After drving all day, and the coldest night of the season power steering is moaning!

[OilPatch197]

What is wrong here? The power steering on my old '92 Buick Regal is moaning really loud, only quiets down when the engine is good and warmed up.


It started after a long trip, got home after dark and that night the temps went down into the teens, next morning the thing is moaning like cow sex under the hood!

Now it's moaning loudly all the time unless the engine has ran for a good 20 minutes. Do I have air/moisture in my system, or is the Power steering pump finally shot? The pump has 213,000 miles on it.

 

[bmerr98]

Sounds like low fluid in the reservoir. Should be two "full" marks on the dipstick: one for cold, one for hot. When it heats up the fluid expands and the level comes up, quieting the whining. When it's cold the fluid doesn't take up as much room, causing it to whine. With 213k it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for there to be a small leak or seepage in the system. I'd just top it off for now and hope it holds til warmer weather returns.

 

[tmcalavy]

Original fluid, too?? If so, my gawd man, do a flush and refill and hope you haven't killed the pump.

 

[OilPatch197]

Original fluid, too?? If so, my gawd man, do a flush and refill and hope you haven't killed the pump.

The fluid was just barely touching the dipstick, it was low. I looked all over the rack for leaks, nothing, everything is clean. Yeah original fluid, never leaked before this trip. Going to watch it, and it did quiet down when I added fluid, still moans a little when turning wheel.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

You probably got a little air in the bearings and can be hard to remove. Once it is warmed up work the wheel from stop to stop about 20 times see if it helps? On mine after changing the gearbox and pump I finally pulled it into a vacuum and stopped the whine. Get a spare cap for the reservor and add a barbed nipple out the top so it gets a tight seal then connect manifold vacuum to it so it pulls it into a vacuum when the engine is running. It is worth a try before you decide if it needs a new pump. Then you will have the adaptor to bleed the pump and gearbox if you change the pump.

 

[kimcrwbr1]