Saving my power steering?

[02blue]

About 9 deg this morning and PS really had a whine for a couple minutes. Mines an 02 so should have had Mopar PS fluid from factory. When I got it from a Jeep dealer with about 80k on it in 06 I checked the fluids and it had a reddish fluid in the PS reservoir. Is Mopar PS fluid red? I thought it was "clear". I'm afraid the PO may have mixed. If they didn't I may have inadvertently. I have done the lock to lock "flush" several times a year since I got it with ATF4 since what was in there was red. What actually happens when they mix that is so bad, and is there anything else I can do?

 

[Luke]

ATF+4 is the correct fluid ... Mopar is red

 

[02blue]

Yes all post 03 KJs get ATF4 but I'm pretty sure 02 and 03 had power steering fluid from the factory. I know they should not be mixed but never got any good description of what would happen. I've heard if you want you can have a complete flush and then run ATF4. Mine might just be old and worn out (160k), but I have taken care to "flush" with ATF4.

 

[Luke]

Aaaaah ... gotcha :waytogo: