I posted some time ago about a groaning I noticed in the morning when I pull off. I had it checked an the mechanic said it the power steering pump either the bearings are wearing or its the cold as the pas fluid is thicker when cold and harder for the pump to work. As the noise disaapears after the cars up to temp 5/10 mins he thinks it this.

Even when the cars warm if you stick you head down near the pump you can hear it faintly.

His advice is to leave it untill it makes the noise louder and all the time as its so faint its not worth spending money to fix at this point.

I have noticed on warmer mornings no noise so perhaps that scenario is right. Also I noticed heavier steering sometimes too during the colder mornings.

I thinking perhaps he is right I should leave it, but its niggling at me :)

What do you think ?

Although I will be changing the pas fluid as its black and burnt he said hat won't help said it can cause heavy steering. Its supposed to be a oilly red for the 04 petrol focus 1.8.

Sounds like it is worth changing the fluid to me. Just make sure you get all the air out when you do it. It may be worth getting both front wheels off the ground so you can turn the steering from full left to full right enough times to ensure it is clear of air.

Sounds right to me mate the black is norm for fords and well documented allegedly dye from the rubber hoses contaminating the fluid over time changing its wise but it will go black again

It can't hurt to do a fluid change.

Couple of quid is a small price to pay even if just to eliminate one possible problem.