P/S Whine
 

Hey guys,
My Alero has a power steering issue. I can hear it whine when barely giving it any gas and when i take the cap off it gets louder. It has 143k on it and fluid is like this brownish color similar to a hershey candy bar. Should I change the pump or swap the fluid out for new stuff. Thought about using some lucas and Valvoline mazlife atf because I already have the stuff and in previous vehicles i have used atf as a substitute. Can I do that with an Alero?

Change the pump man. Once you hear that whine, it means it's time for a new pump. I've had a junkyard pump for 2 years after my car started whining in the middle of winter and after changing it, no more problems.

Ok. I will change it. Probably going to flush the old fluid out before I change pump so it's all clean. Should I run at for p/s fluid

Get the GM stuff, I know a/m is fine and cheap, but it's really not expensive at the dealer either and I like OE stuff for fluids. I don't mess around with fluids

I'll add that when putting the new pump in, drain ALL the old fluid out, including working it out of the rack as well as you can. Then, start with a container of Lucas Power Steering Fluid, top off with the GM fluid, and you'll be as solid as possible.

Only additional thing would be to splice in a power steering fluid filter in the return line.

RwP

I used the Lucas power steering fluid straight and haven't had any issues or whine noises at all.

I have the same issue going on. Last year, I just replaced the fluid and that seemed to work. This year, the loud whine is back. My fluid still looks fine though, no odd color to it, but there are air bubbles in it. The fluid is at the "full" mark on the dipstick. Turning the wheel back and forth once it's just started produced a very loud whine, so does revving the engine. Once it's warmed up, the noise eventually goes away. Last week it was -50* F with windchill, and this whining only happens during the winter months.

cold belts tend to whine and chirp

Flush the old fluid first. Mine is so clear right now you can't see it on the dip stick.


And do your brake fluid also, it's suppose to be clear also. Not brown.

And Silver SLP do the same, that fluid looks very sickly.

I just did 9 months ago. It looks the same reddish color today as the day I put it in, just with air bubbles. So air is getting in there somehow. Also, during the warm months, there are no air bubbles.

If it's not doing it all the time, I would not worry about it.

I assume that you have the V6 engine? The PS pump looks easy to do on that engine.

It didn't do it today for some reason. Yes I have the 3.4 but lil short of cash. Thought fluid flush may help.

GM has a bulletin out for the 2013 (other years too) Treverses. bulletin number
#12-02-32-002A. concern for power steering noise caused by extreme low climate temperatures causing the fluid to thicken and cause noise/damage to power steering components from high pressure. they recommend flushing the system with "cold climate" power steering fluid GM P/N 12345866 for the 16 oz bottle, or 12345867 for the 32oz bottle.

additionally, they also state that if this concern still happens in cold tempatures to flush with DEXRON HP ATF part number 19300536.

you might try flushing your p/s with ATF. you can mix the two fluids so dont worry about being perfect. i know my old alero has had atf in for 30k miles. plug we have been flushings treverses with ATF on a regular basis.

Thanks. Cold weather makes it bad. I will do the maxlife and Lucas

Interesting, I didn't know there was a low temp p/s fluid. I will definitely have to try that. I have read that the seals inside the pump can shrink in cold temps and cause air bubbles. Do you think this is the case? Or does replacing the fluid with cold-temp fluid fix this too? Thanks.

No power steering today
 

I started my car after sitting in -25 deg C for several days, and the car would not turn. Seems like no power steering at all. It was a bitch to drive to work. Coming home it seemed to be a little better. Last year the pump was real noisy, so I sucked out the old oil and put in Lucas power steering medic or something like that. It made it like a new steering system and worked most of the year, but I think it is real thick and when it gets cold it's like molasses. I am wondering if my pump is dead? I had it running and took off the lid and the oil was real still, not much movement. Should you see the oil churning a bit? These cars are like driving a Sherman tank when the power steering goes out. Will this F**up the steering box if I drive it with no power steering?
2004 Alero 4 cyl.

At least the pump looks real easy to change, just pop it off the side of the engine, no belts.

^the lucas power steering rac/pinion and leak fix stuff is super thick when cold, if you have much of that in there, I wouldnt imagine that'd be good at all.
When I did my rack and pinion I drained everything I could and refilled with Lucas pwr steering fluid (not the additive). As the system worked all the air out it was very loud and the fluid looked all bubbly. That was about 5 months ago and everything has been solid since.
Splicing a filter into the line wouldn't be a bad idea, I dont know if doing it on the low or high pressure line would be best though. I assume it was pretty well factory crap when I got there but a decent amount of crud had accumulated in mine either way. Ideas for a filter anyone?

http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&page...ering%20filter

http://www.amazon.com/Cardone-20-003...teering+filter

Read the first review of the Cardone 20

+2F yesterday morning, my P/S whined for about 5 minutes then was quiet.
+15F this morning, no noise.

That was exactly the problem. The drive to the pump was sheared off. Installed a new pump and just put in regular Lucas and all is good.

Good to hear. Once it warms up I think I might try installing that filter he listed^ probably wont do all that much but it will catch big things it looks like.