power steering whine and starting in extremely cold temps

[niceguypmp3]

i noticed yesterday for my cold drive to town that my power steering had a noticeable whine to it. It was 0 degrees F and it was quite loud for a few seconds upon startup and then i could hear it with higher rpm's all the way to town and back which is 8 miles away. I've never had a vehicle that the power steering whined in cold weather for such a long duration. I had flushed out and replaced the power steering fluid a few months ago when i had purchased the TB so it's not due to old, dirty fluid. Anyone else have a long duration whine on extremely cold days? also, even though it was whining, the steering felt normal.
Also, the battery i installed on my TB is only like a year old but my dad had it on a shelf for most of that time unused without being on a float charger and it's not the exact battery that it should have. I dont know if it has enough CCA or not. I noticed during that 0 degree start, it barely turned over to start. Now before i go out and buy a new, correct battery, do these TB's usually start right up in sub zero temps or is it normal for them to barely turn over to start with it this cold? I know that as long as it's about 20F or above it turns over pretty well to start but is still a bit slower than i'm used to in a vehicle. I use Mobil 1 oil in it.

 

[coolasice]

i noticed yesterday for my cold drive to town that my power steering had a noticeable whine to it. It was 0 degrees F and it was quite loud for a few seconds upon startup and then i could hear it with higher rpm's all the way to town and back which is 8 miles away. I've never had a vehicle that the power steering whined in cold weather for such a long duration. I had flushed out and replaced the power steering fluid a few months ago when i had purchased the TB so it's not due to old, dirty fluid. Anyone else have a long duration whine on extremely cold days? also, even though it was whining, the steering felt normal.
Also, the battery i installed on my TB is only like a year old but my dad had it on a shelf for most of that time unused without being on a float charger and it's not the exact battery that it should have. I dont know if it has enough CCA or not. I noticed during that 0 degree start, it barely turned over to start. Now before i go out and buy a new, correct battery, do these TB's usually start right up in sub zero temps or is it normal for them to barely turn over to start with it this cold? I know that as long as it's about 20F or above it turns over pretty well to start but is still a bit slower than i'm used to in a vehicle. I use Mobil 1 oil in it.

My tb will start in -30 weather without too much strain on it. It may turn slow for the first few revolutions but picks up after that. If I use my car starter it usually takes it 2-3 tries to fully start. As for the whine, are you sure it's the power steering? My truck has a noticeable belt chirp/squeak when cold/humid, but goes away when it's warmed up. I haven't bothered to look into it much as it's been doing that for 2 years + now, it's just an annoyance.

 

[Chickenhawk]

As far as the battery is concerned, these platforms rely heavily on a good battery. When they get old, it can cause multiple issues. Batteries are life-limited by time and by how they are used. Continual deep discharging hurts them of course, but also a brand new battery has a finite life even if it's only been kept on a shelf for years. Is there any dates on the battery or any other way of finding out how old it is? Anything after five years is pretty much living on borrowed time.

 

[niceguypmp3]

I just bought a new battery and installed it so hopefully that fixes the slow starting. And yes, it's the power steering that whines when extremely cold. I've done car maintenance since the early 90s so i am sure that's what it is. I just wasn't sure if others notice it when extremely cold too or not. I've had other vehicles that the power steering whines really loudly for like under a minute when started at below 0 but none that kept a slight whine while driving in these temps. I'm assuming it would probably go away on longer trips once the power steering fluid gets warmer.

 

[Chickenhawk]

If the power steering fluid is up to the proper level, the whine is often a bad bearing in the pump, belt tensioner or (most common) the idler pulley. I rarely get more than a few second of whine and it has hit near minus 40 degrees these past two weeks. (Centigrade or Fahrenheit; it doesn't matter. At minus 40 it is all the same.)

 

[Mooseman]

I've had that starting in really cold weather on my 02 TB and would subside after a couple of minutes. Was OK in normal temps. It was a rebuilt ACDelco too. I just ignored it and it survived to its grave. I even kept it as a spare. The Saab was the same but it was never replaced. Good fluid in both.

 

[cornchip]

The whine is pump cavitation. The fluid is starting to gel slightly below -20C with most cheap over the counter PSF. If you really care about what you pour into your system, buy AC Delco 10-5044 which is rated pour able to -29C . Beyond that AMS Oil PSFCN-EA is a full synthetic rated to -54C. I'd even venture to say going with a MIL Spec aviation product like Aeroshell 41 would be fine. Depends on how cold it's getting where you live.

 

[BrianF]

Find a decent synthetic atf for the pump. I had used amsoil before and it really helped. I am now on a group 4 based 7.7cst fluid with a -66c pour point. Works well but still can't make noises on some very cold starts.