2nd Power Steering Pump, Still Whines.

[meg01]

this is my first post:

I bought my 94 LS 400 in Aug. 07, so i've only had it a few months. shortly after i bought it, it began making a faint whining noise. in my experience with cars, i know this to mean it's getting low on PS fluid, so I checked it. it was fine. very quickly, the noise began to get worse, so I took it to a shop to have them listen to it, and the mechanic told me that it had air in the pump. they also diagnosed a few other things for me, which they ended up being wrong about, so I decided to go elsewhere. I went to my a friend's mechanic, who told me that I needed a new pump. So i went to the parts store, bought a new one, put it on, no difference. i cleaned the solenoid filter, which was disgusting, and got the fluids back to where they should be, and still no difference. I will say, however, that i was amazed at the difference in how the steering responded after cleaning the filter. it's nearly effortless. but the whining is still there, what's the chances that i was sold a bad pump? does this happen often? i was told that it could be the rack & pinion. when the belt is off of the car, it doesn't make this noise. would the R&P still make this noise with the belt off? i'm baffled. thanks for your help, guys

____________________________________________________

so i put another pump in the car yesterday... it still whines. funny thing was though, when i backed it down off the ramps, it stopped whining, for about 10 seconds. as soon as i touched the wheel again to turn it, it started up again, and hasn't stopped since. i've changed the pump twice, cleaned the filter, and turned the wheel lock to lock 35 times each way. i was told that this would bleed the system. i'm lost. i really have no idea what could be the problem. the steering is VERY smooth, especially since i've cleaned the filter. so this doesn't seem to be affecting the car's performance any, it's just a loud, obnoxious noise. and like i said, it's not something that comes and goes. it's constant. if the pump is not bolted down correctly, would it have anything to do with it?

[ko90ls]

i would bleed the system again. jack the front and turn the wheel lock to lock again and see if the level goes down. if so then there was air in the system. cant hurt and bleeding the system can take a very long time.

[SKperformance]

agree , rebleed and clean the filter again it is plugged

[jeh2337]

this is my first post:

I bought my 94 LS 400 in Aug. 07, so i've only had it a few months. shortly after i bought it, it began making a faint whining noise. in my experience with cars, i know this to mean it's getting low on PS fluid, so I checked it. it was fine. very quickly, the noise began to get worse, so I took it to a shop to have them listen to it, and the mechanic told me that it had air in the pump. they also diagnosed a few other things for me, which they ended up being wrong about, so I decided to go elsewhere. I went to my a friend's mechanic, who told me that I needed a new pump. So i went to the parts store, bought a new one, put it on, no difference. i cleaned the solenoid filter, which was disgusting, and got the fluids back to where they should be, and still no difference. I will say, however, that i was amazed at the difference in how the steering responded after cleaning the filter. it's nearly effortless. but the whining is still there, what's the chances that i was sold a bad pump? does this happen often? i was told that it could be the rack & pinion. when the belt is off of the car, it doesn't make this noise. would the R&P still make this noise with the belt off? i'm baffled. thanks for your help, guys

____________________________________________________

so i put another pump in the car yesterday... it still whines. funny thing was though, when i backed it down off the ramps, it stopped whining, for about 10 seconds. as soon as i touched the wheel again to turn it, it started up again, and hasn't stopped since. i've changed the pump twice, cleaned the filter, and turned the wheel lock to lock 35 times each way. i was told that this would bleed the system. i'm lost. i really have no idea what could be the problem. the steering is VERY smooth, especially since i've cleaned the filter. so this doesn't seem to be affecting the car's performance any, it's just a loud, obnoxious noise. and like i said, it's not something that comes and goes. it's constant. if the pump is not bolted down correctly, would it have anything to do with it?

It's not the pump. It's the alternator below the pump that's bad. I did the same thing before I figured this out.

[Lexus11218]

this is my first post:

I bought my 94 LS 400 in Aug. 07, so i've only had it a few months. shortly after i bought it, it began making a faint whining noise. in my experience with cars, i know this to mean it's getting low on PS fluid, so I checked it. it was fine. very quickly, the noise began to get worse, so I took it to a shop to have them listen to it, and the mechanic told me that it had air in the pump. they also diagnosed a few other things for me, which they ended up being wrong about, so I decided to go elsewhere. I went to my a friend's mechanic, who told me that I needed a new pump. So i went to the parts store, bought a new one, put it on, no difference. i cleaned the solenoid filter, which was disgusting, and got the fluids back to where they should be, and still no difference. I will say, however, that i was amazed at the difference in how the steering responded after cleaning the filter. it's nearly effortless. but the whining is still there, what's the chances that i was sold a bad pump? does this happen often? i was told that it could be the rack & pinion. when the belt is off of the car, it doesn't make this noise. would the R&P still make this noise with the belt off? i'm baffled. thanks for your help, guys

____________________________________________________

so i put another pump in the car yesterday... it still whines. funny thing was though, when i backed it down off the ramps, it stopped whining, for about 10 seconds. as soon as i touched the wheel again to turn it, it started up again, and hasn't stopped since. i've changed the pump twice, cleaned the filter, and turned the wheel lock to lock 35 times each way. i was told that this would bleed the system. i'm lost. i really have no idea what could be the problem. the steering is VERY smooth, especially since i've cleaned the filter. so this doesn't seem to be affecting the car's performance any, it's just a loud, obnoxious noise. and like i said, it's not something that comes and goes. it's constant. if the pump is not bolted down correctly, would it have anything to do with it?

It's not the pump. It's the alternator below the pump that's bad. I did the same thing before I figured this out.

Hi,

I saw your response for "It's the alternator below the pump that's bad. I did the same thing before I figured this out"

What does the alternator have to do with the power steering pump? I changed my power steering pump and experiecend the same issue as

the other guy.

I want to make sure I dont purchase all alternator and i still have the same issue.

Did ur mechanic tell you why the alternator was causing the Power Steering to make that noise.

Thanks,

Jay in NYC

[VMF]

early LS had an issue with PS pump leaking on the alternator and eventually destroying them.but whining usually is due to the clogged filter or due to the air in the system. what i usually do is i dont even bother bleeding, i just leave the cap on the reseroir open overnight and that takes care of the air in the system:)

[qha_vn]

what i usually do is i dont even bother bleeding, i just leave the cap on the reseroir open overnight and that takes care of the air in the system

are you serious? am going to try it tonight

[fsuguy]

Also check to make sure it is not coming from the two bearings - idler pulley and belt tensioner pulley; these two bearings get bad after a while.

HTH B)