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ccman
Dodge Dakota
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10/26/2007
00:10:06

Subject: power steering whine
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i've replaced my power steering pump 3 times now with 3 different remanufactured pumps and the darn thing still moans. it does it with the rpm's only when turning the wheel and up till about 2000 rpms. it's definately the bearing but why would it do it with 3 pumps, all new remanufactured ones. after 2 cardones i tried autozone's atsco and that does it too! then i discovered i was getting air in the system. turns out my power steering lines needed to be replaced. this got rid of air but still feels like no power steering when sitting still and still moaning and groaning! i watched the fluid and no bubbles or foam and nice and clear.

i've replaced the pulley with a new one when i pressed it back on. tried to get it in the same position as the old pump but now am wondering. i replace the serpentine about 5 months ago but put a cheapy duralast one on. it looks in good shape but i can twist it almost 180 degrees. i push down on it between ac pulley and power steering pulley and get probly about 1/2 to and inch of push but it also moves the tensioner a little bit. not very easily but it does move.

so my questions are:

1. is power steering pulley slipping on belt causing my groaning and lack of power assist?
the belt does not looked chewed up. is it belt or tensioner. i get some slight chirping in the morning for a minute or two but nothing like a belt squeel!

2. is power steering pulley not positioned right with serpentine and putting stress on bearing. how do i know if this pulley is in line with the others aside from me eyeballing the old one when it was on the old pump. i'm trying to find a way to mount a laser leveler like from sears or home depot and see if the laser lines up with the same edges on the ac pulley. best thing i can think of.

3. could it be something in the rack itself causing stress on system which is giving me noise and lack of power assist? truck has 80,000 miles on it. no leaks from rack or wetness or metal shavings in old fluid. been noticing some wierd things with front end lately and had it aligned and no problems found. i need tires though and i know a lot of problems can come from tires but never heard of them causing problems with the power steering pump.

sorry this is so long but i'm pulling my hair out! why is it doing this? can anyone help?



Eypon
Dodge Dakota
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10/26/2007
00:49:46

RE: power steering whine
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theres a few things that could be going on
1. The rack could be bypassing inside its self so no leaks would be seen
2. Has there been anywork on the front end of the truck like ball joints? or anything to do with steering? Alot of the time people will over tighten things and if you over tightin ball joints or steering linkages you put more stress on the pump and things are harder to turn.
3. Something in the system may be plugged. Flush the system



ccman
Dodge Dakota
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10/26/2007
02:40:40

RE: power steering whine
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new outer tie rods but put these only about a week ago and had realigned. made sure not to overtighten. all other joints still factory, upper ball joints done under warranty, all other joints ok. flushed system with every new pump i put on, it can't get any cleaner, fluid looks like new still.

forgot to mention, having a lot of bump steering. alignment guy said it's right on. he said he could play around with it but might give me undesirable results somewhere else with alignment. new shocks as well, KYB oem replacements.

i'm thinking probly the rack itself or belt. i don't loose power assist while on highway though or when wet out. not that i loose assist but it's like it's never really there when not moving. very puzzling!! fluid is at proper level as well.

thank you for your help so far



OBIO3
Dodge Dakota
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10/26/2007
03:39:51

RE: power steering whine
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I've said it many times. REBUILT power steering pumps, starters, alternators and water pumps are crapola. The problem is competition. Most all auto parts stores that sell these get them from the same places because those places are the CHEAPEST.Any part or bearing that looks as if it well run at least a short while is not replaced. Quality re builders won't do this but charge accordingly. I had my shop for 40 years. Anyone wanting rebuilt parts signed a paper saying if they fail fast they pay me to redo the job period.
Try this one day. Have a parts store that happens to have 3 or 4 popular water pumps as an example set them in front of you. Spin the shaft. I've seen them spin some on there own with a flip. And others that required one h-ll of a lot of pressure to turn at all. You just read the reason for this.



ccman
Dodge Dakota
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10/26/2007
18:23:51

RE: power steering whine
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i agree with you in terms of durability and the longevity of rebuilt parts. i knew that choosing rebuilt may have been a bad choice down the road but to put it in and right off the bat have the same noise from the rebuilt that prompted me to take the factory one off, actually it's worse than the factory one was! so because the rebuilt still has used parts in it and or the bearing is crap, this is causing lack of power assist? I'm not trying to be smart, just trying to see if i understand correctly. how do you know they dont change decent looking parts?

don't these rebuild places get inspected or audited! wouldn't it not be seen if they were re-using the shaft bearings that came in on the cores.

what if i bought a rebuild kit that came with a bearing. would this bearing be crap too? i checked alignment of pulley's today. i used a true straight edge and held it across outer edge of ac pulley. power steering pulley could be pressed in yet about 1/16th to 1/8th of an inch till it's outer edge lines up with the ac pulley. only thing is that the pump pulley edge if fatter than the ac pulley and can't really tell if the pulley ribs are in true alignment. i checked the alternator pulley, which is almost identical to the power steering pulley except smaller, and it's outer edge does line up with the ac pulley's edge. so i'm going to do the same thing with the steering pump and i'll see what happens.





OBIO3
Dodge Dakota
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10/26/2007
19:37:29

RE: power steering whine
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I can't tell you what parts they replaced and which ones they never. But it's all about making money.Parts not replaced is money in there pocket.in my case, I had a shop. Customers don't care about poor quality parts. the installer takes the heat and loses customers to boot. Getting a parts store to exchange 3 in a row is tough duty. But it does happen.
it isn't uncommon to take a rebuild apart to discover nothing was changed except the seals or packing. even find metal shavings at times.



i have a ?
Dodge Dakota
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10/26/2007
20:47:35

RE: power steering whine
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i have a undersize pulley that will slow down the powersteering pump....ill sell it cheap $40 plus shipping.........works2long@excite.com... when you go for rpm .you usually blow parts........this will help



ccman
Dodge Dakota
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10/27/2007
02:47:03

RE: power steering whine
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hey "i have a?" it seems you have a pulley for everything now don't you!!!! go make some money somewhere else! why the hell would i want to slow the power steering pump down??



ccman
Dodge Dakota
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10/28/2007
01:50:05

RE: power steering whine
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well, got pulley aligned,it was slightly off. unfortuneatley it didn't make a difference with the groaning. i also noticed that there seems to be a whole lot of play when pushing in and out on the pump pulley. i'll bet i can move it 1/8 of an inch in or out. that's alot! i didn't think the shaft was supposed to move that much. not leaking fluid though. i think i'm either going to find a rebuild kit that includes a bearing and rebuild this supposedly "rebuilt" pump. i think i may go to dodge dealer as well as check a new pump and feel how much play in shaft, etc.

Man i'm just tired of this power steering problem and am almost to the point where i don't care if it makes noise anymore or not. i've always taken good care of this truck and never beat it, it doesn't deserve to drive around with a groany steering pump while everyone looks at the noisy truck!

OBIO3, you are right, it's all about money!! this is so true with the parts industry today and every other commercial thing out there as well.



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