1995 wrx import saloon

on cold start up my power steering pump whines a bit. and today, for about 10 secs, it hardly worked, or worked on and off briefly guessing its on its way out.

but after a minute of driving it goes away and works fine.

is it common? or is it on its last legs?

so if i wanted to get a new one do i have to get another one with the round cylinder type reservoir, or will later (not so leaky) types fit?

 

Checked the fluid level?

 

yea good call! will top up tonight, it was leaking slightly aswell, (as you may have guessed) ta

 

also the make of fluid makes a difference.

i used castrol summut or other and it whined like a biatch,changed the pump twice ha ha cause i thought power steering fluid was just that, but then i thought,summut aint right after the 2nd one and got some halfords own brand dextron 3 and it was fine.

so before u go mad and get the pump,try 1 or 2 types of fluid if it still whines after the top up,drain it down and total re-fill etc

and as long as its the same model so 95/96/97/98/99 the pumps the same on the impreza and the legacy,its only the fluid tank thats different.

good luck

 

Is the fluid supposed to be changed, if so when, as my service book doesn't mention it..?

 

check the colour of it, if its brown etc, change it as it should be like auto fluid,nice n red.

it does get contamiated etc,depends on the mileage, around 40k is a good time to change it then again at 80k etc,just keeps the seals in good order too

 

how easy is it to do..?

iirc you have to disconnect a hose from the rack, then refilling seems a bit of a PITA, having to keep turning wheel to bleed out air..?