3.4 V-6 72,000 mi

Every morning I start my car, I hear a loud whining sound for about 5 seconds (car in garage), which I have found out is the power steering pump. Last week while I was at school (car kept outside in below 0 weather) I had to let it warm up for half an hour before driving, because as soon as I touched the steering wheel, it would whine even more and I am afraid to break something.

When cold, the fluid is exactly like molasses. When it starts to warm up, the reservoir if filled with bubbles. There are no leaks and the fluid is right where it is supposed to be on the dip stick. I don't believe there is water in there, because I don't see any white, milky fluid.

I'm not sure if the pump is going? Rack and pinion wore out? Bad fluid?
I have no other steering issues other than there is a popping sound when turning the wheel quickly to the left. The car tracks straight and no vibrations.

All help is appreciated, thanks in advance.

 

Every so often you need to maintain/replace the power steering fluid with fresh oil .

I have used a kitchen turkey baster to remove mine from the resovoir.

 

Tried that, made no difference

 

Id either look into removeing 1 of the lines and fully drain it...
Or replace the power steering pump.../use it like it is til it fails

Or just deal with the noise....since it disappears....

 

Yeah, since there are bubbles in the reservoir, air is getting in somewhere. It's just weird that there are no leaks.