power steering pump
 

ive got a 2002 v6, where is it? :P

i think the fluid may be low. when i turn the wheel to the left or right it makes a hideous noise. i haven't looked for it yet because its dark but i kinda want to know where to look ahead of time, thanks.

is it hard to turn it left or right? if its a loud squeaky sounding noise it may be your lower ball joints. i had a problem that sounded like that and happened when i turned

its not hard to turn, it just makes that messed up noise. its got ~95k on it so it could be the ball joints i suppose

ask king he knows about power steering shutting off.

so can anyone tell me WHERE its located?

I cannot rememebr exactly where it is since it's been so long since I've looked at a v6 engine, since I sold my v6. But it will have a large, soild pulley on it with the fluid resivior pretty close to it, w/ a cap on it that says power steering fluid only. It will be on the right hand side when you look at the engine. It's all comming back to me now, you will be able to find it.

alright cool.

do you happen to know what the fluid level should be/is there a dipstick?

It should have a level on the side of it that tells you Max and Min levels for the fluid. If you have never changed it and its low change all the fluid while you are at it. Its something a lot of people never do and wonder why their pumps and or steering racks go bad lol.

yeah i doubt its ever been changed. ive had the car since 47k and its now around 95k. it was full when i checked it but its dark brown/black, soooo this weekend its getting changed for sure.

i popped the hood and turned the wheel and it pretty much sounds like its coming from the pump so hopefully a fluid change will fix it.

If its black your pump might be bad and a fluid swap will not fix the bad bearing in your pump. I would always try swapping fluid first before going and installing a new pump though.

If its that hideous noise that fords are notorious for then nothing you can do bout it except put some good $ into it. When I had a sixer it made like a whirring noise as soon as I turned the wheel even an inch. I tried changing fluid bcuz it was dark and nope new pump and nope didnt fix it either. Mechanics told me rack n pinion but I said screw it and sold it.