2006 Honda Ridgeline 170k miles. Below 50 degrees loud whining noise inside vehical when turning wheel in park or drive. Outside can barely hear it. Already replaced reservoir, leaking hose, and inlet o-ring. Service tech added generic steering fluid and said never had issues avoiding Honda OEM fluid. I think pump is only part not replaced.
Despite what the service tech said (from what kind of shop?), Hondas are known to be finicky about power steering fluid, they use a different formula than most others. Even aftermarket power steering fluids such as Prestone are available in a special Honda version. Possibly the viscosity of the generic stuff is too high when the temperature drops.
However you already have generic fluid in your power steering system and you should not mix the two. Was the power steering flushed out before the fluid was added? Although a number of parts were replaced there would still have been some Honda fluid in the remaining components.
Locally owned automotive repair shop claims never uses Honda fluids in Honda steering repairs and never had problem. No flush was done. Said he would flush and replace with Honda fluid for $75. It sounds reasonable so I'll have them do it.