Very loud PS pump - drivable?

[Mrmosher]

Hi all,

I recently inherited a 92 4l ranger when my grandpa passed away. Been trying to get the truck into shape to make the drive back home from grandmas. The truck has a very loud whine which seems to be coming from the PS pump. Whines regardless of if I’m turning, and increases in pitch with increasing RPMs. Sounds like a turbo, it’s very notable. Tried flushing with type F atf but saw no improvement.

I understand these pumps are notoriously noisy, this one just sounds pretty extreme. I’ll try and replace the pump next, but would much rather do that at my house rather than at grandmas. The steering feels absolutely fine. I have about a 200 mile drive back home, any thoughts on if the truck will be safe to make the trip?

Appreciate any help!

 

[franklin2]

Why not go ahead and buy the pump, and carry the tools you need to replace it. Go get the truck, if the worst happens you can change it along the way. Hopefully you can find a safe parking lot somewhere to do it if it happens. Try to travel in the daytime and pick a day with nice weather.

 

[sgtsandman]

Ford power steering pumps are notorious for getting loud and running that way for a very long time. It's just annoying. For me to fix the problem, I had to get a rebuilt pump from the dealership. The aftermarket one I tried before that was louder than the pump I was replacing.

 

[broncc]

They're all loud, some just haven't reached full volume yet. Mine might hold the record for max volume (I have all the parts to change it and will do it soon sorry neighbors).

Once a Ford pump is loud it kind of stays loud. I have found some luck shutting it up by pulling a vacuum on the pump. I take one of those hand vacuum pumps and a bathtub stopper with a hose RTVed into it and place that where the fill cap goes.

Type F is thicker and helps. Autozone power steering fluid is some other weird fluid but its a bit thicker and helps if you're desperate.

 

[97RangerXLT]

these pumps are loud as mentioned. I think you will be fine driving it home 200 miles. get a new one with a new reservoir. get a new pulley, metal if you can. The pulley will have to come off to replace it, and you will need a special puller tool to remove it, so you might hit amazon up for that tool. I think I paid 40 bucks for mine.

looks like you are in CA so hopefully no rust issues. I ended up having to replace the lines because well one was blown out due to rust and the other one was not going to come off without crumbling due to rust... so that may be a consideration, if you do the pump, you may have to do the lines as well.

AJ

 

[Brain75]

the one from harbor freight (power steering pump puller) worked perfectly fine for me (on the GM).... I drove it for 20k mi with it screaming away and having to constantly add fluid every 1k (lived in an apt complex with no real place to work on anything)...

It's a dumb tool, no electronics, no plastic, nothing to go wrong... so harbor freight was good enough since I don't plan on doing 200 power steering pumps in my life.

fwiw: All that fluid would have ruined the serpentine belt but it was at 100k (normal replace interval) and I just waited to replace it after till the power steering pump was done.

 

[97RangerXLT]

heck, my puller may have been HF...

but yeah pretty simple. pro tip, get a 1.5 or 2 inch diameter hose clamp to go around the metalpullers so you don't have to fight those slipping off the pulley... and if your 92 is like my 97, the OEM pulley will be plastic and you will likely chip or break it. be prepared.

AJ

 

[97RangerXLT]

and it was Amazon...

here is the one I got:

Amazon.com

I still think I paid more than 29 bucks, but that was in 2019. so who knows. but do replace that thin ring with a hose clamp... you will be glad you did.

AJ

 

[Brain75]

and HF now wants $35 for theirs... I swear it was not that much when I did it and that was real recent...

 

[Mrmosher]

I managed to get it together and just replace it today. Unfortunately, sounds exactly the same. Makes me wonder if it’s not the PS pump? I also changed the tensioner pulley out, the bearing felt bad. Rest of the pulleys feel ok. Doesn’t make the noise when the serpentine belts off. Maybe coming from the ac system (which doesn’t work)? Definitely sounds like it was either from there or the PS pump.

Video of the noise here:

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youtube.com

 

[97RangerXLT]

yeah that isn't the ps pump. that sounds like a bearing. clutch bearing for the a/c maybe? I think you can replace that bearing pretty easily. unbolt the compressor and tilt it up and remove the center bolt holding the clutch face to the pulley. yank the clutch with a three jaw puller and then yank the bearing. that will at least keep the belt going, even if the a/c unit itself is junk the sound my ps pump made was a much higher pitched whine. that is more of a growl/ thump in the bearing. New p/s pump still made the same whine, but much quieter.

Another option is remove the a/c and get a shorter belt.... or maybe there is just a pulley that replaces the compressor... seen that a few times. both cases you are removing at least part of the a/c. The first method I mentioned at least keeps everything there if you do decide to resurrect the a/c at some point. even if you end up replacing all of it (you should anyways) you will know how it is all routed and how it goes together instead of trying to remember what you took off and how it goes back on some years later when you tackle the project.

AJ

 

[Brain75]

My PS what much higher pitched as well, lot more of a whine than a rattle. ... and would groan like a sick dog when turning the wheel stop to stop. I concur - probably not the PS.

 

[SenorNoob]

92 4.0 you can just get a belt for non-AC to bypass it. At least as a test.

 

[Mrmosher]

Thanks all! I’ll try bypassing the ac with the shorter belt, ac doesn’t work anyway.

 

[Mrmosher]

No dice bypassing the ac, still makes the noise. I used a screwdriver up to my ear to poke around, noise is loud around the ac/ps bracket, quiet on the alternator side. Not really sure what to try next?