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power steering pump whining

3K views 9 replies 4 participants last post by  IHfreak 
#1 ·
1999 chrysler concorde 2.7 L. I replaced the power steering pump twice so far the first time was the beginning of september the pump was an overhauled from o reily's after a little over 1,000 miles it was making more noise than the original one that failed , I replaced it with an overhauled power steering pump from napa (o-reily's didn't like it but gave me my money back due to defective pump) , I replaced the pump along with replacing water pump, which took awhile due too having to take the engine back apart due to having the chain on the crankshaft one tooth off , so the overhauled napa pump is also whining & makes more noise when turning corners !
I installed a return line filter & flushed the system when I replaced the pump with an overhauled napa pump , I drained the system & refilled with lucus fluid the whining wasn't any less & now after reading that the power steering system should have transmission fluid I drained & flushed system & refilled with transmission fluid still whining not as much I haven't driven it too much since refilling with transmission fluid so hopefully its just air!? any thoughts
 
#3 ·
Yeah it was just Lucas power steering fluid, I replaced the Lucas fluid with transmission fluid and flushed it out drained & refilled several times, still was whining!
Today I drained the resivoir & removed most of the screen which was severely contaminated with trash & sucked out the transmission fluid to get out any trash & refilled with clean transmission fluid!
I drove it around some & it seemed a lot quieter than before, maybe it was starving for fluid!
 
#4 ·
Yep, not using transmission fluid will damage them almost instantly.

Regular power steering fluid is a higher viscosity than transmission fluid so it will not keep the vanes inside the pump lubricated properly due to the tight clearances. What happens is the vanes will score the inside of the housing from lack of lubrication and you'll get lower pressure and whining; sometimes the vanes will jam in the slots and reduce pressure more.

The crap you are seeing in the screen is likely from the inside of the pump(s); hopefully that didnt damage the rack and pinion also.
 
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#5 ·
Well I hope I haven’t damaged the pump from running the wrong fluid, not really looking forward to having to but if any thing the pump has a lifetime warranty & yeah I hope it doesn’t ruin the rack & pinion!
It sounded a lot quieter today after the short trip , time will tell!
 
#9 ·
The original spec was for ATF+3 (1st gen cars) but was superseded by ATF+4 later. You can use any approved vendor ATF+4. Castrol et al. Price difference isn't much if you can find the discounted genuine Mopar stuff.
 
#10 ·
so more info I changed the pump again overhauled napa pump I can't see any fluid leaking from the pump or hose , I had to make a crush washer when I put the pump before this one as the pressure hose was leaking at the fitting that has the press. switch & connector fitting to the pump. I noticed that even with the hose tight at pressure fitting I could still rotate the the switch/connector fitting?!
so I bleed the steering with the wheels off the ground & left the wheels turned left overnight & then cycled the steering through several times the next day & have been driving it around the fluid keeps either pushed out the cap down to I'm not sure if it's the normal low (hard to see on reservoir) ( it seems like the split line of reservoir) & it's foamy still & not whining as bad but not happy with it !!!!
It's starting to get cold up here in the cold country & I'm going to lose a place to work inside soon & can't afford to through parts at it any suggestions !
other than turn it into a moltov cocktail if I had another car & really didn't need this one I would of done that already done that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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