Whiny power steering after rack and pump rplcmnt

[Darrell]

Help ToyotaCarl 🙂

With help of experienced friend we replaced:

-leaking p/s rack (with new inner & outer tie rods too)
-Pressure and return lines
-Pump

Rack was ac/delco re-man
Pump was re-man autozone

We bleed system best we could per Eric’s videos while still on jack stands then I let car idle good 20 min.

Pump is quiet at idle but is whiny while accelerating and constant whiny at higher rpm.
Whine increases with rpm in pitch and volume.
Radio at moderate to low level does drown out sound but old pump was silent. Now I feel like I’m driving and old Ford instead of an old Toyota.

Steering functionsperfecly fine.

No bubbles are visible in fluid now after driving 30-40 miles: I can observe swirling fluid at idle with cap off. So there is circulation.

Parts guys say it takes “up to 500 miles for pump to settle in”. This sounds like crap to me. 😉

I used dex/merc ATF fluid as this is what manual calls for. I’m wondering though if I should use regular p/s fluid since rack and pump are both re manufactured?

If this pump is still whinny after 500 miles should
I think about returning pump? Could too lose belt tension cause this? I feel we could have gotten belt a bit tighter but friend said it good and like I said steering functions fine.

Thanks again, you guys rock.

Topic

[Robby Villabona]

I had my ’97 Civic’s power steering system overhauled a few years ago and it was also noisy for about a week or so after the work was done. My (trusted) mechanic told me to expect it and it gradually went away after about a week (I don’t drive a lot). I just don’t remember it being noisy if steering is not engaged — just when doing slow speed turns. Maybe I just wasn’t hearing it much at high speed due to engine and road noise. I guess that’s normal.

[Billy]

I apologize for being a pessimist, but stories that start with “I bought a Cardone reman PS pump from AutoZone” tend to end with “after 3 of those pieces of crap, I finally gave up and bought a new one.” Been there myself once, never again.

[Darrell]

Ya, I hear ya! Next time I might try rebuilding the OEM pump. Wish I had kept the core for $36.

Kicker is I’m not 100% certain it was leaking but I’m pretty (90%) sure it was. Figured it was best to replace everything while putting all the effort into the rack. It has gotten a little quieter, hopefully will continue to.

[zero]

[quote=”relative4″ post=185485]I apologize for being a pessimist, but stories that start with “I bought a Cardone reman PS pump from AutoZone” tend to end with “after 3 of those pieces of crap, I finally gave up and bought a new one.” Been there myself once, never again.[/quote]

I’ve installed Cardone professionally and don’t wish that garbage on anyone.

I understand that due to the nature of what they are, parts are going to fail. With Cardone, you wonder when a part is going to work. around 50% of racks failed within 6 months. And not just, oh, it’s leaking a bit. Nope, they would lose all the fluid.

[Its me]

It sounds like you have an issue with the pump. Are you certain it is not belt related?

Yes on the Dexron. That is what Toyota calls for, don’t use anything else.

Whining taking 500 miles to settle in, I don’t buy that… It may do it for a short period (less than a day) but that is to get all the air out.

FWIW, Those pumps are easy to rebuild and the kit only costs around $15. However the bearing should be replaced and that will be a few dollars more.

Attachments:

• 20170129_150228.jpg
• 20170129_150237.jpg
• 20170129_150331.jpg
• 20170129_151132.jpg

[Darrell]

Thank you very much ToyotaKarl! I don’t think it is the belt. The belt is new and is correct belt. It was tensioned properly.

That said, I now have a completely different problem with the pump. ONE I CREATED MYSELF

Long story short. I managed to bend the pivot bolt for the pump. The pivot bolt seems to be captive? is it even possible to change it out since I have wrecked it?

Could installing pump with bent pivot bolt cause pump to fail? Because I just did, and I think it did. Threaded part is straight, last 1.5 inches of bolt is bent at about 15 degree angle. I may be posting the dumbest thing anyone has posted on this board right now so read on! Sorry it is long, but hopefully has some entertainment value. Maybe I’ll even get Eric’s attention on this one. 🙂

Here are the details of how I did this inane thing, and it is pretty ridiculous. I am so mad at myself! One of those things that makes me think “Man, maybe you just shouldn’t work on your own cars anymore. ”

Convinced this pump is garbage (as you seem to agree with) I got myself all in a rush to pull it back off and try my luck with exchanging it for a different one at autozone under warranty. (I wish I had not turned in the core right away or I would rebuild as you suggest above.)

While loosening the pivot bolt with 1/4 ratchet and deep well socket I just was not paying attention to what I was doing.
I backed out the bolt too far and wedged the ratchet between wheel well and pump bracket while socket was still on the bolt.
It was STUCK.
I could not get the ratchet reversed in the other direction to drive the bolt back in so I could get the socket off and switch to wrench.
In hindsight I should have clamped on vise grips to the socket and worked the bolt back in. But I did not do that. Instead I banged on the ratchet with hammer and pry bar because it was a cheap 1/4 ratchet and I figured it would just break. It did not break. Instead I bent the pivot bolt.

After some doing I managed to get a thread started and re-installed the same crappy pump as I was out of time and gave up on idea exchanging the pump today. Got the belt tensioned on bottom and then was able to drive the bent pivot bolt the rest of the way back home with a gear wrench that I should have used in the first place but forgot I had. (Keep in mind the threaded portion of the bolt is not bent.) I still can’t believe I did this after successfully changing the pump AND RACK just two day ago. This is FAR from my first repair. Also, at 41 years old I’m not some dumb kid. (I guess I’m some dumb adult.)

NOW: Despite all of the above everything seemed to still work
BUT:
20 miles after doing the above something massively broke and all the fluid ran out in very short order. Just a few hundred feet. Luckily this was in a subdivision and I could just park the car. I will have towed tomorrow. I suppose I should shallow my pride and have it towed to my father-in-laws shop instead of home,but probably won’t.

I will know more tomorrow in the daylight but I am fearful that my bent pivot bolt torqued the pump in an odd way putting it at an angle that caused the belt to be out of alignment thus causing the pump to fail. is that even possible? Even though I think this “re-manufactured” was very suspect it seems highly unlikely that I did not cause this? It could be a hose I guess. but I know I got those back on correctly. If not I think this would been obvious right away.
Also mind you, I did not bang on the pump, only the ratchet wedged between the bolt and wheel well.

While re-installing the pump I did notice that the pulley shaft did move in and out some. maybe 1/16th of inch. This did not seem right to me.

Anyway, am I totally screwed now? I don’t care about the $ for another pump, I care bout being able to install any pump correctly ever again.

[Author]

Replies