Power Steering pump making noise...
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 1,233
Likes: 5
From: Hyde Park New York
Power Steering pump making noise...
Will the power steering pump make some noise when it is near the low level on the dipstick? Also, what type of fluid does a 99 use?
Thanks...
Thanks...
Safety Car
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 4,549
Likes: 30
From: Shenandoah Valley Virginia
Yes a PS pump will start to make noise if it is low on fluid, especially in a turn. If the pump is starting to fail, it also will make an increasing amount of noise even full of fluid. Read your owners manual for the exact specs on the fluid. Almost any quality fluid will meet the GM specs and be marked as such on the bottle. Check the coloration of the fluid carefully. It should be clear without any particulates. If you see junk in the fluid you have very little time left on the pump, plan on a near term replacement and system flush. Switch fluid to a top quality synthetic if you have to change the pump.
Intermediate
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 46
Likes: 0
If the steering pump is making noise at a reasonable fluid level, I don't mean to bumm you out but it is most likely that it will continue to make noise, and always will. Sorry, believe me I know that really sucks. The noise may or may not become increasingly louder right away, but will with age.
What has happened is the pump vanes that move the fluid along have become scored to a given degree at the tips of the vanes. What we hear when the pump begins to make noise is actually a fluid resonant feedback or slippage sound as the fluid rushes over the untrue surface and a disturbance is created when a portion of the fluid travels dissonant from the rest.
Dammit I hate it when that happens! They are so sensitive!
Quickest way out of that one is that I know of is.
-Find the leak (if you had to add fluid, you have a leak)
-Replace the pump (if you can;t deal with that groaning sound)
Chalk up another transaction for Mr. Goodwrench.
When you replace it, prime the system slowly by hand at first or with a drill having a rubber plug chucked in it. Clockwise Rotation!
The most quiet pumps I have heard are ones with Teflon sealing rings and vane plates.
To me it seems like every single pump has its own particular sound.
Heh. Some even sing! LOL Amongst the rest of the voices
Darn temp image. 89020661 is the Part Number for the fluid
What has happened is the pump vanes that move the fluid along have become scored to a given degree at the tips of the vanes. What we hear when the pump begins to make noise is actually a fluid resonant feedback or slippage sound as the fluid rushes over the untrue surface and a disturbance is created when a portion of the fluid travels dissonant from the rest.
Dammit I hate it when that happens! They are so sensitive!
Quickest way out of that one is that I know of is.
-Find the leak (if you had to add fluid, you have a leak)
-Replace the pump (if you can;t deal with that groaning sound)
Chalk up another transaction for Mr. Goodwrench.
When you replace it, prime the system slowly by hand at first or with a drill having a rubber plug chucked in it. Clockwise Rotation!
The most quiet pumps I have heard are ones with Teflon sealing rings and vane plates.
To me it seems like every single pump has its own particular sound.
Heh. Some even sing! LOL Amongst the rest of the voices
Darn temp image. 89020661 is the Part Number for the fluid
Last edited by LagunaPete; Jul 1, 2012 at 11:50 PM. Reason: Image
