Hello Everyone -

Long time reader, first time poster

I have a 2002 D2 SE with 139K, recently been battling the coolant issues but the PSP decided it wanted attention and a cut from my bank account.

In the past couple of month I did notice little fluid drops from the PSP area, but was not really sure and decided to drop it off to my Indy LR shop for thermostat and couple of seals. The shop noticed a leak from somewhere else and i was hoping that was it. I had to take it again for a nasty coolant leak due to bad timing chain seal, the shop replaced the TC seal, replaced the WP, and few other seals to ensure no more leaks from that area.

I was really happy thinking this is it, nope, and here is my issue now: The PSP is loosing fluids at much rapid rate now, and it's really really nosing in the morning or when it's cold, once the truck warms up it appears to be fine. This is start happing after I got it from the shop, I talked to the shop mechanic and he thought it was the alternator! But I am positive it's the PSP since the noise is coming from that area, and it tends to do it when I turn the steering left or right.

Any suggestions, ideas, lectures, etc would be great, just need to get this truck up before it turns into hate relationship only (now it's love/hate).

BTW - I got bunch of tools and I have no issues venturing into the work myself, my wife understands my happiness stems from her and my Land Rovers in the drive way.

Thank you all.

 

Normally when you get the cold start groan, it is from old burned fluid and or a pump, starting to show its age. A leak should not cause this to happen as long as you never let the fluid level get too old.
If you do have to replace the pump, don't buy a rebuilt one, their failure rate is pretty high.

 

Rotating noise makers are easy to diagnose with a broom handle or yard stick. Hold one end to your ear and rest other end on the suspect devices. You will hear mucho better the "music" from within. And the noise will be in sync with the noise you hear with your other ear. Your mechanic could slip off the belt and turn things feeling for roughness, but a cold morning test is easy to do. Note two important safety concerns, keep dreadlocks away from the moving belt, and get SWMBO approval for alternative broom to use, don't use one that is on flight status.

 

Happy Tuesday Guys

Thanks for the suggestion and direction to test...The pump is leaking like crazy, topping the tank is no help, the noise (really loud noise) is still there and coming from the pump, no bubbling in the tank but I still have my power steering!

Is it time to change it? If yes, any suggestion where to purchase it from? And should I change the hoses while doing the work?

Thank you.

 

Its loud because the gasket is leaking, sucking in air, and causing cavitation. If you leave it long enough you find the fluid will start to foam due to so much air is getting mixed in.

Don't run it any more to avoid damaging the pump. Remove the pump and replace the gasket, or install a new pump. Very easy project. Follow the RAVE instructions.

 

Is it worth replacing the gasket or just getting a new pump? The darn things go for 300+ dollars for new, and rebuilt is not getting any good reviews here plus they range in the 200 bucks anyways.

I did not drive it today and probably endup for working from home this week to avoid any more issues.

Thanks for the tips.

 

I replaced the gasket in mine and it works fine. I believe it was roughly $40 for the gaskets to my house. If you are removing/installing the pump yourself it's worth trying. If you are going to pay $100-200 to have someone remove the pump and install it, you may as well just replace it because you will be spending 1/2 the cost of a new pump to do it again if it doesn't work.

 

Thank you all for the great feedback, I have been swamped at work and did not have chance to reply to the thread or actually work on the truck. On top of all that, we're having a normal winter in North Carolina! It's actually cold and raining
So, because of a busy schedule I have decided to simply replace the pump now, still going to do it myself.

My question is where do I buy it from? There is OE, OEM, Europarts, Autozone, oreilly Auto, and the list goes on...The price ranges from $213 to $599 on one of the rover sites on the net. Oh and the dealer wanted $460 for refurb, WTF! I know I should have not called them, but I thoughts miracles do happen

So any suggestions?

Thank you all.

 

Quick Upate:

I purchased a new OEM pump from British Parts of Utah, the pump with expedited shipping set me back $417.0 (375 + 42).

I begun the work yesterday about 2PM EST, it took me about 6 hours but mainly because I did bunch of cleaning around the engine and repaired some of the wiring insulators.

I choose the easy route, borrowed the fan tool kit from Oreilly Auto ($75 deposit). Removing the fan really made the job easy, in case you can't find the tool set check out this video on Youtube for a great tip to remove the fan
While at it I also changed the serpentine belt, I wanted to do as much as I can to justify the times.

As far as fluids I used Valvoline, hopefully I made the right choice. While at it I used someone's tip on the board here to flush the system. Basically I did not connect the return hose to the PAS tank, I used a plastic bottle (Minute Maid Lemonade) to catch the return oil while my 7 year old dude cranked and stopped the engine. I used about two quarts, the oil after that was nice and clean.

We took it the the car wash and power washed the engine to make sure no residual oil still around from the leak. Aside from noticing coolant leak on the back of the engine now, the PAS replacement went very well.

I guess I need to read now if I need to bleed the system, any suggestions? Let me know if I can be of any help guys with your PAS replacement.

Oh and I did notice my old PAS pump was actually rebuilt, I can tell from the seal type

On to the coolant issue now.