Hi all,

I've searched a bunch of the forums and found items on power steering noises, but I wanted to get your thoughts on my specific issue.

When my Disco is cold and usually that means sitting overnight, I get a fairly loud whir coming from what seems to be the power steering pump. I can exasperate it by simply turning the steering wheel and it changes pitch, loudness, etc. Almost sounds like the noise when you turn the steering wheel all the way in one direction and hold it, but just louder. Fluid level is OK, but I'm just wondering if this is the first warning of needing to replace my power steering pump?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

There is another whirring noise that happens to D2's when cold, the Secondary Air Injection pump, but it is on passenger side back corner. You can also "listen" to your truck the same way your family doctor listens to you, with a mechanic's stethoscope (auto parts store) or just a good firm stick. Press it against the pump and against your ear. But you may have both noises. Turning steering all the way to one side forces a lot of pressure in there, don't want to hold it this way for more than say 10 seconds. Might have fluid that needs to be changed out, not just re-filled.

 

The SAI at start-up will sound like a Dirt Devil, or a small Shop-Vac, and won't be affected by turning the steering wheel.

Check your PAS pump as suggested above. If you can post a video with sound that would also be helpful.

 

My guess is probably your gasket is failing and a little bit of air is getting sucked in when cold. When the fluid warms up the viscosity drops, the pump does have to work as hard, and less (or no) air gets sucked in.

This is what happen to my pump recently. Eventually it got really loud and the fluid started to foam up.

 

The above sounds like what you have going on. As the temperature inside the pump increases the seals will eventually start to swell (thermal expansion) thus filling the void, creating an air tight seal.

If you can, w/o a doubt, determine that your pump is faulty, head to your local parts yard for a replacement.

 

How long does it make the "whir" noise for? 10 seconds? 30 seconds? Or just all the time?

 

The gasket failing sure makes a lot of sense. Really only seems to happen when the truck (and outdoor temperature) is cold. It will last few a few minutes of driving until things warm up.

I'll see if I can catch it on video and post. Any threads you know of regarding the replacement of that gasket?

Thanks.

 

Don't waste your time with a video.
Is your pump leaking, are you loosing fluid and when did you last flush the p/s system?

 

Yeah, don't waste your time with a video that's a dumb stupid idea.

 

Well, just today I had a small pool of power steering fluid under the truck, so yes, now I am definitely slowly losing fluid. Now I need to get under there and figure out where it's coming from. I'm guessing either the steering box or the PAS pump, right?

Mike, I last flushed the power steering fluid at 70K (20K miles ago), about two years ago.