Power steering pump bearing noise

[bendrinkwater1990]

Hey guys,

At idle i have a bearing type dull whine coming from my engine, i have listened to all the pulleys and idlers with a stethoscope and all sound normal. The noise pulses, it does not reamain a constant noise.
I pulled off the serpentine belt and checked all pulleys for movement and play, the only problem area i found was the power steering pump pulley, i could move it in and out around 3-5 mm. Is this excessive play? The engine has done 163,000k's, Could that be causing the noise?

Thanks guys

 

[lifeguard_aus]

3-5mm isn't good, have you tried dry lube around the pullys as well?

 

[bendrinkwater1990]

yeah i dry lubed and wd4o'd all the pulleys. should i notice reduced power steering aswell?

 

[Brett_jjj]

Take off the drive belt,start the engine and see if the noise is gone.This will confirm the noise is from one of the pulley bearings or water pump.While the belt is off,spin all the pulleys and water pump by hand and see if any of the bearings feel or sound rough.A rough or noisy pulley will most likely be the culprit.The engine can be safely run for a couple of minutes with no drive belt.

 

[Immortality]

power steering pump doesn't run a normal ball bearing type bearing. it uses a white metal bearing much like the mains and bigend bearings in the motor and the bearing is lubricated by the power steering fluid.

when the vanes in the pump wear it can create noise. strip the pump, turn the vanes over and see what happens.

 

[bendrinkwater1990]

Thanks alot guys. ill strip it on the weekend

 

[Immortality]

there is a howto for power steering pumps. give a few pointers to get around a few problems. may pay to pick-up a pump seal kit as the O-rings will possibly be stuffed and won't seal properly after dis-assembly

 

[RX25SE]

^^^^
Pump seal kit is dirt cheap from Holden.

 

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

+2 for what immortality says, it will be the vanes. A complete rebuild kit is only about $70.

 

[RX25SE]

A complete rebuild kit is only about $70.

Does this include new vanes, bearing etc?
From memory I paid around $9.00 for a seal/ O ring kit. I thought this was all you could get?