Do I need a new power steering pump?

[AFBeefcake]

For a time now my power steering pump has been making a squealing whining noise. So I removed the tank and checked the o-ring. It looked fine. So I reinstall the tank and refilled it. Now it squeals and whines louder then ever.

So do I need a new pump?

Has any one rebuilt their own. It looks like there is one bearing, a gasket and 3 o-rings. Total cost of parts about $35.00 or so. But a rebuilt from napa is $140.00

[Chiketkd]

Originally posted by AFBeefcake
So do I need a new pump?

You re-filled the tank once. What's the color of your power steering fluid now?

I've had that whining noise before, and on svxfiles' advice, I drained and re-filled my powersteering tank 4-5 times until my fluid was perfectly pink. Whining noise went away completely.

-Chike

[ensteele]

You say that you checked the O-Ring, and it looked fine. Did you replace it? what does fine look like. I see them when I replace them, and sometimes they "look fine", but they are not new and will leak. I would suggest if you did not replace it, that you do that before you put go into a much bigger investment. $1.00 is a very cheap investment. If you did replace it, sorry for the suggestion.

It is possible to flush the power steering fluid yourself, using the power steering pump itself... Having two people to do the job is a huge help.

I believe that you disconnect the return hose, and plug the now open port that it connects to. Put the return hose into some kind of container (for all the waste fluid), and turn on the car. Sit in the car, and slowly turn the wheel lock to lock multiple times. Have your friend keep pouring ATF into the PS reservoir whenever it starts to drain. Keep doing it until you have poured a couple quarts through the system. Once you've done that, turn off the car, and reconnect the return hose. Check the fluid level to be sure that you've got the proper amount in the reservoir. Adjust the fluid level if necessary, leave the reservoir lid off, turn on the car again, and slowly turn the wheel lock to lock again. Do it a few times, just to purge all of the air from the system (you probably accumulated some during flushing). Make sure that the fluid doesn't start to flow over the reservoir, cause then you've got messy cleanup... And who likes that?

The last time I did this was long ago, so you should search around the forums to see if I got the directions right.

[AFBeefcake]

No I have not done any thing to it yet.
Does the bearing in the power steering pump go bad?

[96redsvx]

have some one look at the wheel that turns the pulley on the pump while u turn the wheel back and fourth pretty hard and fast if it apears to be freezing up then then it is your serpiinetine bult tensionser losen the bolt on the idler pulley then tighten the long bolt that runs diag toward the crank pulley i think it a 12mm or a 10 then tighten the bolt on the pulley.

[kuoh]

It can if the bearing gets contaminated enough. In my case, I could hear the noise when spinning the pump by hand. Rebuilding it is a simple process if you're mechanically inclined, and the last time I checked, the parts were around $25-$30. I basically ordered the bearing, all the o-rings, and any other assorted bits that were cheap. Order two o-rings or find a bigger one for the reservoir neck. The heat and pressure tends to flatten the single undersized OEM one too quickly.

KuoH

Originally posted by AFBeefcake
Does the bearing in the power steering pump go bad?

[AFBeefcake]

Yep, I orderd all of the parts last week, should have them soon.
$26.00 for all of the o-rings , a seal and the bearing