How noisy should a PSC CBR power steering pump be?

[Steel City 06]

Well I took it for the first test drive. Stopped in several parking lots to check for bubbles (absolutely zero). Let it up to about 3500 RPM while accelerating. No abnormal noise, maybe a slight whine. Certainly no supercharger. No growling at idle either!

I’m letting it cool down now so that the valve can pressurize the reservoir on the next heat-up and then I’ll take it out on the highway and run it up to redline.

I’m pretty optimistic about this pump

 

[Steel City 06]

Well I took it out on the freeway. It's silent up to about 4000 engine RPM and then begins making a little bit of a whine, but so far this is the quietest pump I've had yet. Definitely no supercharger here. I'm going to run it for a while and see if there's any change, though I suspect it's good. I think the bigger pulley is making a big difference here. No growling at idle either.

Hopefully this is solved for good.

 

[AZDUDE]

I’m on pump 2 and still sounds supercharged. I’ve heard it’s not uncommon to have to try 3-4 pumps till you get a good one. Frustrating to say the least.

I am on my 4th pump as well and still same issue. Whines like crazy as soon as it’s over 2k RPM. I have tried moving the res from brake booster and holding it directly over pump with zero change.
I have been in contact directly with Tom Allen (owner of PSC) trying to track down the issue.

 

[Rivs65]

I am also having issues with the PSC pump. I am on Pump #2 with zero success. The pump screams at 2k rpms. I originally had the res located at the brake booster with the PSC bracket. I have since made my own bracket and relocated it next to my windshield washer res. The pump still screams. I have followed all the PSC online instructions. No success. I have sent numerous emails to PSC with no response for the past month. I don't know what to do. I am not impressed by the system mostly because it does not currently work on my jeep. Does anyone have a tech support phone number I can call at PSC?

Jeep TJ flat oil cooler
Big bore steering gearbox
PSC steering assist ram
PSC pump which came with a pully
using swepco fluid

 

[mrblaine]

I am also having issues with the PSC pump. I am on Pump #2 with zero success. The pump screams at 2k rpms. I originally had the res located at the brake booster with the PSC bracket. I have since made my own bracket and relocated it next to my windshield washer res. The pump still screams. I have followed all the PSC online instructions. No success. I have sent numerous emails to PSC with no response for the past month. I don't know what to do. I am not impressed by the system mostly because it does not currently work on my jeep. Does anyone have a tech support phone number I can call at PSC?

Jeep TJ flat oil cooler
Big bore steering gearbox
PSC steering assist ram
PSC pump which came with a pully
using swepco fluid

Post up your exact and specific bleeding method.

 

[Rivs65]

Post up your exact and specific bleeding method.

I jacked the front of the jeep till the tires were off the ground. I filled the res to about 1" bellow the threads. With the cap off I cycled the steering lock to lock 30 times while refilling the res as needed. The level does over flow if I turn the wheel to fast to the left. It stabilized around 15 lock to locks. I put the cap back on and started the jeep for 30 seconds and then shut it off. I waited 30 min and then started the bleed with the engine running. I turned it lock to lock about 30 more times. level stabilized after 3 turns. around 15-20 locks I didn't see anymore bubbles. At Idle the pump is growling, at 2k rpms its really loud. I see zero bubbles in the res when raving or not.

The first pump and the second pump the res was located at the brake res with a PSC bracket. I have since relocated it next to the windshield washer res. I am not sure what else to do.

Edit:
I did notice when I went to full lock the pump was dead silent at Idle and 2k RPMs.

 

[mrblaine]

I jacked the front of the jeep till the tires were off the ground. I filled the res to about 1" bellow the threads. With the cap off I cycled the steering lock to lock 30 times while refilling the res as needed. The level does over flow if I turn the wheel to fast to the left. It stabilized around 15 lock to locks. I put the cap back on and started the jeep for 30 seconds and then shut it off. I waited 30 min and then started the bleed with the engine running. I turned it lock to lock about 30 more times. level stabilized after 3 turns. around 15-20 locks I didn't see anymore bubbles. At Idle the pump is growling, at 2k rpms its really loud. I see zero bubbles in the res when raving or not.

The first pump and the second pump the res was located at the brake res with a PSC bracket. I have since relocated it next to the windshield washer res. I am not sure what else to do.

If you started it and it instantly made noise, you likely smoked the pump. The high performance versions do not tolerate any air in them at start up. They have to be fully bled before start. One thing that helps is to turn the pump pulley with a slow electric or air ratchet with the belt off. Spin the pulley, turn the wheels some, spin the pulley and repeat that until you've done it 4-5 times to get it form lock to lock.

Have someone start it while you are close to the pump. If it makes any noise whatsoever, kill it and bleed some more but typically that is too late.

I wish they were as easy to bleed as the older TJ TC pumps. Turn the tires back and forth a couple of times, get some fluid ready and pour it in to maintain the level after you start it. Worked every time practically.

 

[Rivs65]

If you started it and it instantly made noise, you likely smoked the pump. The high performance versions do not tolerate any air in them at start up. They have to be fully bled before start. One thing that helps is to turn the pump pulley with a slow electric or air ratchet with the belt off. Spin the pulley, turn the wheels some, spin the pulley and repeat that until you've done it 4-5 times to get it form lock to lock.

Have someone start it while you are close to the pump. If it makes any noise whatsoever, kill it and bleed some more but typically that is too late.

I wish they were as easy to bleed as the older TJ TC pumps. Turn the tires back and forth a couple of times, get some fluid ready and pour it in to maintain the level after you start it. Worked every time practically.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Lou]

I’ve recently had success with pulling a vacuum on the system before starting the engine. I did my lock to locks with engine off, after the level stabilized I used a hand vacuum pump on the breather line with the cap on, held vacuum for a bit and when I released it the fluid level had dropped. My current pump is dead silent and I have cracked the system and bled it this way twice now.

 

[mrblaine]

I’ve recently had success with pulling a vacuum on the system before starting the engine. I did my lock to locks with engine off, after the level stabilized I used a hand vacuum pump on the breather line with the cap on, held vacuum for a bit and when I released it the fluid level had dropped. My current pump is dead silent and I have cracked the system and bled it this way twice now.

Did you discuss that with your builder? We've got a bottle set up to work with a standard AC vacuum pump so we don't suck Swepco 715 into the pump. That said, this really shouldn't be that hard but it is for some reason. Not sure why the CBR big ring and rotor pumps are so stinking persnickety.

 

[Lou]

Did you discuss that with your builder? We've got a bottle set up to work with a standard AC vacuum pump so we don't suck Swepco 715 into the pump. That said, this really shouldn't be that hard but it is for some reason. Not sure why the CBR big ring and rotor pumps are so stinking persnickety.

I told him that is how I did it and was successful with silence. Good idea on the bottle, I will rig up something like that next time.