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PS Pump Symptoms?

L

luckyg817

New member
Sup guys. My 04 is making a grinding sound when i'm either braking and turning left slowly or if i'm stopped and turning my wheel left but won't make the sound if I turn the wheel to the right. It's also not a metal to metal grinding sound, it's more of like that sound you make when the struts are bad I think. Not sure exactly how to describe it exactly. Now I do need to do my suspension in the front (tie rods, LCA's, sway bar bushings and struts) but my question is how or what are some noticeable symptoms of a PS pump going out? Idk why but my gut feeling is telling me that it's the pump for some reason. Sound like it?
 


Could be that or the rack. Is the PS fluid full? All PS pumps will groan a bit when you turn the wheels while stopped. Puts a lot of strain on things. If the fluid is low they can complain at parking lot speeds when turning.
 
bad pumps whine, they whine with the rpms of the engine and will whine full time.

if its hard to turn left and eay to the right, thats the rack.

if you need a new front end, get to it and hope one of the parts was bad enough to make sounds.
 
my power steering doesn't work because I unplugged the abs module, but I can still hear the power steering pump running, at least I think that is what it is.
 
ALLLLLLLL power steering pumps whine on these damn cars. The one I took out in November was leaking and whining put new one in its still whining but not leaking so screw it.
 
SgtMarshal said:
my power steering doesn't work because I unplugged the abs module, but I can still hear the power steering pump running, at least I think that is what it is.
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your pump is working fine, you killed the magnasteer when you disabled the abs. when your abs light comes on the steering firms up a lot.
 


you can tune the magna steer too. one finger butter to med to firm. you need a tech 2 tho. my new rack came set at firm. last rack was one finger. i need that back.
 
if the dealership cant do it...... it would be cheaper at a garage. when i got the guy hooked up to my car to re home my abs pump im gonna have him do the steering too. i cant stand this firm setting.
 
98ICLovinVet said:
ALLLLLLLL power steering pumps whine on these damn cars. The one I took out in November was leaking and whining put new one in its still whining but not leaking so screw it.
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Mine doesn't whine, at least not that I can hear in the car. OEM pump with 320K on it and a genuine Delco magnasteer rack/all new lines that I threw in a while back when the old rack tried to kill me, lol... I bled the crap out of the PS system when I put the rack in and it's been quiet ever since.
 


I have a feeling my car would feel a lot better if I put a rack in it and when I do ill put another ps pump in it. About to take off for another deployment its just not a priority at the moment.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. It doesn't whine at all. I've heard it before when it was a little low on fluid but I have not checked the fluids yet. I'm planning on doing it this saturday but just wanted to get all the info beforehand. I was even thinking maybe the wheel bearing but last time when it went out, it would make that grinding sound while driving but it was a completely different sound. I hope it's not the rack and pinion. Isn't it a PITA to change out? I did have a few questions though.

1. If I jack the car up and take the wheel off, left to right play means bearing and up and down play means ball joint or cv? I can't remember.
2. What was the advantage of replacing the LCA's with the 97-03 style vs the 04+? I know there was a reason but I can't remember what it was.
 
jack the wheel up lugs tight left and right play is a tie rod, from the top push and pull slow and firmly, if you feel play its the bearing/hub.

you would swap to 97003 lca's if you wanted to swap to the same years sway bar. 04 05 bolt to the strut not the lca.
 


Update guys. Haven't had a chance to check just yet but now I have noticed that it does it at a particular spot. If the wheels are straight, parked, it only makes the sound at a 1/4 of a turn to the left but no noise anywhere after that even if I turn the wheel over to the right. Does that help isolate anything? If it was strut related, I wouldn't hear anything while I was parked right? Or would the strut mounts cause that kind of noise?
 
strut mounts go bad, remember the strut does turn with the wheel.

pop the hood stand out side the car running then rock the steering wheel left and right, and watch the round part in the middle of the strut mount, if that part is moving left and right a lot its bad. also if the rubber under the fat washer there where the large nut is, is all flat and burnt up looking its dead also.

best to stick your head in there have a frioend turn the wheels so maybe you can hear where its coming from.

p/s pumps just whine full time when bad. they dont just quit one way, the pump has no idea what the rack is doing, its just a pump.
 
Is it worse when it is cold? Mine wails away when it is cold (below 32 F) but goes away after a few minutes. I still want to shove the engineer's hand down to check the fluid level on a hot day when the engine is turning 3500RPMs! Who the hell thought up the location of the Gen III power steering pumps anyway?
Dumbest engineer thing I have ever seen in a long time!
 
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