Y33 steering noise

[sublime187]

Hi, this is my first post here. I bought a 2000 Q45 A.E. with 67k about 3 weeks ago and love it. This forum is great also. My problem is that when the car is idle or moving at very slow speeds there is a noise during steering. It also appears to be present on cold startups, then when I turn the wheel a more intense noise. There is no trouble turning the wheel at any time. (I'm a total novice when it comes to cars if that's not already apparent). When I took my car for some extensive maintenance work I asked my mechanic to check out the steering system and he said the lines were fine and could not see any problem. He suggested replacing the P/S belt and replacing the pump with a rebuilt one. I've done this and the noise is still present. Any recommendations before I take it someplace else to have it checked out? Thanks in advance.

[oldmako]

This may be WAY off the mark, but...

Are you sure that the belt it tight enough? The only reason I say this is that I just changed my belts and a day or two later I had some noise (belt slip) shortly after starting the engine. The noise was only evident when cold and only during tight turns. Mine was easily diagnosed because concurrent with the noise I could feel a slight binding in the steering wheel.

Your situation sounds a bit different than mine, but perhaps it's just loose enough to make noise, but not so loose that you can feel the loss of power in the wheel.

Congrats on the AE.....those are sweet cars.

[maxnix]

Can't imagine why the pump was replaced unless the fluid was never changed,

All belts and bad tensioner bearings whould have been rplaced also. All OEM, except for bearings which have to be the same or higher grade.

I think you need to find a better shop.

Welcome to NICO.