Cold morning steering a bit stiff

[JExpedition07]

on days below say 20 degrees the Expeditions steering is a little stiff. When it warms up is loosens up, nothing bad but noticeable. Should I be expecting to put in a new power steering rack and pump in eventually? Only on cold days it happens on startup and it’s not hard to turn just noticeably a bit tighter until it warms up. Seems like I always want to be fixing something even when nothing’s broken lol. Guess I’m just curious as to why this happens.

 

[gixer2000]

I would assume the fluid is thicker when it cold and once it warm up flows better. I noticed a similar thing in my 07 the first winter I had it but replaced my fluid with transmission fluid and hasn't happened at all since. We even had days way below 0° with no issue.

 

[1955moose]

I believe you should be running mercon v synthetic, guys is that correct for his year?

Sent from my N9131 using Tapatalk

 

[gixer2000]

I believe you should be running mercon v synthetic, guys is that correct for his year?

Sent from my N9131 using Tapatalk

Yes, Mercon V

 

[JExpedition07]

Maybe I’ll swap out the fluid I doubt it’s ever been changed. I’ve slowly been changing all the fluids over. I’ve done the coolant and I had the tranny fluid and filter changed a few miles back.... the tranny fluid change made the transmission act much smoother, really helped alleviate the 2-1 downshift “bump” and smoothed out the hard shifts I was getting.

 

[gixer2000]

Maybe I’ll swap out the fluid I doubt it’s ever been changed. I’ve slowly been changing all the fluids over. I’ve done the coolant and I had the tranny fluid and filter changed a few miles back.... the tranny fluid change made the transmission act much smoother, really helped alleviate the 2-1 downshift “bump” and smoothed out the hard shifts I was getting.

I still gotta do my tranny. I do all my own fluids except the tranny so gotta get it in my local trans shop.

 

[JExpedition07]

I still gotta do my tranny. I do all my own fluids except the tranny so gotta get it in my local trans shop.

Mine has been getting better and better after the miles have went on after the change, feels like a new transmission. I was starting to get the hard 2-1 downshift “bump” where id feel it in the truck, that’s gone now and overall it’s smoother. Guess I’ll be putting V in the PS reservoir.

 

[JollyRoger]

Yep try flushing the fluid first, before throwing parts at it. Mine was also stiff and noisy when cold, and looked like coffee. It had never been changed before. (2010, 156K miles). I was also starting to get a 'binding' when turning the wheel. Did some research and found out the u-joints on the steering shaft tend to wear out. This binding started after a week of bad winter weather with lots of salt on the road. So while changing the PS fluid, I decided to give the 2 U-joints a WD40 bath and that was all it needed. Now everything is smooth, quiet and perfect, even when cold. Use Mercon V, 2 quarts should be enough for a flush. There are some great YouTube videos on how to flush it.

 

[Plati]

Yep try flushing the fluid first, before throwing parts at it. Mine was also stiff and noisy when cold, and looked like coffee. It had never been changed before. (2010, 156K miles). I was also starting to get a 'binding' when turning the wheel. Did some research and found out the u-joints on the steering shaft tend to wear out. This binding started after a week of bad winter weather with lots of salt on the road. So while changing the PS fluid, I decided to give the 2 U-joints a WD40 bath and that was all it needed. Now everything is smooth, quiet and perfect, even when cold. Use Mercon V, 2 quarts should be enough for a flush. There are some great YouTube videos on how to flush it.

I had the U joint problem, guess that's typical across a wide range of vehicles. Yes you can spray it as a temp fix but it came back for me (worse) so I replaced it. The tell tale symptom is when you go around a corner the steering wheel does not return on its own - you have to muscle it back or you keep turning (bad). Also, it binds at certain points around the turn. I had to learn how to use force or not during a turn. That was just too tricky and not safe for me so replacement.