Power Steering pump squeaking and whining..., belt is nice tight, not loose like i thought Options

[eggman40]

At first i thought the belt was loose on the ps pump but its perfectly fine.

However, (before it overheated) when my car stared up in the morning, if i turned the steering wheel at all when cold, a loud whining/squeaking sound and a slight vibration on the steering wheel.

Once the car warms up (about 10 mins of driving) it goes away, but before then, it sounds like bird being beat to death...

It has fluid in the reservoir. Im assuming there is lack of oil at some point in the PS system. Maybe theres air in the system???

I want to change the fluid in there but i wanted to ask if there is proper way to put PS Oil in there so that there isnt any air in the system???

thanks for any help guys.

[blu94gt]

After adding fluid (or draining and changing) leave the cap off and have someone turn the wheel left and right while you watch the level of fluid. Keep filling it if it gets low, DO NOT let the pump run dry. Keep doing this to bleed out the system. If this doesn't work then you probably just need a pump (which I'm guessing is the problem).

[eggman40]

After adding fluid (or draining and changing) leave the cap off and have someone turn the wheel left and right while you watch the level of fluid. Keep filling it if it gets low, DO NOT let the pump run dry. Keep doing this to bleed out the system. If this doesn't work then you probably just need a pump (which I'm guessing is the problem).

sounds good, thanks! ill get on this and let you know how it goes.

[celicaxcore]

I have the same problem, but my ps pump is only two years old. The fuild is still full, could this be from lack of a splash guard? I doesn't really do it in the summer.

[silver6gc]

The power steering system will work the air out itself as ou turn the wheel when it is first filled, as long as you never run it dry it won't get air in the system. The pump will groan when it's going bad, it won't squeak. The belt is what is squeaking, whether you say it's tight or not, it's the belt. The belt could just need to be replaced or it may not actually be tight enough, what is tight enough for another car isn't necessarily tight enough for a Toyota, Toyota drive belts like to be a little on the tight side.

[Razgriz]

My ST just started doing this recently too. Actually I've been getting a loud groaning/moaning sound not so much a whine. The clerk at a parts store thought it was maybe the fluid not cirulating properly. (air in system) But the resevoir is full and not leaking anywhere as far as I can tell.

I am beginning to think it's the pump itself but is there any way I can check for certain before I lay down the coin for a new one?

Thanks!

[presure2]

chances are you just need a new belt, if the old one is tight but still squeeking.

[KAOS]

chances are you just need a new belt, if the old one is tight but still squeeking.

Another thing to check would be the idler pulley; this is the pulley that you use to tighten/loosen the belt. The bearings in this pulley could possibly be shot.

[Spartacus94]

I had this problem when I first got my celica, I went up to the auto parts store, bought some fluid with stop leak, added it to the proper level and it fixed the problem, I haven't heard a peep since.