Open hood, crouch down and look between radiator and drivers side headlight. PS reservoir is the white/opaque softball sized thing that has two horizontal lines to indicate appropriate level.

If the hissing goes away when you press the brake pedal or turn the steering wheel then the problem is indeed a failed booster hose. Break hose connection at metal to rubber fittings next to the master cylinder. Failed hose will have a ~3/16" OD white plastic/teflon hose sticking out of it. Pull that white hose all the way out, put it in the trash, reconnect booster hoses, refill and bleed powersteering.

 

The sound does go away when I push on the brake pedal. So it must be the hose, I'll try getting rid of that teflon and see if the sound goes away.

thanks a bunch.

 

How do I bleed the Power Steering pump?

 

Start the truck and just run the steering wheel back and forth from lock to lock. Check the level and continue until the level stops dropping and is settled at it's proper position.

 

Thanks
You just saved me a couple hundred bucks at the dealership.
Removed that teflon hose and the noise is gone.

 

Good to hear. Thanks for the update.

 

Could someone please tell me if there is any risk in ignoring the hissing for a while, and if the truck running low on power steering fluid would have caused the line to fail? Thanks

 

lol, I didn't do it myself either...I thought about pulling it apart and yanking out the liner as a temporary measure, but I wasn't comfortable. I know some folks are running fine without the liner, but my luck doesn't tend to run that way. I had visions of the hose bursting while I was driving the kids somewhere.

I let the dealership fix it under warranty. Took them 2...no 3...days to get the part in, and less than an hour to fix. Worth every penny of my $0.00!! :thumbsup:

Edit: checked my notes... 3 days to get the part, not 2.

 

ha, my truck waited till it was out of warranty of course. Actually, I damaged the hoses on the power steering cooler lines, and I am sure that had something to do with it. I was able to replace the cooler on my own, but the hose makes me nervous. All my buddies with shops and knowledge live out in Arizona, and I am out east in Massachusetts where I do not know anyone. I talked to my brother on the phone, he told me my father just cut it off, pulled the liner out, put somehose clamps on it, and slid it back over the metal portion. I am not quite ready to go that redneck on it, but if I break the fitting, I guess I will be.