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?

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.

Vacuum Check Valve for Brake Booster


Replaced mine recently with a new one. Easy fix, remove one nut, unclamp hose, pull valve out with pliers, pull grommet out and replace, tap in new valve and then put the rest back. 10 mins. Hardest part was getting the valve back in.

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.

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99% sure this is the problem based on the symptom described. It was the first issue/fix I did on my '97 when I bought it 2 years ago.

Yeah based on all the searching I did on hear it certainly sounds like the culprit.

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Are you sure Amsoil power steering fluid is appropriate for this application?
ATF is recommended.

agree

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.

You said Amsoil Power Steering Fluid.
That's why I asked.

Oops, yup my mistake

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