Mechanics, Power steering
Greg, your truck a diesel? This is what happened to my '99 7.3L F350 4by. Power steering pump failed, only about 1/4 in. of dipstick left and was shaped like a needle. Truck was idling at the time from a remote start and when I went out to put some stuff in the cab, it was big time smoke. First thought was a roasted engine because of oil filter leak. Leaking oil was power steering fluid. This affects the power brake booster and roasted that too as well as steering box which has teflon bushings. Hugh melt down. Diesels do not develop the vacuum like gassers so they cannot use the same power brake boost, so the boost is taken from the power steering. It is essential that the oil be cooled so they have their own cooling rad. Had to have that flushed too. Of course I just happened to have the upper and lower ball joints on both sides replaced at the same time. 3200 bucks later, but the bulk of the cost was associated to the power steering episode and that's using a hydraboost from the re-cyclers, it would have been 600 more if that was a new one. So the moral of the story is, get it checked out ASAP.
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