Hi guys, havent been on here in a while!

Today i was parking the car and when i turned the steering wheel i heard it make the nastiest noise i have ever heard in my life. It sounded like if i were driving the car only with its rims on if that makes sense. Like a grinding but so loud i thought maybe i hit something and got out of the car to check, but nothing. I proceeded to drive home carefully since it scared the heck out of me. Once the car cooled i had someone look to see what was wrong and when they checked the power steering level, the fluid was not only higher but it has a "brown" tinge to it.

Has this happened to anyone? What could it be...?
Im so worried....
Thanks in advance.

 

maybe change the oil, check teh power sterring components, they may be rusted or damaged.

 

Babydoll, does it make the sound as you are turning the steering wheel or just when the steering wheel is turned (ie, held in one position, but the car is undergoing a turn)? If you are not sure, you can go out, start up the car and turn the steering wheel as you are sitting still. It may help to have a second person with you that can keep their head near the front bumper/wheels to help narrow down where the noise could be coming from.

With the brown steering fluid, it is possible that it has gotten overheated and needs to be changed out. Not a hard job, the big thing is breaking a connection fairly low to get the most fluid out possible. Then you remake the joint, fill the reservior up turn the steering wheel a few times and keep adding fluid until the level stabilizes.

Once you can get the noise narrowed down a little more, then we can give more precise help.

 

Thanks guys.
Today i turned it on and had someone with me while i turned the steering wheel all the way, both ways and it did not even peep.
It has been raining here ALOT....been like this for the past week so i thought maybe something got wet?
Anyways thanks again !

 

chances are the noise you herd was the tire rubber on the pavement. At work we have a underground parking garage and the ground is painted with a smooth grey type of paint, the type you would use in your garage at home. Well when the tires are wet or the ground is wet and you do a dry turn you will hear a loude screaching noise and if you are underground it will echo even louder. As far as the colour well that could be a whole new thing.

 

The 06 X-Type I used to own starting making a noise similar to what you describe - especially on rainy days. After being parked for as little as 30 minutes on a rainy day, I'd get in the car, and, as soon as I tapped the brakes, she'd make a very loud groaning, grinding noise. I changed the rear pads and that helped some. Then someone on this forum alerted me to a tech bulletin about the noise being caused by some bushings in the rear suspension. I asked the dealer about it, and, they replaced the bushings under warranty. This eliminated the noise totally. Hope this helps.

Regards:
Oldengineer