Last year the power steering pump on the wife's 02 Malibu started to leak. I should have just replaced the seal but I said at 300k it deserves a rebuild. I was wrong. Two pumps whined right out of the box, I was told that I could change out as many as I wanted under warrenty but I really don't like changing them. I was also told it could be air in the system so I had it power flushed/bled to make sure. It didn't help. I took it to my mechanic and he said that it wasn't worth doing as he has had the same trouble with rebuilt pumps lately. Has anyone had any luck with any of the various fliud additives? I really don't feel like going for a new pump just to make a noise go away.
Reman pumps, racks and gearboxes are E36 M3. It doesn't matter where you buy one, cause they all come from the same sweatshop minimum wage dump.
Don't worry too much about the noise, but if it has a remote reservoir which you reused, there could be a filtering screen in it which could be partially blocked, causing the oil to be aerated. If the reservoir is part of the pump, just hang on to the invoice so when it leaks under warranty, you can get another pump free. And then another one...
After breaking the shaft on a factory GM pump and discovering how whiny the remans are, I will keep any leaky but working and quiet pump limping along as long as possible. Next time I'll just go to the junkyard and get another factory unit, leaking or not. The GM systems really dont care what you feed em, so you can experiment. High mileage dex 3 ATF seems to work well enough and slow down the leaking.
Had a mechanic use a seal-swelling additive (don't know which one specifically) on my PS rack which had a slight leak, it's held up well for about 10 months now.
Wally wrote:
Last year the power steering pump on the wife's 02 Malibu started to leak. I should have just replaced the seal but I said at 300k it deserves a rebuild. I was wrong. Two pumps whined right out of the box, I was told that I could change out as many as I wanted under warrenty but I really don't like changing them. I was also told it could be air in the system so I had it power flushed/bled to make sure. It didn't help. I took it to my mechanic and he said that it wasn't worth doing as he has had the same trouble with rebuilt pumps lately. Has anyone had any luck with any of the various fliud additives? I really don't feel like going for a new pump just to make a noise go away.
LUCAS! i've used it on a few cars with good results.
i use lucas's transmission additive. BG also offers an additive I haven't tried, but their stuff tends to be good.
I'm going to give the Lucas a try on my LS400, I've already replaced the pump with a reman'd unit found at the junkyard and plugged the IAC valve and it leaks at the rack. Looks like they offer a money back guarantee, worth a shot as I was considering a rack replacement. Will report back after I get to the car this weekend.
GameboyRMH wrote:
Had a mechanic use a seal-swelling additive (don't know which one specifically) on my PS rack which had a slight leak, it's held up well for about 10 months now.
That would be Lucas most likely; have 150K+ on a Windstar with infrequent applications. NAPA, among others, has it.
( Who knew something named Lucas would be famous for working well!!!
)
I'll try some this weekend. Somehow my wife's only complaint with a 300k Malibu is this noise. If it goes away I'm good until I can afford something new.
sergio
New Reader
2/24/13 12:31 p.m.
This is how we do it at work if a pump whines.
http://diy-auto-repair.wonderhowto.com/how-to/solve-power-steering-moans-323656/
You need to make a rubber stopper, with a nipple to conect the vacuum pump, to put it the resv. opening.
Here's how they do it on a Ranger.
http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=109908
Interesting.
I can remember when power steering noise was "standard equipment" on cars... Some cars or trucks were just noisy...
