Power Steering Weirdness

Whitejeep1999

Whitejeep1999

Member
Original poster
Joined
Jan 29, 2022
Messages
30
Location
Flordia
Hey everyone,

So about a week ago I replaced my steering box because it was leaking from the input seal. Put a RedHead Steering gear in it. It drove and steered amazing since the replacement but over the past few days I’ve noticed some whining while turning the wheel and a whining noise while driving down the road. I checked fluid and made sure the system is bled correctly but can’t seem to figure out what went wrong.

When turning left and right at idle there is creaking felt in the steering box and heard when windows down. At full lock there is a 1/4 turn that gets super stiff. Whining is extra loud now. Unsure what to do. Deffective box? Steering pump crap the bed? Put a picture of what my fluid looks like below. Used the right fluid for my year. 1999. Everything looks dry.

Thanks Everyone

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I've heard it's really easy to blow the pump, you probably did that. I wouldn't fault you, the bleeding process is nuts. I'm sure you'll get some other advice as well, I'm not a power steering expert.
 
pagrey said:
I've heard it's really easy to blow the pump, you probably did that. I wouldn't fault you, the bleeding process is nuts. I'm sure you'll get some other advice as well, I'm not a power steering expert.
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A buddy of mine said it all sounds like the pump took a crap. I mean it’s original to the car it’s just odd for it to happen a few days after I did this steering box. Makes me feel like I did something wrong. I’ll try to post a video of the noises I’ve got later
 
Yup. I have been in your shoes. Any time you replace a power steering component you must bleed the system properly. When you think you about have it bleed right…..do it again. Our style pump won’t last with any air run through it.
 
Gollywomper said:
Yup. I have been in your shoes. Any time you replace a power steering component you must bleed the system properly. When you think you about have it bleed right…..do it again. Our style pump won’t last with any air run through it.
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I’ve got a PSC direct replacement pump coming tomorrow and I’m gonna have a buddy of mine help me with the bleeding procedure. Hopefully I didn’t do any damage to the Steering box though
 
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Irun said:
The PSC pumps needs to be very carefully bled or they will develop issues as well. See this post for how best to do that.

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads...ions-using-black-magic-kit.46340/post-1030234
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I've got 2 of their new steel body pumps here to try out. I've been working with them on this a long time trying to solve the problem. A couple of the very noisy right off idle pumps I sent back were installed on non 4.0 applications and they were dead silent. We are now thinking we are dealing with a harmonic related issue and not an actual bleeding issue. That is due to them not finding any issues in the pumps when torn down and my ability to bleed a system better than most. I've got an install coming up soon so we'll know more.
 
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mrblaine said:
I've got 2 of their new steel body pumps here to try out. I've been working with them on this a long time trying to solve the problem. A couple of the very noisy right off idle pumps I sent back were installed on non 4.0 applications and they were dead silent. We are now thinking we are dealing with a harmonic related issue and not an actual bleeding issue. That is due to them not finding any issues in the pumps when torn down and my ability to bleed a system better than most. I've got an install coming up soon so we'll know more.
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I'm fascinated.

I would expect harmonics typically to exhibit a rythmic pulsing something (sound, feel, a visible movement .. ) .. can you tell at all if anything like that happens in these pumps?

It's very possible the the frequency is too high for us to hear it as a pulse (like a tube light) and we perceive it as continuous - but I think there may be ways (eg using a strobe light or an analog for sound) to test that theory of the sound is induced by whatever movement.

I'll tag @Mike_H here given his experience in physics/mechanical engg.
 
My PSC pump will make noise at about 3900rpm. It only sees that on some highway hill climbs with the 2.5. They sent me another and it does the same as the first. Works fine, harmonics explain that maybe.
 
psrivats said:
I'm fascinated.

I would expect harmonics typically to exhibit a rythmic pulsing something (sound, feel, a visible movement .. ) .. can you tell at all if anything like that happens in these pumps?

It's very possible the the frequency is too high for us to hear it as a pulse (like a tube light) and we perceive it as continuous - but I think there may be ways (eg using a strobe light) to to test that theory of it's induced by movement.
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How many pulses are in the sound a siren makes? The pumps certainly don't make a continuous wavelength of sound, it is very definitely a pulsation but very close together and in the upper frequency.

I also may be using the wrong terminology. They make noise like a siren on a 4 liter, the same pump does not on a non 4 liter application.
 
Gollywomper said:
My PSC pump will make noise at about 3900rpm. It only sees that on some highway hill climbs with the 2.5. They sent me another and it does the same as the first. Works fine, harmonics explain that maybe.
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That and if the pump was in fact doing something other than an odd vibe at those speeds, it would not last long since the typical cavitation that causes a similar sound would destroy it in short order.

What any of that does not explain is the dozens and dozens of the same pump that are dead silent at any RPM.
 
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mrblaine said:
How many pulses are in the sound a siren makes? The pumps certainly don't make a continuous wavelength of sound, it is very definitely a pulsation but very close together and in the upper frequency.

I also may be using the wrong terminology. They make noise like a siren on a 4 liter, the same pump does not on a non 4 liter application.
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I think your terminology is correct and I perfectly understood what you meant (hence my tube light analogy). And it's a good theory given that the very same pump specimen that was noisy with the 4.0 is quiet in another application.
 
mrblaine said:
What any of that does not explain is the dozens and dozens of the same pump that are dead silent at any RPM.
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Then I'm guessing this is a resonance vibration like our famous post regear vibe. Just at a very high pitch. One suggestion would be to try to stick some wheel weights to the outside of the pump and see if it changes things any in a pump specimen that's noisy. Go in a large enough range and you'll know quickly.
 
mrblaine said:
That and if the pump was in fact doing something other than an odd vibe at those speeds, it would not last long since the typical cavitation that causes a similar sound would destroy it in short order.

What any of that does not explain is the dozens and dozens of the same pump that are dead silent at any RPM.
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I guess it’s like some of the driveline harmonics we see. Sometimes it takes multiple vibration sources for them to become audible to the human ear. So it is probably a combination of the pump and another source or two.
 
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