About a year and a half ago my son bought a 2008 Aspen Limited which now has about 215,000 miles on it. He's not a car guy and never checks the oil and stuff. The other day he was complaining of power steering noise and when I went to check the fluid level I found there was no dipstick on the cap like normal vehicles. There was fluid at the bottom of the reservoir, so I just filled it to the top. Does that seem right? The oil was also down a quart, so I topped it up with 10W30 even though the cap said 5W20, but I'm thinking an engine with that many miles would be happier with 10W30 instead of the really thin stuff. Checking the manual it says nothing about the PS fluid level, so I guess people buying these SUVs just go to the dealer. What do you think?

 

The manual does talk about the power steering fluid check on page 398 although it doesn't say much. Just says to add if necessary to the proper indicated level and not to overfill. It's too dark outside for me to look at mine right now, but these reservoirs usually have a mark on the side for the full line and you should be able to see the level from the darker fluid through the reservoir. May have to wipe it off with a shop towel. On page 438 of the manual, it says to use ATF+4 automatic transmission fluid.

 

How much did you put in? the Res should only be filled approx. HALF full to allow for expansion. I had a noisy pump on my 3.8 motor van, and tried Lucas Power steering additive after removing some of the original fluid, it goes in thick but thins right out in use.AND have now had a "normal" sounding power steering system for quite some time now.
A top up of slightly heavier oil in the motor will not harm anything especially in a constant warm climate that does not go below say 35*. But you should do what is called for by the owners manual and fill cap spec. for normal oil changes.
AND teach your son to CHECK and top up all motor FLUIDS regularly to keep that Aspen rolling!

 

Yes I see where it says "If necessary, add fluid to restore to the proper indicated level" but I saw no markings. I was using a funnel and ended up almost to the bottom of the neck. I guess if that's too much it will vent out. But since it was making noise, I assume there's air in the system, which will come out first. I told him to crank the steering lock to lock a few times to purge it before driving. They made a big road trip after they bought it, but now it only gets driven once or twice a week.

 

Okay, so I went out and looked at mine. The first picture is of my reservoir. Best image I could get due to angle. I can barely see a line about a quarter of an inch from the top which says "MIN". I can not see the "Max" line. So it must be close to the top. Second image is from Chrysler's website. I know it's not an actual image, but gives you an idea. Third and forth images are from Amazon. These give you the best look at the marks. The third one is as seen from front of vehicle and the forth would be if you could look at the back side of it. Hope these help.



On my truck. Red line indicates MIN line. Can't see max line.



Image from Chrysler's website.



Image from Amazon. Can barely see lines on right. This side faces front of vehicle.



Image from Amazon. This side faces rear of vehicle.

 

Nice pictoral help there C.C., the vans are similar but shorter with more circumference, but same principal of operation

 

After I topped up the transmission fluid to the bottom of the neck it was driven and now it's about half way down. So I added more to bring it up to the line I can now see. When the Aspen was driven it no longer made steering noises, so maybe that's all it was. But we'll keep an eye on the fluid level.

 

I would definitely keep an eye on it for the next few weeks. Power steering fluid (transmission fluid) is not something that normally goes low unless theirs a leak. Hopefully this is not the case. Good luck and BTW, welcome to the forum.