Power Steering Additive
 

Has anyone used an additive to stop a squeak / groan from the power steering system. I confirmed with the Lucas company that you can use their product with Dexron based fluids. I have no idea what brand would be the best, but if you have experience I would be interested to hear your results.

With the Lucas product you use 20% of the system capacity. Anyone know the capacity for our car?

I have already done a fluid replacement using a pump from the reservoir method. I used 2 qts with plenty of operation in-between to try and get a good replacement without disconnecting a hose underneath.

The squeak / groan only happens right after startup when the car is cold. I am not sure if it is the pump, it is hard to tell for sure.

Speaking in general, for your own car, it is always better to do real fixes in the long run. To me, some of these stop-leak products are really meant to mask problems at the time of resale and move problems on to the next owner. Also, it is always easy to add a product, but do you get it out later? Maybe start by inspecting the belt in case it is contaminated (typically engine coolant, but can be steering fluid too). Maybe pop the belt and spin all the accessories by hand to check for noise and smoothness. Last, do a proper fluid flush. I have not done this on this car, but the best is to disconnect the lines at the rack, drain everything, move the steering left to right to "pump" everything out of the rack, and then refill with the proper spec fluid. Last, top off and make sure all bubbles have been eliminated (an aerated fluid will make noises).

Best of luck, keep us posted.

I know a lot of these products are deemed snake oil but I think this one actually works. Try looking at the rave reviews it gets on Amazon etc.

When I changed my steering fluid I added some. Have a read Click Me to Read

What is the stuff I am using?

This, have a read of these reviews.

I had this problem with my XJ8 power steering. I solved it by the process of emptying the reservoir and refilling it with Mobil 1 synthetic ATF about 5 times over a few days. This process basically replaces the old fluid with the new. The noise never came back.

^^ What he said. Fresh ATF in the system usually quiets down any pesky noises....