Peugeot 407 possible accessory belt tension issue

[FlorianPaun]

My 407 (2004, 2.0 HDI, 70.000 km) has developed 2 noisy problems over the winter, which I now realize might be related to eachother.

1. On rainy or snowy days, the first time I braked harder there would be a loud squealing noise from the front of the car for about 1-2 seconds. After that, the noise would disappear for the whole day. I'm quite sure that the noise was the accessory belt slipping.

2. When I turn the steering wheel (left or right, doesn't matter) while parking or driving at really low speeds, I can feel a strong shake in the front left of the car. I asked my mechanic about it and he said it looks like power steering. I had both lower ball joints replaced a few months ago, so it can't be that.

I only connected these 2 together today after reading a reddit comment about how a loose belt can cause the power steering to shake like that. What do you think? The car is going in this week to get serviced and I wanted to ask here first before bringing it up to my mechanic.

[FlorianPaun]

I forgot that my power steering pump is electric, I feel so dumb right now. So it definitely has nothing to do with the belt.

I did some searching and I found that this problem is quite common on the 407 and some say it's caused by air bubbles in the fluid and recommend overfilling the tank a bit to fix it. I did check my fluid and it is full, but not overfilled.

I also found something weird. It says everywhere on the internet to use only Total Fluide DA for power steering, which is a red fluid. The fluid in my power steering reservoir is green. The car has only 70.000 km and I don't think it's ever been changed, but it would also not change colour from red to green right? Should I have it changed?

[GiveMeABreak]

Pop your VIN up for this car, but if hydro electric steering, you should only be using LDS / Total fluide DA which is the same thing.

It is generally an orange red colour and not green. This is not the same as the standard power steering fluid.

[FlorianPaun]

I'll just replace it with the Total DA fluid to be sure.

VIN is VF3**************[VIN obfuscated, can be read by forum staff]

[Paul-R]

Being green it's almost certainly LHM which was used on earlier generations of Citroen hydraulics. I would drain it off and put the correct fluid in. DA is currently EXACTLY the same as LDS so buy whichever you can get at best price. I don't know how much you will need though.

[GiveMeABreak]

Ok, so confirmed as electro pump PAS assembly with LDS fluid or Fluide DA. Just top it up (after draining the old fluid out) to the Max Mark Level.

[myglaren]

It could be Comma's version of LDS, which is green.
I had to buy some to get my suspension to lift to get the car on a low loader when the pipe from the front to the back of the car ruptured.

[moizeau]

My steering was ratchety on cold mornings for the first sharp turn, then was fine. I added a little more fluid (1 or 2cms more than max) and all has been good since.