering. just kept the fluid full and they keep working. And yeah the synthetic helps too.