Power steering pump groan? Not sure.... (2 Viewers)

[Spook50]

Unfortunately with my hearing loss getting worse, I can't track the sound down with any real certainty, but when my engine is cold I'm hearing a groan that changes with RPM and is more noticeable when at low speeds. With the hood up and the engine running it DOES sound like it's coming from the PS pump. Once the engine has had time to warm up completely, the sound does go away. So my question for those who've had "the groan" is when it started, did it only do it when cold and go away with a warm engine, but get gradually worse over time?

Last I flushed the PS system was two years ago, so it is due again and I'll be doing it ASAP just so I know it's at least got good fluid, but I suspect I'm going to be in it to rebuild my pump this spring (or sooner, but hopefully not).

 

[Gimme a 60]

Mine whines all the time. It’s the worst.

Don’t know what it could be in your situation…. Perhaps the oil is too viscous due to Colder air temperature?

Is it hard to steer when you first start it up?

 

[duncanrm]

Its quite typical for a power steering pump to be noisy when cold, and to improve as the fluid/pump warm up.

With regards to your hearing loss, a length of garden hose can be used as a crude stethoscope to track sounds down, put one end near your ear and use the other end to probe about the engine bay to find the sound. I am deaf in one ear and this really assists me.

 

[Spook50]

Mine whines all the time. It’s the worst.

Don’t know what it could be in your situation…. Perhaps the oil is too viscous due to Colder air temperature?

Is it hard to steer when you first start it up?

No difficulty in steering when cold (had a -5 day the Thursday before Christmas and noticed no groan or difficulty steering then either), and the groan has only been noticeable for the last few days. The cold temps were my first thought since it DOES go away once the engine is hot, but it's just at the freezing point these last few days versus the 5 below that it was a couple weeks ago when it wasn't groaning. I'm not overly concerned yet, in case it's just a matter of old fluid that'll get flushed out anyway, but I do want to correct a potential issue before it becomes an issue.

@duncanrm that's actually the most effective trick for me too. I do have a legit stethoscope that I'm going to search for this weekend and dig out if I can find it, and if no luck there I'll be snagging some vacuum hose next time I'm at the parts store.

 

[Gimme a 60]

Just giver a flush. I hope it solves the problem.

 

[SteveH]

You can add a small quantity of Lucas Power Steering additive and it may quiet things down nicely. I only add about half as much as they recommend, but it has worked well for me in various Toyotas and other brands over the years. It thickens the PS fluid and makes tired systems work a bit better. (Normally, I'm not a snake-oil kind of guy, but this stuff works).

 

[Spook50]

Just giver a flush. I hope it solves the problem.

That'll be the first thing I do, and might just knock out next week before I take a road trip the following weekend. If that's all it needed, cool. If not I'll put a little Lucas in to band-aid it until I get the rebuild parts.

 

[cps432]

That'll be the first thing I do, and might just knock out next week before I take a road trip the following weekend. If that's all it needed, cool. If not I'll put a little Lucas in to band-aid it until I get the rebuild parts.

Mine whines/groans in the morning too and it’s a replacement I got from rock auto. Installed about two years ago. It’s already leaky. I think my gear box is bad. I rebuilt it at the same time and it was sketchy putting it back together. After I cleaned the cast iron housing I found someone had scribbled “bad” in paint marker on the gear box.

To be honest I’m not sure if it’s my gear box or the pump that’s noisy.

Also, I believe I bought a 62 PS pump rebuild kit from cruiser corps by mistake. I’ll check but I’m 99% certain I still have it. If I can find it you can have it. I think I have one of the roller bearings too. Not sure if the 62 pump requires two or one. The 60 pump has a bronze bushing type bearing which is why they’re not rebuildable/serviceable unless you can make a new bronze bushing.

 

[OSS]

Mine whines/groans in the morning too

Try replacing the fluid with fresh ATF. Mine groaned too in the morning. New fluid fixed it.

 

[cps432]

Try replacing the fluid with fresh ATF. Mine groaned too in the morning. New fluid fixed it.

I did that. It groaned from the moment I installed the rebuilt box and pump. I have a feeling I missed the preload on the worm gear bearings. The unit had been repaired at least twice before I opened it up.

 

[Valdez]

Mine groaned too after a pump rebuild and only when it was below freezing.
I tried new fluid, bleeding it (must have gone lock to lock 200 times) and after 2 years it cured itself. Probably just an air bubble that had to work itself out

 

[Spook50]

Back in January when it first started groaning I flushed with some Schaeffer's ATF that I had left over from before the H55F swap and it went away, but a couple weeks ago came back with a vengeance even in the warm weather. Luckily I had just flushed the transmission in my mother's 4Runner with some AMSOIL ATF so after seeing how much of a difference in made in her car I flushed the Schaeffer's out in favor of that and the groan was immediately reduced. After a few days of driving around, the groan is gone completely. On one hand I'm curious to see just how long it'll last before groaning again, but I intend to still rebuild it as soon as I can get my hands on an OEM kit, and will be adding an inline filter on the return line along with plumbing the return line through the currently unused transmission cooling loop in the radiator.

After my experience on both my power steering and the noticeable difference in my mother's 4Runner, I'm sold on AMSOIL stuff and will be switching over to that with my next round of fluid changes.

 

[Spike Strip]

Try using Amsoil Dexron when you change the fluid.

 

[Spook50]

Try using Amsoil Dexron when you change the fluid.

I used the Signature Series multi vehicle, since apparently they don't have a Dexron specific fluid. But it and the OE multi vehicle are both Dexron and Mercon compatible, and so far I'm pretty impressed with it.

https://www.amsoil.com/p/signature-series-multi-vehicle-synthetic-automatic-transmission-fluid-atf/