Anyone done power steering flush?

[ruben356]

I have what i believe is power steering pump whine. I want to do a flush to see if it goes away. It is there from startup to any speed. I am thinking of taking off the belt and running the car to confirm it is a power steering pump noise. Wanted to ask for anyone that has maybe done it, are there any seals to replace that could maybe have worn down causing air to enter the lines? In the video below you can how the noise gets louder when i get closer to front of the car. I took my plastic cover off last night and no apparent signs of leaks but i will be taking the metal pan off today to inspect further.

Don't think i can embed the video in here, but here is the link and public, for anyone that cares to take a listen.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Lae...gqCXmAZwP/view

[technician117]

How many miles on the car?

You can have a shop do a full flush if impatient, or you can use one of a few methods for DIY.

For me, I do the slow method of replacing the fluid over the course of a few weeks. I get the engine warm, shut it off, open the reservoir and suck out fluid to the bottom of the white deflector. Then refill with fresh fluid. Only do this once before restarting and running the engine to circulate the fresh fluid. I basically would do this once a day for a week or so and the fluid looks clean and fresh. Now, I pull some fluid every oil change to help keep it fresh.

[ruben356]

Originally Posted by technician117

How many miles on the car?

You can have a shop do a full flush if impatient, or you can use one of a few methods for DIY.

For me, I do the slow method of replacing the fluid over the course of a few weeks. I get the engine warm, shut it off, open the reservoir and suck out fluid to the bottom of the white deflector. Then refill with fresh fluid. Only do this once before restarting and running the engine to circulate the fresh fluid. I basically would do this once a day for a week or so and the fluid looks clean and fresh. Now, I pull some fluid every oil change to help keep it fresh.

Thanks, I just hit 65k, I figured it out. I have no leaks on any of the connections to the pumps or the rack itself, so i just pulled everything out of the reservoir drained from the rack and refilled and removed air as per ISTA instructions. Fluid was not that dirty and turns out wasn't that causing the noise. Changing drive belts and tensioner next. Belts look dated, have feeling could be a pulley somewhere. If its not the tensioner, i will also be doing coolant pump and thermostat. All items i wanted to address anyways so no worry to me till i find the issue.

[technician117]

Originally Posted by ruben356

Thanks, I just hit 65k, I figured it out. I have no leaks on any of the connections to the pumps or the rack itself, so i just pulled everything out of the reservoir drained from the rack and refilled and removed air as per ISTA instructions. Fluid was not that dirty and turns out wasn't that causing the noise. Changing drive belts and tensioner next. Belts look dated, have feeling could be a pulley somewhere. If its not the tensioner, i will also be doing coolant pump and thermostat. All items i wanted to address anyways so no worry to me till i find the issue.

Any update?

[ruben356]

Originally Posted by technician117

Any update?

Wasn't power steering, fluid was barely dirty and no leaks anywhere. Seems like its the belt tensioner, changing that this weekend after month and half waiting on parts.

[ruben356]

Just to update this, was definitely belt and tensioner for me. Whine is gone.

[autoxautox]

Originally Posted by ruben356

Just to update this, was definitely belt and tensioner for me. Whine is gone.

Thank you for the update. I have a whine that sounds like power steering too but a new pump is crazy pricey and looks like a lot of work. Of course the tensioner doesn't look fun either lol. I'm going to give it a try.