just been out in the scoob... and the power steering has been leaking recently... all of a sudden there is a whine from the front of the engine that increases with the revs..??

Could it be the powersteering pump on its way out...?? ive just had the cam belt changed and all the pulleys on the front of the engine replaced....

Any help would be great..!!

Dan

 

My power steering resevoir was leaking & when the fluid dropped below a certain level it would whine quite a lot. I could hear it more when I was parallel parking & turning quite a lot at low speed.

Another thing that happened the other day that caused whining was that the bolt that holds the power steering belt tight (the one through the tensioner & alternator) had sheered off causing it to go slack.

These are just from my experience. Check the belt tension & also the fluid level. If it's low get some dextron III fluid & top it up.

Other than that i've no idea?

MAFFA

 

Just been out to it again and it seems to be whineing just ticking over and if i rev it to about 2k it is loud...??? the reservoir was low but i filled it up and its still doing it...

Could it still be the pump even if its making the noise when its ticking over..?? noise seems to be located around the alternator area/ powersteering pump area..?

Dan

 

Sorry mate dunno much about the pump? Just know what's happened in my case.

MAFFA

 

anyone..??

Dan

 

Dan i had exactly the same problem..
Not sure if this will help but you should try it..
You may have some air in the hydraulic system.. with the engine off, turn the steering lock to lock a few times..
Keep doing this and checking the fluid level, it should bleed any air out, this is what i did on mine and it went away once i had topped it up again..
BTW, it seemed no matter how much fluid i put in it still stayed at the right level mark.. then it started going above it so i sucked some out..
What i mean is that although the level said it was ok it still whined, i topped up some more and it stopped whining but the level stayed the same, just put it down to an airlock..

Rob

 

rob,

ill give it a blast..!!

fingers crosssed..

Dan

 

just tried it rob, but the noise seems to becoming from the air con compressor thing next to the alternator????

does any one know how much these are..?

Dan

 

Had another look at the car and the small pulley on the front of the engine does seem to be a little loose and has some side to side front to back play e.t.c in it could this be causing the whine..??? its the small pulley that is used for the air con belt.

Dan

 

Does everyone elses alternator get pretty hot even after a few minutes from first start up...??? mine seems to be getting very hot could this be related..?

Dan

 

Dan, not sure if it will help you or not but try removing the PS belt and spin the alternator/PS to see if you can hear anything..
Also does your air con work??

Rob

 

thought about that but not keen on touching the belts on the engine... im not really handy with a spanner..!!

I think my air con works, the wheel on the pump spins round....and then stops e.t.c

Dan

 

Sorry mate i should have explained...
If the aircon doesnt have any fluid in it the bearings in the pump have no lubricant and can be noisy, what i meant by 'does it work' is doe sit cool the car?? if so it is not that..
Taking the belt off is really easy mate!!
1 12mm locking bolt and then 1 12mm bolt to slacken it off..

Rob

 

As you may know i had the car fixed recently and had the cam belt done and while it was all off the air con was disconnected, and when i asked the guy at the garage 'does the air con work still, he just said well we re gassed it ive not had time to check it' sound suspicious to me..!!! this garage have totally pi**ed me off and cost me an absolute fortune..!!

Its difficult to tell of the air con is working with out driving it, doesnt it need the air to be blowing on the air con rad..?? it doesnt seem to be very cold..?

To take the air con belt off dont i have to take the alternator and power steering belt off because the air con belt is behind the other belts...??? Whats the procedure for tightning the belt back up e.t.c.

Dan

[Edited by dhorwich - 3/23/2003 9:50:07 AM]

 

The car doesn't need to be moving for the air con to work (this would be a nightmare is a hot summers traffic jam ).

You should find the radiator fans come on, even when the engine temperature is cold, when the air con is working.

 

could be the belt as well.. spray a tiny bit of wd40 onto the pulley (ie the underside of the belt) and if it quietens it the belt is slipping / noisy)

David

 

david,

i tried that..!!! but no joy..! the alternator seems to be getting pretty hot quick..?? is this normal..!

Any instructions on how to remove the air con belt..

here are some pics: what do i need to undo...??






Dan

 

Right then Dan, you will have to remove the alternator belt before you can get the air con belt off..
If you look at this picture...

Loosen bolt no.2 and then undo bolt no.1, as you undo no.1 it will loosen off the belt, keep unwinding no.1 until you have enough slack to remove the belt..
Alternator belt removal is exactly the same as the air con belt, one locking bolt (no.2) and one bolt to loosen the belt (no.1)

Refitting is reversal of removing..

replace belt over correct pulleys, tighten the bolt (no.1) until you can just twist the belt half a turn (90 degress) between your thumb and finger.. then tighten up the locking bolt..

Rob

[Edited by tweenierob - 3/23/2003 12:11:21 PM]

 

P.s. if your aircon has just been regassed it should be colder than an antarctic winter in your car with air con on..
As stated, it doesnt matter if your car is moving or not as the rad fans compensate, it may be a case that the garage has not regassed your aircon and the pump has no fluid to lubricate it..

Rob

 

rob,

thats what im thinking, that they have not refilled it properly...!!!

Dan

 

Just had the car started again and tried the air con, the compressor seems to be making a hissing noise... and the wheel in the middle does spin, but then it stops... and keeps repeating this cycle even though ive not set the dial to auto and put it on so its on constant... I have had a look in the sight glass thing on the condenser and i can see bubbles is this right..????

Tried my dads car and his air con gets loads colder than mine..! from cold start up and does not make any noise..!!

Im starting to think it might be the alternator thats whining now as the noise seems to be coming from there..!!plus its getting hot..!

Well its off to the garage tomorrow so hopefully they will find out what it is..!!!

Thanks for the replies..!!!

Dan