Power Steering Whine

I have 96 with 68000 miles and the power steering whines a little going straight and goes up and down with RPM but is loud on turns under power, installed a re manufactured pump and is pretty much the same. The one that had come off was also a re Manufactured one. Not original, I Just bought the car. Is the last one just no good or is there something else bad? Do you just take a chance with re built ones?

It's odd to begin with that you're having trouble with PS. It's not a common problem with these cars. I'm on my OEM pump at 268k and only maintenance is changing fluid every ~50k. One thing that I know can sound like PS whine is the transmission pump, but that would not get louder under turns, it would be the same straight or turning, but varies with power application. If that's your issue, you can drive a long time with a whining trans pump, but eventually you will need a rebuild.

Hey Bob, is the whine the only issue you're having? You can still turn the wheel easily?

A few years back, I had an issue with my rack and pinion... lots of whining and loud rubbing when I turned but the sound didn't increase with RPM, just when I turned. It turned out that the rack and pinion was leaking so I had a new one put in, which solved the issue (Until now, 4-5 years later... now having issues with power steering rubbing!)

RivGuy wrote:

I have 96 with 68000 miles and the power steering whines a little going straight and goes up and down with RPM but is loud on turns under power, installed a re manufactured pump and is pretty much the same. The one that had come off was also a re Manufactured one. Not original, I Just bought the car. Is the last one just no good or is there something else bad? Do you just take a chance with re built ones?

You need to check and make sure that something isn't leaking. If you have a leak somewhere (like around the stub shaft on the rack itself), air is introduced into the system and will whine no matter which PS pump is on there. It doesn't need to be a bad leak to get air into it. I've seen the rack cause a whine as well.

Like AA said, our cars don't have P/S issues. The rack seems to last forever. I need a new pump. Mine is leaking from behind the pulley...and whining. I just haven't got around to fixing it. Did you bleed the system properly? It's possible you just have air bubbles in it. You need to lift the front tires off the ground, and turn the steering wheel lock-to-lock about 20 times without the car running to get all the air bubbles out of the system. If that works, then it starts whining again after awhile, there's a leak somewhere.....

does the car have a stock airbox? I have alittle whine too and I always thought it was the supercharger. It seemed to get louder with the intake. And  I am not confusing it with the PS pump because I also had one that went out and it was really loud and got quieter when the car warmed up, not to mention it was a different kind of whine.

Well I tried jacking the wheels up and did the 20 deal, no improvement. As I stated b/4 gets much louder on turns if adding power , so I think that eliminates the trany, and air box, it changes with RPM going straight, it is in the steering. I suppose I should get another pump. It is embarrasing to drive.
I don't why a replacement was already on the car, if it did the same thing? And with those low miles. That's the problem with no history.

Hmmm. Well, like ZEP and myself had mentioned, it's possible the rack is causing the noise. It's quite uncommon, but I've had to replace a few racks for a noise concern. It might not be a bad idea to get yourself an automotive stethoscope and find where the noise actually is. It could just be the pump again...

For what its worth mine has always winned really loud.
I blew a pulley one time and the belt cut a hole through the resov of the PS pump causing me to have to replace it with a reman unit. ever since then it had a whine. At some point i bought a better (more $, so i thought it was better) reman unit to try and get rid of the noise and it still sounded pretty much the same. been like this for 100k miles. Turns pretty much ok just louder than it should be.

Im sure having 18's, wider tires, lowering springs, and larger brakes doesnt help it turn any easier.
I keep meaning to but a 3rd pump to see if it can get any better, just havent had money to spend on a part that other than noise works ok.

Do you think the pump filter be the problem? Would the clogged filter cause starvation, causing it to whine? What kind of a job is it to replace the filter? Anyone know?

I wasnt aware our cars hada PS filter installed from the factory. I also replaced the pressure hose hoping that would fix it.

Can anyone confirm if we do/dont have said filter, and where it is?

As the temp dropped this fall, the P.S unit was noisy until it warmed up, then fine. After discussions with a couple of repair shops, the consensus was a bad P.S pump. I replaced the pump & hi-pressure hose, now its noisy all the time, even after warm-up. I bled the system as per the Chassis manual, ignition off & turn the wheel lock to lock 20 to 40 times, etc. Before I bled, the fluid was clear, no bubbles or foam. After, lotsa bubbles & brownish foam. I did the bleed routine twice, still very noisy. there's no leaks @ the pump, hi & lo pressure hoses & the rack.
I believe the pump is faulty; Any comments, suggestions are appreciated

When my rack was on its last days, I got the noise generally associated with low fluid.

The rebuilt P.S pump from O'Reillys was faulty, they replaced it, I installed & bled it, now all is fine; quiet & steers as new.
Thanks for your replies!
Jerry