To start off, I know little about cars in general but I am eager to learn the basics in's and outs in maintaing a car. I picked my up my first care ever, an immaculate 2002 A4 3.0 Quattro with 37K miles about a month ago. Everything was fine until a small hiccup occurred this morning. The power steering started to make noise similar to like whale moaning lol. Let it be known that it was about 50 degrees F this morning. I assumed it was due to the cold weather. My theory is that it was cold to make the parts stiff causing that sound. After letting it idle and warm up, I drove it around. No "whale moaning" at all. I parked it and checked the power steering fluid. It is filled to the max line.

I have two questions,

1. What color is the power steering suppose to be? I looked in the reservoir and it looks black but when i wiped the dipstick, it was like a golden brown color?

2. Per the picture I posted, is it normal for small bubbles, almost like foam, to settle on the top? This was taken after I drove around the block.

Any guidance and tips would be appreciated.

 

Had the same noise last night and filled up my power steering fluid and it stopped. the fluid is also foamy and brown in colour.