Brake issue and stiff steering on startup in extreme cold?

thegipper

thegipper

New member
97 SR5 208k miles auto 4WD

Twice now since it has got extremely cold in WI my brakes hardly worked and the peddle was rock hard after initial startup. My 4R is not my primary vehicle so it sits for a week or so at a time.

the steering is hard to turn at first but after i crank it a few times, it returns to normal. Belt is new and plenty tight, fluid was changed this summer and is full. Once I start driving it, it acts completely normal. It only does it for a few seconds at first, and its not like there is no power steering, it just harder then normal.

The brakes is more of a concern to me. Today I let it warm up for a good 10 minutes before i put it in drive. When I did, the pedal was rock hard and the brakes weren't strong enough to stop the vehicle at first until i mashed down on the pedal really hard. But again, once I hit the brakes a couple times, then they soften up and it was back to normal.

the temp today was about 3 degrees. Never had this issue with any other vehicle for 15 years in wisconsin.

AM I missing something? Do these trucks not like extreme cold? this one has me kind of stumped. I drove it around for about 20 minutes after the initial issues on startup and didn't have a single issue after that

thoughts?
 
Register to hide this ad
Stiff steering is pretty common in older vehicles on cold days. My '00 Camry did it, my dad's 02 suburban does it, even my dad's 13 Accord did it but that was a power steering issue that was fixed due to a recall it no longer is stiff(to differentiate when the accord was cold and you go to steer it it felt like manual steering and that was due to a faulty pump). I don't worry about it one bit.

Onto your brakes. Based on what you've said you might have a sticking caliper.
 
I don't ever recall having that issue with the brakes, but my steering does the same. I just figured the fluids are rather viscous at colder temps for a couple minutes before it gets heated up. Mine seems to be a bit stiffer this year and last. A little over a year ago I ended up running the power steering fluid reservoir empty coming out of a gooey, wet White Rim Road after a snow that made the system work (not sure where the fluid went), so the pump wasn't happy and has whined since, so that may be part of it, but I can't truly recall if this happened prior to this incident. Probably did. Either way, it has never concerned me.

I wonder if your brake booster pump is suspect. I have no idea, but just throwing that out there.
 
I won't comment on the brakes, I don't know about that.

The power steering is a cold issue as you know. Stiff fluid. Using a good synthetic ATF will go a long way to help. I use Amsoil synthetic in mine. Any synthetic will be better than old conventional in the cold.
 
My power steering has been the same every morning for the past week or so. It's because the fluid is much thicker at temperatures that cold, as everyone else has said. I wouldn't worry about it, that's normal.
 
The power steering fluid was replaced this summer with Amsoil signature series synthetic. It's not terrible so I'm not too worried about it. It does get better after moving the steering around for a little bit.

I will look into the check valve for the brakes. I'll grab a new grommet too, it sounds like that is the culprit based on other posts I've read on here.

Local dealer wants about 45 bucks for the two items....ouch.
 
I'm still waiting for the parts to get here but this morning I'd figure I'd check the truck since it was extremely cold last night (negative 10ish).

Well, I couldn't get the pedal to soften up after pumping it several times. I was going to take it work but had to leave it and take my camry.

Hopefully the check valve fixes the issue.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
 
Yeah based on all the searching I did on hear it certainly sounds like the culprit.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
 
I used amsoil ATF that is compatible with our power steering fluid specs. Our power steering uses tranny fluid, so I used the equivalent, just Amsoil brand because I had some laying around.
 
I replaced the brake booster vacuum check valve and grommet last night. It was super easy and only took about 5 minutes to replace it.

It was pretty cold this morning but not insanely cold. The brakes worked perfectly, no hard brick issues. It looks like the parts fixed the issue. If something changes, I'll report back.

Thanks for the help everyone!
 
A HIGH HARD BRAKE PEDAL ON A 1999 VEHICLE WILL BE THE BRAKE BOOSTER ... this is an easy problem to check. the booster should hold vacuum if with a vacuum gauge connected to the booster you have low/no vacuum then that is the problem now it may be a hose to the booster as well but this is as I say very easy to determine.

with a vehicle shutdown the brake pedal should have some trapped vacuum to allow about 3 brake applications before it looses the power supplied by the vacuum in the booster.
 
thegipper said:
I replaced the brake booster vacuum check valve and grommet last night. It was super easy and only took about 5 minutes to replace it.

It was pretty cold this morning but not insanely cold. The brakes worked perfectly, no hard brick issues. It looks like the parts fixed the issue. If something changes, I'll report back.

Thanks for the help everyone!
Click to expand...

I know everyone says it's self-explanatory how to replace these parts, but would you mind sharing how you did it?

Thanks!
 
Sure.

Use a pliers to pull off the clamp that holds the vacuum line on to the check valve. Pull off the hose without damaging it (twist while you pull)

Then remove the 12mm nut that holds a small plate that keeps the valve from popping off (it will make sense when you see it).

Then take a pliers and man up, yank that valve by the stem, turning it while you pull it until it comes out of the grommet. You can use a flat head screw driver to get it started also (put it in between the valve and the grommet and twist).

Then use a pliers to pull out the grommet.

Put a little oil on the new grommet and pop it back in, same with the valve.

Make sure your vacuum hose has no leaks and hook it back up, reinstall the clamp and plate. Put the 12mm nut back on and you're done.

Good luck

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
 
thegipper said:
Sure.

Use a pliers to pull off the clamp that holds the vacuum line on to the check valve. Pull off the hose without damaging it (twist while you pull)

Then remove the 12mm nut that holds a small plate that keeps the valve from popping off (it will make sense when you see it).

Then take a pliers and man up, yank that valve by the stem, turning it while you pull it until it comes out of the grommet. You can use a flat head screw driver to get it started also (put it in between the valve and the grommet and twist).

Then use a pliers to pull out the grommet.

Put a little oil on the new grommet and pop it back in, same with the valve.

Make sure your vacuum hose has no leaks and hook it back up, reinstall the clamp and plate. Put the 12mm nut back on and you're done.

Good luck

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Awesome! Thanks for that. The parts are coming in tomorrow, and I'm going to have a crack at it after work. I'll be pretty amazed if this solves a years long issue for just $40 and some anticipated cursing.

Love this forum.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

Total: 452 (members: 1, guests: 451)

Forum statistics

Threads
278,316
Messages
3,554,105
Members
248,016
Latest member
Advally Service

Share this page

Trending content

Back
Top