FAQ: Power Steering Pump & Hoses - Noise & Problems

Well, It's very difficult to diagnose noises from the front of the engine because there are so many possibilities with all the pulley bearings and such being driven by the belts.
It's even more difficult to diagnose noises on the internet, sorry.

i think its the pump.
a pump shouldnt be expensive...there were a lot of series ones out there.

Also I wish I could replace my coil packs because my motor misses and doesnt fire properly under acceleration.

Most likely not your coil packs. Missing under acceleration is usually just wires and plug issue.
Very rarely do the coil packs go bad and when they do it will affect firing under all rpm's most of the time.

You may want to remove the coils and the Ignition Control Module that they are mounted on. It's just a flat plate. Clean the bottom and top of any corrosion that has built up under there and check - clean the ground connection which is also right there attached to the module.
Apply a light film of Dielectric Grease to the bottom surface of the ICM and reassemble.
Even if this is not part of your problem it is good preventive maintenance.

Hello,
Today, I was doing a three point U-turn in my '97 and as I was turning the wheel, the power steering died like a switch had just been flipped. The belt is good, there is fluid in the pump and nothing is dripping. There is a little belt squealing from time to time. Steering is OK, but very, very heavy. Prior to this, the steering worked flawlessly.

I'm crossing my fingers hoping it's just the pump that needs to be replaced, but I have never seen a pump fail so suddenly. They usually die a long predictable death.

Any ideas? Thank you.
Mikel

It sounds like the speed sensitive steering has been activated to highway mode. This could happen for many reasons. The best place to start is see if there are any fault codes not only in the ECM but also the ABS. The car might think it's at highway speeds because of an erroneous signal from one of the sensors.

Hi Mikel,

I have a '97, and while it technically wasn't as sudden as yours, I thought I'd tell you my story...

Through THREE steering pumps I've had at least one "groan per cycle" in the steering system. I think that when you shut down, the system sucks a vacuum that it wouldn't have in the days of plain, vented caps on the steering pump...

More to the point, the first time that I changed the pump, it was worse than the original, making more noise and providing less boost... I had to replace that "brand new" pump in 2 weeks time.

I don't think your problem could be electronic, simply because the worst the system can get if the MagnaSteer fails is "regular" hi-speed boost...

Eldo wrote:

I don't think your problem could be electronic, simply because the worst the system can get if the MagnaSteer fails is "regular" hi-speed boost...

Eldo,
I know is seems contrary to the way Magna-Steer works but, if you disconnect the two wire plug on top of the steering rack that feeds the Magna-Steer, on a perfectly good system, It defaults to unassisted steering.
The steering will be more difficult at idle and low speeds all the way up to highway speed.
I don't know why this is but it is. I disconnected mine for a couple of weeks to diagnose another problem and was shocked to feel the steering effort had increased throughout all RPM's and Speeds.
Logic says the steering effort should decrease but it didn't.
Just my $0.02.

tech408 wrote:

It sounds like the speed sensitive steering has been activated to highway mode. This could happen for many reasons. The best place to start is see if there are any fault codes not only in the ECM but also the ABS. The car might think it's at highway speeds because of an erroneous signal from one of the sensors.

Hello,
If it helps, the steering was always VERY soft, at any speed, which I thought was a bit annoying. I just thought it was the way the car had been designed, so I learned to live with it. Even on the highway, now it takes A LOT of effort to steer when making sharper than usual turns.
I don't seem to have any error codes (or at least not check engine light).
Thanks,
Mikel

tech408 wrote:

It sounds like the speed sensitive steering has been activated to highway mode. This could happen for many reasons. The best place to start is see if there are any fault codes not only in the ECM but also the ABS. The car might think it's at highway speeds because of an erroneous signal from one of the sensors.

A failure in the Magna-Steer system will not trigger any lights nor store any codes.
It is not a necessary system as far as the computer is concerned and the car will work and drive OK without Magna-Steer.
If you indeed have a failure of the Magna-Steer system you can choose to ignore it and continue driving it the way it is or replace the whole steering rack for a bunch of $$$$.
An interesting side note:
I did some research on trying to find a replacement rack for the Rivieras that doesn't have Magna-Steer to keep the cost of rack replacement down.
What led me to that path was I found out you could get a replacement re-man Bonneville steering rack with or without magnasteer for the same vehicle. That is because the car came from the factory with magnasteer as an option.
Whenever I asked the parts guys about a listing for non - magnasteer on the Riv I was told it doesn't exist, presumably because this car did not offer a non - magnasteer version.
What needs to be done now is to find out what other cars share the same steering rack then order the non - magnasteer for that vehicle.
I personally like the way it felt with the magnasteer disconnected.

A couple of points:

I just started the car in the morning, and I hear a grinding noise coming from the P/S pump. I suppose a Magna-Steer failure wouldn't cause this...?

The amount of effort required to steer is IMMENSE, as if all power steering had been lost. It takes all my might (which is not much) to make tight turns when the car is rolling..

Thanks,
Mikel

Well. with that amount of steering effort I would be more inclined to say you have a pump failure issue.
I would change the pump and try to drain or flush as much of the old fluid from the steering rack while you have the old pump out and before putting in the new pump. Try disconnecting the lines at the rack while the car is jacked up and rotating the steering wheel with engine off and see how much fluid you can get out of the rack.
Anyone else have any ideas of how to flush the rack in the driveway.?

re flushing the rack in the driveway - I'd do what Rick said EXCEPT I would buy TWO Cardone power steering filters. I would install one when I put the new pump on. Follow the instructions that come with it, if you have the option to do so. THen after a week or so I would replace that filter.

As far as the pump is concerned - if you do the job yourself it is not terribly expensive. It's one of the standard Saginaw pumps that is used on a bunch of different GM vehicles. The problem is the cheapest one, however, will not have a pulley installed already and will not have the electronic variableorifice valve installed. But if you know how to install pulley (that is, you have the air tools needed) it's no big deal to move the pulley from the old pump to new, adn I imagine the orifice valve is not that big a deal wither although I have not done that. If not, then please get a pump with the pulley already installed or take it to a mechanic for replacement - a fully dressed new pump will cost you $$$, like $200-plus. Reman pumps that you have to fit with your own reservoir and valve are about half that.

Albertj

Thank you - Got a P/N for the Cardone P/S filters?

albertj wrote:

re flushing the rack in the driveway - I'd do what Rick said EXCEPT I would buy TWO Cardone power steering filters. I would install one when I put the new pump on. Follow the instructions that come with it, if you have the option to do so. THen after a week or so I would replace that filter.

As far as the pump is concerned - if you do the job yourself it is not terribly expensive. It's one of the standard Saginaw pumps that is used on a bunch of different GM vehicles. The problem is the cheapest one, however, will not have a pulley installed already and will not have the electronic variableorifice valve installed. But if you know how to install pulley (that is, you have the air tools needed) it's no big deal to move the pulley from the old pump to new, adn I imagine the orifice valve is not that big a deal wither although I have not done that. If not, then please get a pump with the pulley already installed or take it to a mechanic for replacement - a fully dressed new pump will cost you $$$, like $200-plus. Reman pumps that you have to fit with your own reservoir and valve are about half that.

Albertj

Thanks for the tip on the filters. I forgot about their availability.
I've priced out a complete pump with pulley, pressure valve and New Reservoir installed before. I don't remember them being that much, but my memory isn't that good.
I don't know why they sell reman units without the reservoir as that is one of the components I would want completely clean and preferably new when installing a replacement pump.
Even though I have the capability and equipment to clean the res. I would still opt for the unit that has a new one installed along with all the other things mentioned.
Take a look at www.cardone.com for the filters and pump P/n's

My pump has started to groan a little and I recently looked at the cardone site so I can find a cardone reman locally by P/N. And will be ordering a filter as well.

It was the pump. The mainshaft is held in place by a clip that had broken and allowed the shaft to slip out of the splined area in the pump. It's working now! I'll get an inline filter, just in case.

Thank you all.

RickW:

Quote :

I personally like the way it felt with the magnasteer disconnected.

Rick I have been thinging about disconnecting mine as well but thought the ABS/TC light would stay on. Why did you re-connect it if you liked the way it felt disabled?

the pumps and filters seem to be fairly priced on rockauto.com...

and as for the reservoir, they clean up fine using dry gas (the cheapest kind, whcih is straight isopropyl or methyl alcohol). use a brush if thre is residue in the corners. If you have time to wait for air drying, then use Dawn dish liquid and wter to do the cleaning.

Albertj

ewolfe0050 wrote:

RickW:

Quote :

I personally like the way it felt with the magnasteer disconnected.

Rick I have been thinging about disconnecting mine as well but thought the ABS/TC light would stay on. Why did you re-connect it if you liked the way it felt disabled?

Well I did re-connect it for a while then dis-connected again. I tie wrapped bags over the electrical connectors to keep them from getting too corroded.
I will keep it disconnected for now. Once I put a larger diameter wheels and wider tires on it I'll see how the steering effort is then. If it takes too much effort due to the tires I may reconnect.
If your going to try it, let me know about the steering effort.
Disconnecting it will have no effect on ABS/TCS or any other system.

albertj wrote:

the pumps and filters seem to be fairly priced on rockauto.com...

and as for the reservoir, they clean up fine using dry gas (the cheapest kind, whcih is straight isopropyl or methyl alcohol). use a brush if thre is residue in the corners. If you have time to wait for air drying, then use Dawn dish liquid and wter to do the cleaning.

Albertj

Thanks Albert,
I'll look at Rock Auto. Was planning on making a fairly large order from them for GF's vehicle. Have to be careful with them about everything coming from the same warehouse or you get hosed on shipping cost's.
Have already figured out her order now I'll either add to that order or start a new one for me.

By the way, old pump had no special valving or wires going into it anywhere. Did all 97's have the Magna Steer?

Is the valving in the rack/pinion assembly?

http://delphi.com/manufacturers/auto/other/steering/gears/magna/

All the Riviera's 95-99 had Magna-Steer as standard equipment.
Yes, All the Magna-Steer components are built into the steering rack. That's what makes them so expensive to replace compared to a non Magna-Steer rack.

Rickw wrote:

Eldo wrote:

I don't think your problem could be electronic, simply because the worst the system can get if the MagnaSteer fails is "regular" hi-speed boost...

Eldo,
I know is seems contrary to the way Magna-Steer works but, if you disconnect the two wire plug on top of the steering rack that feeds the Magna-Steer, on a perfectly good system, It defaults to unassisted steering.
The steering will be more difficult at idle and low speeds all the way up to highway speed.
I don't know why this is but it is. I disconnected mine for a couple of weeks to diagnose another problem and was shocked to feel the steering effort had increased throughout all RPM's and Speeds.
Logic says the steering effort should decrease but it didn't.
Just my $0.02.

No, not contrary at all, Rick. I think we're just saying the same thing with different words. When I said "regular hi-speed boost", I meant the lower-power, highway-mode setting. I think that's what you're getting when you refer to "unassisted steering"...

Truly unassisted steering is what Mikel had, and it did indeed turn out to be the pump.
.

Rickw wrote:

All the Riviera's 95-99 had Magna-Steer as standard equipment.
Yes, All the Magna-Steer components are built into the steering rack. That's what makes them so expensive to replace compared to a non Magna-Steer rack.

I was curious, because my steering is way too soft even at high speeds. Maybe it's that I'm one of them yurropeens and I expect cars to feel a little differently, as much as I love my Riviera


If anyone is looking for a cheap steering assembly, try www.car-part.com My local yard has 4 Rivieras.