Power steering whine?

[DigitalGhost]

When my engine runs, mainly at idle, I can hear a "power steering" whine if I'm outside the car, or have a window rolled down. It's the same sound a car makes when it's getting low on ps fluid, but my fluid level is fine.

Any ideas on what it could be and what to check for, or is that sound pretty normal for most people?

 

[stangbear427]

More normal for some situations than others. What year is the car? How many miles are on it? Does the pump look like it's throwing any fluid around the engine bay? Need more info.

 

[Jkstang78]

Sometimes it is normal to hear that, But it should not be exessive loud. If it is loud then I would change the pump.

 

[Adams91LX]

it's fairly normal to have a whine.. i do...
as long as it's not too loud.. if it seems to be getting worse.. change it.
-a

 

[rd]

Every ps pump that's been on my Mustang and Capri has whined at idle, since 1981. I had one replacement for a leaking pump that was much louder than the one it replaced.

Other than noise, it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[tunedin302]

As stated above, it is normal to hea a whine. I would just keep an eye on it to see if the noise changes (gets louder).

 

[myslo50]

get a stethescope, and poke around to find the noise. if its the power steering pump, try bleeding the system first. disconnect the coil wier so the car wont fire, rraise the front tires off the ground, turn the motor over while turning the steering wheel lock to lock to bleed the system. if it still wines try replacing it and bleeding it as stated above. works every time! could be the bearings in the tensoiner, or idler pulley or the alternator?

and my power steering pump does not wine at all and i replaced this winter.

 

[Jaswir]

mines only loud when u just sit there and turn the wheel back and forth...

 

[lang williams]

I had that problem in my 89 supercoupe, I took a cheap turkey baster an sucked the old fluid out an replaced it, It seemed to help a lot, I also added about half a bottle of Lucas fluid to help seal it up.

 

[Roland69]

it's a ford thing.....they push 2-3X the pressure than a chevy pump

 

[stangjunkie]

it's a ford thing.....they push 2-3X the pressure than a chevy pump

+1 sold parts for a few years, ford pumps whine, its normal as long as when your inside of the car you kinda have to listen for it, shouldn't be loud, and should barely be there (if at all) when driving in a straight line.

 

[DigitalGhost]

Thanks guys,

No there's no power steering fluid in the engine compartment, but maybe I need to flush the power steering fluid.
The whine isn't THAT terrible, and it does get louder when I turn the wheel, so it's either just that the pump is loud, or it needs new fluid. Or it could be both.

 

[$uperstang]

leave it alone

 

[Roland69]

if you drain the fluid out and replace it wont hurt it but the whine will still be there...

 

[Beasly B]

I found one product that fixed the whine on my two GT's, Lucas power steering additive, it definetly worked for me. It's worth a try.

 

[795.0pacecar]

Does the fluid look burnt? Like everyone else has said, ford power steering pumps just whine, I learned that the hard way, I've been through like 3 pumps trying to stop the whine.

 

[Roland69]

My friend ran pure Lucas tranny fluid additive in his ford truck and it stoped the whine

 

[Shakerhood]

I would put ONLY the Ford Recommended P/S Fluid in it or it will Whine and take a Crap on you, make sure it is Type F Power Steering Fluid.

 

[Black1987Stang]

I would put ONLY the Ford Recommended P/S Fluid in it or it will Whine and take a Crap on you, make sure it is Type F Power Steering Fluid.

Not sure about our pumps but I know some you can just use Automatic Transmission fluid instead....I never would in mine, but just thought I would mention it, we used it in my friends older t/a and its fine....I use P/s fluid in mine and its quiet, only whine there is if im sitting there and i turn the wheel like someone else above mentioned, in my friends P.O.S. 86 Jeep Comanche we've even used 80w90 gear oil in his pump (stopped the leak also), it had a nice white foaming action to it hahah it worked fine for over a year till the motor blew up....but yeah hearing a Ford power steering pump is very common, even new ones, my boss that owns his own shop, he said when he gets one from Autozone? they whine for like 50 miles he says then they start to shut up, and ones from Advance will quiet up in like 10 miles....idk something like that....

 

[HISSIN50]

It seems to me that Type F is ATF (it has a high coefficient of friction - used on old time trannies).