New power steering pump high-pitched noise - follows RPM

[BPN]

Originally Posted by George-CZ

I wonder why you changed the whole pump instead of just the return hose when it worked well.
...or is the hose an integral part of the pump?

Anyway, if there is no leakage, it is strange that you have air in the system.

When it comes to noise, it's hard to diagnose anything without video.
But don't have greasy pulleys or belts that could slip?

The leak was coming from the reservoir connection to the return hose, which in turn is attached to the pump. I figured I'd be on the safe side replacing the pump and reservoir entirely. That did fix the leak... it just introduced this new problem of air in the system

The noise is 100% coming from the pump. I know what a slipping belt sounds like. This isn't it.

[gtstorey]

Originally Posted by BPN

Where'd you get this service manual from?

Factory Service manual

https://www.helminc.com/helm/product...10F&itemtype=N

[BPN]

Originally Posted by gtstorey

Let’s see if this will upload

So, I've tried this procedure today... 5 times... still noise, still clearly air in the fluid. I don't understand the logic behind the procedure that well either. Why should the front be raised that far? The reservoir is already the highest point in the system... And why should the reservoir be filled to the bottom of the filler neck before applying vacuum and not to the max level indication on the dip stick instead? It only makes the pump fill the catch with fluid can that much faster and it introduces the need to drain fluid after the vacuum is relieved as the reservoir is way too full that way.

Things of note: the vacuum is kept very well by the system, indicating no leaks. Also, I feel that the pump really doesn't like the "hold the steering wheel at each stop for 2 seconds 10 times over with the engine running" part of the procedure...

I'm on the verge of just giving up, driving with a stupid cavitation noise and seeing how long the pump lasts. But I really don't want to do that.

[gtstorey]

My guess is that the front is raised to help eliminate an air pocket in the rack itself. The reason for filling that full is probably for initial fill up and will drop as air is sucked out on initial application of vacuum. And depending on where the return hose is in the reservoir, it might help get fluid into the system from both sides as air is drawn out. You might get more hose and get your pump vac pump higher and let it sit for longer with vacuum applied.

Is air bubbling out when vacuum is applied?

[BPN]

Originally Posted by gtstorey

My guess is that the front is raised to help eliminate an air pocket in the rack itself. The reason for filling that full is probably for initial fill up and will drop as air is sucked out on initial application of vacuum. And depending on where the return hose is in the reservoir, it might help get fluid into the system from both sides as air is drawn out. You might get more hose and get your pump vac pump higher and let it sit for longer with vacuum applied.

Is air bubbling out when vacuum is applied?

So today, I tried many, many more times. Without vacuum, with 15 in Hg vacuum, even with more vacuum, up to 20 inch Hg (couldn't pump more with the manual pump I have). Steering lock to lock countless times. Even tried to apply vacuum with the engine (and thus the pump) running and steering lock to lock eventually, sketchy as that method may be. For a moment I thought that did something, but nope. None of it is making any difference. End of story is always: pump still makes noise, very annoying whine at idle, high pitched whine at higher rpms. Reservoir shows small bubbles, like the bubbles you see when you look inside a can of pop. Still no visible leaks anywhere, level doesn't drop, vacuum is held perfectly when applied statically. Even the fluid level stays dead-on.

I've scoured the internet for many hours, both on this forum, other forums and even forums and articles about other cars. Whenever someone seems to have had a problem similar to mine, the forum threads never end up being resolved. No solutions to be found.

My hands literally have blisters from constantly applying and releasing vacuum with my manual pump, my mood is horrible from achieving nothing after all of this and my ideas are fully and truly depleted. I give up. Time to drive this bloody thing, enjoy pretending I have a supercharger as the pump whines and groans, and we'll see if and when it breaks

If I do end up making any progress somehow, I'll be sure to post it on here so people can find it. As long as that doesn't happen, it's safe to assume that nothing has changed.

Oh, and if anyone passes by this thread who has more ideas or preferrably even experience solving this issue, please drop me a line. You'd be my hero for life

EDIT: I never mentioned the brands of the replacement pumps I've installed. The first one was BBB Industries, which looked and felt quite cheapish. The second (and currently installed) one is a Cardone, the more expensive of the 2 options given on Rockauto as "new" (and not remanufactured). I have come across a forum thread or two on a different forum regarding PS pumps for 4th gen F bodies from these brands... and let's say they weren't too enthusiastic about them, basically saying go GM original, AC Delco or TurnOne... or don't bother at all. So... could I just have had the bad luck of picking 2 poorly designed pumps?

Hawk's sells a (very expensive) TurnOne pump... Could that be the answer to my troubles? Before shelling out that kind of cash I'd really like to know that that would likely solve my issues...

[BPN]

BIG update!

I decided to try something new today. Thought a bit more out of the box. You see, I found this video on another forum entirely:



That's a Jeep with a brand new Cardone PS pump... and the noise it's making is extremely similar to my problem. So, I figured... what if both of the replacement pumps I bought are just crap like so many people are saying about Cardone (and to lesser extent also about BBB Industries)?

So, I decided I'd try transferring the new, non leaky reservoir of the Cardone pump to my original, hopefully non leaky GM (AC Delco) PS pump. When I replaced that the firs time, it was leaking, but not making noise as far as I knew. So, after a lot of tinkering, transferring the reservoir and pulley (again) and bleeding the system once more, I started 'er up and...

Well I could say the noise was gone, but not entirely. It was a LOT less audible. I bled the system some more, which made the remaining noise fall more into the category of "operational sound" as far as I'm concerned. I made sure the fluid level was OK, took a nice long drive and enjoyed my Camaro like I haven't in a while. Finally my engine and exhaust made more sound than the PS pump again. I did notice a bit of shudder in the steering at very low speeds though, but that seemed to get better as I drove more.
Once home, some more air popped out upon opening the reservoir again (not like the tiny "soda can like" bubbles from before, but bigger ones, clearly some residual air) and the fluid level had dropped a little bit. I topped it back up to proper level and am now leaving it to sit overnight.

I'm going to keep a close eye on things in the coming while. See if there's more air coming out or any leaks anywhere. If not... hooray! And if so... I'll be on the hunt for an original AC Delco pump... or maybe even go for a TurnOne high performance unit, if I'm crazy enough to shell out that much cash. No more cheaper knock-offs for me!

I'll come back here to share any further developments in case there are any, but for now please know that when it comes to PS pumps, don't settle for less than factory used OEM equipment. BBB Industries AND Cardone both disappointed me in a big way.

[Jaydel]

I’m in the same boat. 2011 2SS. Old pump was making the noise after getting off the highway. Got a new pump and did the steps of turning the wheel multiple times back and forth and ran into the same issue. The pump has lifetime warranty so I just switched it out. I’m starting to think the vacuum pump is going to be needed.

Originally Posted by BPN

Well that procedure contains some things that are new to me... like filling the reservoir up all the way to the bottom of the filler neck before beginning the bleeding process, for example. Or holding the steering wheel against the stops for 5 seconds with engine off and 2 seconds with engine on. Also, it prescribes using a vacuum of 15 inch of mercury during the initial bleeding without running the engine. It's quite different from the procedure in Haynes and the several youtube videos I've seen.

Where'd you get this service manual from?