C4 Power Steering Whine

bytor

bytor

Well-Known Member
Looking for some C4 Corvette power steering help. Out of the blue the other day I noticed a whine at idle and just of idle coming from under the hood. Determined quickly it was coming from my power steering pump. Did some basic troubleshooting with the stethoscope and was sure the pump was making the noise. Checked the power steering fluid, full. Power steering works fine, no stiffness or noise when turning. No leaks. The only thing I found was some bearing slop/wiggle on the power steering pump pulley. I was confident the pump had problems. Found a reman pump locally and popped it in with no issues. Put in some new fluid and purged the air out of the system, fired the car up and guess what, still have a whine…

Double checked for air in the system, no indications of bubbles in the reservoir and no noise when turning the wheels. Checked for restrictions in the reservoir supply and return lines, no issues. No hose collapse issues.

Any recommendations on what to look at next? Could the rack somehow be failing and causing this symptom? It only makes the whine at idle, increases in volume as you come off idle then the whine goes away… Again, the power steering is functioning normally with no difference in feel or effort. Very strange…
 
Id have to say I made the mistake of putting standard auto parts store power steering fluid in my 1985 corvette, while it worked it was noisy , Id suggest ATP AT213 and synthetic fluid, Ive used those and the power steering is noticeably less noisy, flush out the new regular power steering fluid and replace with a good synthetic fluid
flush out the new power steering fluid and replace with
Red Line - OR AMSOIL Synthetic Power Steering Fluid
PSF.jpg

http://www.amazon.com/ATP-Automotive-AT-213-Steering-Protectant/dp/B001J85NHC
41JdMh3KHyL._SX425_.jpg
 
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Yep, I thought about doing your recommendation and will give it a try. The strange thing is, it just happened all of a sudden. Quiet and no issues for the last year and a half then get in it one day and noticed the whine... Very odd..
 
Also I noticed most regular store bought formulas are now stop leak formulas. I never liked putting any thing stop leak except a new gasket or seal.
 
Starting to wonder if I'm dealing with a collapsed hose or hose deterioration problem. I noticed the old power steering was darker that I would expect for only being a little over a year old. Planing on inspecting all the hoses closely next.
 
Had that happen on my chevelle the hose deteriorated and had to replace put swill fluid back in has a white will buy some good stuff when the new engine goes in.
 
Went through my high pressure, pump supply and return hoses closely inspecting them for deterioration, cracking and vacuum tested them all. No issues. Put everything back together and still have a whine at idle. Stared revisiting other possible causes. Revisited the alternator and it sounded like it was at least contributing to the whine. Disconnected the 4 pin plug from the alternator and guess what, no whine........

So, what does unplugging the alternator field/sense plug indicate? Rectifier failing?

I'm convinced the power steering pump was involved in the whine as well because the noise changed when I replaced the pump. The old pump had a lot of slop in the shaft as well.
 
A Shorted out Stator winding to Ground Bytor.
Its the Fixed copper winding that you see through the Holes in the 1987 CS130 A alternator case.

Replacing the alternator the cheepest way to fix.
 
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/tff-8173nep/applications/year/1996
heres what I installed on my 1996 vette and I have a very similar 200 amp alternator on my 1985 corvette, they make the ignition and cooling fans run far more effectively, in fact its noticeably improved so much Id do this on all the future cars I build

IF YOU NEED CORVETTE PARTS,
SOME ARE SIGNIFICANTLY CHEAPER ,
AND EASIER TO LOCATE USED

https://www.corvetterecycling.com/

https://corvettesalvage.com/

http://www.contemporarycorvette.com/

https://www.vette2vette.com/
 
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CS 144 Has my Vote of Approval Bytor.

Transpo parts are best.

I don't really like the CS130. Like a 2.2 4 cylinder engine.
 
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