Power Steering

[cutlass88]

Theres a really annoying sound when I turn, especially at low speed. I read some posts and I think it concerns the power steering.

 

How much would it cost to fix?

 

thank you

[phantomshado]

describe the sound.

 

if its a click, get your wallet ready.

[92turboLE]

ok, imma take a stab at this. i will bet it is one of these 3 sounds:

 

A) a low whining noise (kinda like a supercharger sorta sound)

 

a high pitched Squeeling noise

 

C) a tapping/clicking/thunking noise.

 

 

If you answered A, then you are either running low on steering fluid, OR your pump could be going out.

 

if you answered B, then your belts are slipping. The only reason that it would slip when turning the wheel is cuz your pump puts resistance on it when you are cranking.

 

if you answered C, then your looking at replacing your CV axel. Fairly pricey if you have a shop do it, but othwerwise not too bad if you know how to do it yourself.

 

with the car running, put it in gear and hold the brake, then while NOT moving, turn the wheel. does it still make the sound? Another thing to look for is when you turn the wheel, does it move a little, then kinda feel like it is catching on something, then moves smoothly again? that could be low steering fluid.

 

Hope this helps

 

- Justin

[95 3-4]

Mine does A)........It seems to lately have become thirtsy for power steering fluid, I dont see it leak anywhere when i park and it isnt spraying anywhere so I do not know.

 

It has became very low at times, I finnaly checked it once it sounded like a i was running 1000 ton hydraulic press.......it seemed like it was boging the motor down like it was seizing due to no oil no belt squeel or anything tho Assist was still great tho and my assist seems to be up to par

 

I would say I've filled the resivior up from empty twice in the last month half a pint maybe each time

 

This car a real runner i beat the f out of it everyday and it always runs and starts, still has the off idle miss up to 2k rpms but runs strong from there, it leaks oil from the dist o ring, oil is cheap i dump a qaurt in it when the low oil level light comes on, when the ps pump starts whining like howard dean and john f'ing kerry i fill it up too......gas mileage is about 12 maybe terrible.....2 of the 3 hvac knobs are done in small billet alum knurled pieces 1 plastic pontiac piece remains lol, too cheap to buy knobs and none in the wreckers

[cutlass88]

thanks for the replies

 

when the car is not moving and Im turning the steering, it moves a little then the steering gets rough and it makes a high pitch noise and I can hear somekind of liquid flowing as I turn the steering

 

at 20-30km/h in a 90 degrees turn, theres a low-pitch noise

[Slade901]

Put 1/16 or 1 ounce of SeaFoam Motor Tune-Up in your power steering fluid and see what happens.

 

Besides you can use the rest of the Seafoam to clean out your engine from carbon buildup.

 

I've come across a thread before and it deals with power steering problem and it fixed it after using the seafoam stuff.

 

However, it will not help you if your power steering fluid is leaking out somewhere.

[Artemis]

Hey, i've had a similar issue myself. Basically when i bought the car it had squeeling noises. But it got much worse when the lines leaked and my pump went to crap. Got a new pump, still getting the whinning noise. Especially at slow speeds. It's incredibly annoying. You said it could possibly be the belt slipping? I've had the serpantine belt replaced maybe 2k ago. I'm getting the pump replaced again tomorow (for free) we'll see if the noise stops. But any other suggestions?

[Robby1870]

Moving to (now) appropriate section.

 

[rockfangd]

the pumps are common to being noisy due to the strut bearings that never fail to go bad lol. Also chances are if you have a leak, check behind the engine on the passenger side and follow the lines to the hoses at the firewall, classic. Cooler lines very commonly leak

[Artemis]

lines are no longer leaking, i've had the lines fixed recently. Whats this about strut bearings?