Power Steering / Hydroboost Help!!

D

DynamicGN

Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2002
Here we go...my car has always whined when I turn. I have changed the power steering pump a couple of times, still whined. I became used to it. Last year I did the hydroboost conversion. Everything worked great, car braked better than ever, but the whine was basically a constant thing unless I wasn't turning or wasn't braking. Last week the whine got really bad, PS reservoir overflowed with foamy fluid. I made it home and figured the PS pump went out, I also had a puddle of fluid under the car. I went to autozone got a new pump and new hoses. When I replaced everything, I saw the steering shaft had rubbed against the return hose line to the PS reservoir causing a hole. So I may not have needed a new pump...nevertheless, I replaced the pump, hoses, and reservoir as I had the top/bottom instead of side/side ports.(may have been the cause of the whine all these years) I now have the side/side ports. Lucas PS fluid in. Anyway, I bled PS system as the forum states. Car off, front wheels off the ground, steer lock to lock. I have turned the wheel lock to lock probably 100 times and I still see tiny bubbles. With the car on, the whine is not as bad, but rather a constant noise that becomes extremely loud when I lock left or lock right or apply any brake pressure. There is a vibration coming from the PS hose to the hydroboost. I feel like the PS pump is starving at points, especially when braking. What else can I do here? There are no kinks in the hoses but there is still some air that doesn't seem to go away. The noise is loud enough when braking that it would be an embarrassment to drive. Anyone have any ideas?
 
I think its the nature of the beast our pumps are probably not heavy duty enough to support the hydroboost so we have to deal with the pump whine....Most of these setups come on trucks mine wines too i added some lucas power steering additive which is kinda thick and it quieted up some but if at full lock or braking hard it still has a noticable whine and vibration thru the pedal.....
 
I could deal with the same whine I had before, but there is definitely something wrong here....at even the slightest brake push, the whine is unbearable...it wasnt like this before....is there a way to bleed the booster as there is still air in the system?
 
You may have gotten a crappy pump a few other members had that problem when doing the conversion that and i think there was an issue with the Tee being in the right place too...@ Big reazon the whine isnt that bad 90% of the time you cant hear it you arent often at full lock and if you are standing on the pedal theres prolly other things that have your attention!!!
 
As a comparison here, fords are horible about whinning. If you can find some of the slick 50 power steering fluid and put it in I've had great success with it and noisy pumps. Good luck.:)
 
Yea I'm thinking of bypassing the hydroboost system to see if the ps pump still whines....I'll keep you posted.
 
what conversion do you have? 84/85, or later model w/acculmator? Any leaks athe the hydroboost? What kind of pressure lines are you running? make sure to check inside by the pedal too.....sometimes you will find them misting inside near the rod,not often but I have replaced some on late model duramax's. Just some whine with a mashed pedal or cranked against the lock but it should not be that noticable. good luck
 
Pump Whine

First off I don't think this is a hydro-boost issue and heres why. You state you changed the pump a few times due to whining before the hydro-boost. Now you changed it again because of whining. You also stated you changed the all the lines, and still had the problem. So it seems you never found the root cause of the whine. It was there before the conversion, so it stand to reason it would still be there after.

If this was my car I would disconect the hydroboost and run the system directly to the box and see what happens. My guess is the whine is still present.

If i was to guess you did not change the hose between the res and pump. Sounds like it may be colapsing under suction. Starving the pump for fluid.

Insanity: performing the same act over and over again and exspecting a different result......
 
What kind of hose is used between the reservoir and the pump? I have not looked at mine in a while.
 
I changed both reservoir hoses, the 5/8 and the smaller one....no kinks...this is not the same whine I have always had...at this point I will never know what caused the original whine for the past 20+ years as I replaced the reservoir and the leaky hose...but that whine I could deal with, this one I cant...it is LOUD...are tiny bubbles in the reservoir ok?
 
You know, we changed both reservoir hoses but not the high pressure hose...
 
Steve you are right.....the high pressure hose may be clogged or something which could cause whine...I just don't understand why the drastic change in noise now after I changed the pump. If anything I can see it going back to the way it was..which was bearable. I'll have time this weekend to mess with it.
 
Don't know if this helps the diagnosis, but while bleeding the PS system, engine off, wheels off the ground, when going from left lock to right lock, I can hear a squishy, squirty noise coming from the gear box...don't know if this is normal, may be still some air in the system that just wont leave.
 
The only time mine wines is when I'm stalling up, building boost. We had a pump replaced on my grandmothers 98 Buick Lesaber and it whined ever since. I would bet that a lot of these replacement pumps are junk.
 
Go here and solve your problem, they can supply you with a high pressure pump, or rebuild a factory unit, the endless posts about "part store" replacment pumps and boosters is proof enough to buy a new high quality unit, we are talking BRAKES here, no place to cheap out.

PSC Motorsports Online
Great guys, very helpful and quick shipment !

I am mid way thru my Hydroboost swap now and am using the Alum reservoir, will have some billet brackets avail soon to make it a bolt in to the factory location (will have 3 extras after this weekend) do the Braided teflon line kit also, get it from Welcome to Hydratech Braking Systems :: High Performance Hydraulic Brake Assist Systems

Same thing, only new high quality components, very, very helpful !

OK, off my stump and back to the 14 bolt rear rebuild on my GMC
 
If your going swap out lines Just go to speed way buy there stainless line kit or summit racing its half the price of that one or you can do what I did buy fragola fittings and pre made crimped stainless hoses. you will come out cheaper and both house ends will be crimped. I also made my own reservoir it looks stock and has fitting for all hoses no more teas in the system on the return, https://sites.google.com/site/whatwa...ring-reservoir
 
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