power steering pump whine..

[natsoundup]

These are just some random thoughts, but interesting nonetheless..

About 6 months ago, I got the 94 and immediately started doing all the fluids... I have been consistently doing the turkey baster method of changing out the power steering fluid....

I started getting frustrated because the more I changed the fluid, the more the pump seemed to whine... for the record sake..I was adding back "power steering" fluid rather than transmission fluid...

Anyway... just out of curiosity, I started adding Lubeguard black...and now the whine is all but gone. I would say I went through about 3/4 of a bottle of the black...I forget how big the bottle is...not that big...

I don't know what any of this means, but if the situation changes I will update everyone.

[elwesso]

Mine whines too at startup, only when really cold.. I wonder if a little black would help.....

[natsoundup]

it's a cheap investment.... I do have to admit, mine made more of a noise when it was colder as well...but the lubeguard has really helped the process.... I had a mechanic who was willing to change out the pump for about 800 dollars...of course that would have never happened anyway...

[Q451990]

Why are you using P/S fluid instead of the recommended ATF? I've never heard mine whine with ATF. I bastered (is that a verb?) mine a few times after getting "Q2" but now just at every oil change.

Heath

[Q45tech]

We never changed a PS pump except on active Q............the leaky lines act as a fluid change safety valve on most.

We use a BG product to quieten pumps..............you should see the number of Lexus pumps we change annually.......they have a screen filter in the system that clogs up [from dealer lack of service] starves and destroys the pumps in later life.

[natsoundup]

Heath...I don't have an answer for you....it's the first time ever in my life I purchased "power steering" fluid.... I have always used ATF..... I will be doing more "basting" in the future...and will start replacing it with ATF once again....

Anyway it's fine now.....

[louiegz]

Why are you using P/S fluid instead of the recommended ATF? I've never heard mine whine with ATF. I bastered (is that a verb?) mine a few times after getting "Q2" but now just at every oil change.

Heath

Your suppose to use Automatic Transmition Fluid in the power steering pump. I did not know that. Why is that? My P/S fluid was low and I used P/S fluid. What is Lubeguard black?

[Q451990]

They're just designed to work with ATF rather than P/S fluid... not sure about the differences in what the fluids do but I'm sure they're designed to work in different systems with different tolerances.

Lubegard Black is a friction modifier for transmissions that, if I'm not mistaken, makes the fluid "slicker" - it's good for smoothing out torque converter shift shock, but in the Q a little bit goes a long way. I think Q45Tech has used an ounce or two before. I wouldn't use it in P/S fluid without some research.

Heath

[maxnix]

I highly recommend the Sun transmission/power steering flush machines that Snap-On sells.

The standard extraction and fluid replacement (procedure described in another post) will require a gallon of M1 ATF. If you are having noise or any fluid discoloration, I would do the full flush where the high and low pressure lines are connected to the Sun machine and everything including the fluid is mechanically flushed. Much chepaer than a new pump.