Whiny Power Steering Pump?

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K

Kigiin

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At least that's what I think the noise is on cold starts.

It's been doing this for a few winters but this year it's louder than ever. It does go away in 5 minutes or less, but wondering if this is indicative of failure soon?
 
Mine was whining loud last winter and I had a fluid change at the Lexus dealership near me.

It quieted down considerably even when cold, and has been trouble-free so far (knock on wood).
 
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If someone has topped off the power steering pump with power steering fluid it might be acting up. It calls for ATF. I am sure a search will pull up the expert's opinion on this. But I am guessing it is pretty common for people to top off power steering pumps in the 100 with power steering fluid instead of ATF. Mine has gotten more whiny and loud too but the fluid level is full. My brother in laws was really loud and considerably low. After being topped off with ATF it quieted right down. I am curious what some others will suggest. I might need to do a fluid change to quiet mine down.
 
It was the fluid - reservoir was bone dry. Not sure how this wasn't causing more problem than just noise.

I don't recall ever having in changed. What is the recommended interval?
 
pegasis0066 said:
At least that's what I think the noise is on cold starts.

It's been doing this for a few winters but this year it's louder than ever. It does go away in 5 minutes or less, but wondering if this is indicative of failure soon?
Click to expand...

I recently had my power steering pump repalced after dealing with the whining and sometimes 'tight' feeling when turning for several months. Apparently it is hard to find a 'brand new' OEM for a Hundy? Anyway, it was 'new' (rebuilt?), and of course the first thing when I started it up at the repair shop to drive away and it was whining as before. They explained that it could be some air bubbles that need to work themselves out, so OK, I drove a few days, and if left long enough to get cold, it would whine on start up. Eventually, after about a week, the sound would disappear after about 30 secs but I really wanted it to be gone, so I took it back in, they drained and replaced the fluid and it STILL does it! It does go away after less then a minute and I think it will nearly disappear once the nights start to get warmer, but it is very irritating that a replacement pump can not be as well built as the original.

Are there others out there with the same problem? My Hundy is a '98. I am second or third owner at the most and it only had 128,000 when I bought it a little over two years ago. What I worry about is if there is a fit or balance issue of any moving parts in the pump that could lead to early failure.

Cheers...
 
Mine whines a little when turning at low speed. Steering can be a little stuff at low speed as well. My fluid is probably 4 years old and 30k miles. Maybe I'll try ATF and see if that helps.

There is no recommended interval on PS fluid.
 
I have a VERY slight leak at my rack, really only an issue when I head up to the mountains as I think the altitude pressure forces a bit of fluid out. I've gotten up there one time and noticed the whining was really bad, and the reservoir turned out to be pretty low. I topped it off, and since have kept it topped off and it's nice and quite except for on really cold morning. My Toyota master tech that the truck goes to says it's pretty normal with these to whine a bit, and he told me they get other 2uz vehicles in that do the same thing on cold starts or when the ATF gets low. If there's a fix, I'm all ears, but I've just worked with it and it appears to be fine.
 
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