We have a 02 T& C that has a noisy power steering. Took it to private dealer where we bought it and there mechanic determined its the hoses and oil cooler? Said there is a TSB on this and Chrysler wont pay for any of it. Has anyone heard of this? The bad thing is it makes noise but its worse at times and better at other times- not constantly loud but I can always hear noise. Also hear clunk in front end when we hit bumps but dealer says nothing is wrong. I was thinking of replacing power steering pump myself but it looks like quite a job. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

The clunk sounds like the sway arm bushes and/or links - I posted a question on this (look at the noisy front suspension) - new bushes and links solved this for me (cost about £100 for parts, including shipping to UK) and about £80 to have them fitted (not by a Chrysler dealer) and there's no clunking at all now.

What sort of noise is your steering making? I only ask as mine has started making a very quiet creaking noise which I think is down to the fact that I put it through a car wash, including chassis wash, and I think that this has washed away lubricant - I suspect and hope where the steering column comes through the firewall.

 

power steering has a whine and it sounds worse when you turn the steering wheel. sounds like pump is going bad but dealer says to refer to TSB and replace power steering cooler and hoses. just don't want to waste a bunch of money right now. i'm layed off from my job so most of the work will be done by me. also the bushings in front make sense to me. also i was to told to check "a" arm bushings. thanks.

 

Mike, this is common on these vans and is normally the result of the filter screen in the resivoir being clogged. Once the filter is clogged, it sucks air into the pump and that creates the whine. A couple things you can do: change out the resivoir and fill with fresh ATF+4, or thouroughly clean it out and fill with fresh ATF+4. The resivoir is not terribly expensive and will be readily available at the dealer (because lots of these get clogged). It is a little more tricky and messy to clean out yourself with solvent or brake and parts cleaner. You just backflush the solvent in, swish and pour out the top several times and thoroghly dry. I did mine about a year ago and its been fine since. There is a 10mm bolt around the back and at the bottom of the unit that is hard to get to when pulling the unit. That and getting as much fluid out of the resivoir before you pull the hoses are the toughest things. If you do replace the unit, get it first so you can see where that bolt is. Good luck.

 

WOW, I never would have thought this would have a screen in the resivoir. Nothing in my haynes manual that shows it but you know how good those manuals are. Would you recomend flushing the entire system or do you think I would be ok changing resivoir and adding fresh atf. This makes perfect sense since I kept thinking everytime I looked at power steering fluid that it had oxygen bubbles in fluid. Also if i took cap off and turned wheel both ways i can bleed a little air out of system. Thanks for info. Gonna call today and line up new resivoir and hoses and power steering cooler per TSB that Chrysler put out.

 

ACTD, I had a ford focus that was doing what you descibe and i determined that it was struts were a little dry where i watched them turn on plate at top so i sprayed some wd-40 on it and sound quit. would start again after a while. i know you dont want to gob on a bunch of grease as it holds dirt. not sure what permanent solution would be but its some place for you to look and it wont cost much to try. good luck

 

Thanks. It's going in to my local (non Chrysler) garage in the next few weeks prior to MOT, for a service and new cam belt, so I'll add this to the list of things to get checked.

 

Have you checked the tsb on the power steering resevoir, I replaced mine last fall after having it for almost 3 years and I no longer have any noise. It wasn't a tsb for 2001 but I beleive it was for 2002.

 

I haven't been able to access the TSB's on my van yet online without paying for them. I am ordering a resevoir on friday from chrysler and will install this weekend. I hope it takes care of it. Thanks for tip

 

Well, I replaced the power steering resevoir yesterday and also put aftermarket inline screen filter in return hose. Steering works great now with no noise. No alls I have left to do is bushings in front end. Saving that for a more mild weather day. Thanks for tips guys.