g00fy

OK, last night i got my car back from getting the 20G and TGV's installed. Upon starting up the car Ryan at Area1320 tried moving the wheel, and it was accompanied be a terrible power steering pump whine. Also the resevior was just filling with bubbles. He said he'd never seen this before, and all the did was dis connect the resevior line momentarily to do some work.

Now the Power steering is SCREAMING whenever i move the wheel at idle, and it still whines pretty good when i turn the wheel while driving. The resevior is full, and there don't seem to be too many bubbles in there anymore, but it's still screaming. One tech said that there was air in the system and that if i let it sit over night the bubbles would settle and make their way out and i should be OK in the morning. Well it's still screaming and I don't know how to fix it. I'm assuming there's gotta be a major air bubble in the pump or something. How can i take care of this?

Ryan said if it doesn't clear up by tomorrow i can bring it back and he'll take apart the whole system, purge and refil it, but i really would like to avoid driving back to PA to get this taken care of.

__________________
Jr Tuned 35R'd 05XT Area1320 Block & IPT Race 4eat

rpiereck

This is not Forester, or Subaru, specific, but I have done this procedure on a Volkswagen with success:

http://www.agrperformance.com/bleedinginstructions.pdf

audiomacgyver

So when do I get a ride????

__________________
05 XT AT - VF39, STI IC, COBB DP, SWIFTS, GROUP N MOTOR MOUNTS ETC ETC.

kamil212

I just did my steering rack and had to refill the fluid.
First, use ATF DEX III and not power steering fluid.
Next, turn the car on and rotate the wheels lock-to-lock 30 to 40 times.
(that's straight from the service manual)
The whining went away for me but it still grinded when I tuned all the way and pushed it even more. That went away after 2 days.

g00fy

Thread Starter

Thanks for the input i'll give that a shot after work

I'm getting tuned tomorrow, so lemme know when you want a ride and we'll work something out


I'll probably try going lock to lock 30 times first since it's time consuming but simple, i can do this in the college parking lot before class tonite. Hopefully this smooths it out. If not i'll refere to the directions posted by rpiereck

__________________
Jr Tuned 35R'd 05XT Area1320 Block & IPT Race 4eat

audiomacgyver

Who is doing the tuning?

Yeah once everything is all settled with the tune let me know and we will meet!

__________________
05 XT AT - VF39, STI IC, COBB DP, SWIFTS, GROUP N MOTOR MOUNTS ETC ETC.

g00fy

Thread Starter

Well i tried turning the wheel back and forth 40 times, and that seems to have loosened the wheel up a bit more, got a little quieter, and I saw more bubbles in the resevior, so it's gotta be helping. Unfortunately my car still sounds like a Supercharged and Turbocharged boxer with this darn power steering whine.

Ryan at Area1320 recommended I see Ray at turbotektuning. Ryan seemed to know his stuff and spoke very highly of Ray, and said he trusted him to tune any car that rolled out of his shop. Speak of the devil ray just called while i was typing this post, we're gonna try and meet up tomorrow night if his schedule is clear, so i'll post how that goes in a different thread.

__________________
Jr Tuned 35R'd 05XT Area1320 Block & IPT Race 4eat

kamil212

Bubbles in the reservoir means you got a leak somewhere.
If there is no oil missing it must mean it's sucking air in somewhere (and not leaking out oil)
I can see my fluid running really quickly with no bubbles.

wadejg

The problem is clearly from the introduction of air into the system when the line was disconnected. As the pump tries to move the air it will cause microcavitation leading to the noise and very small bubbles that makes the fluid look creamy. If you lost enough fluid when the hose was removed you will need to add some more. It can be hard to tell it is low sometimes because the air in the system "replaces" the fluid and makes it so the level in the reservoir appears correct even if it is low.

Typically moving the wheel from lock to lock over and over and over until the bubbles work out of the system. Have a partner turn the wheel while you look at the bubble content in the reservoir. It will go away, but it isn't good for your pump long term.

And I would reconsider my "tuning" shop if they couldn't figure this one out. Really.

Regards,
Justin Wade
2004 FXTi

Andy_PHA

funny I had a similar problem after installing a new turbo inlet. I did not disconnect the PS pump, but I was prying around on the area trying to get the darn hose on the turbo. It did it for about 3-4 days and the only other thing that changed in that time is that the temperature had gotten warmer. I did nothing other than drive and add just a bit of trans fluid.

g00fy

Thread Starter

Yea it seems to be getting a little quieter with each drive, i'll just keep an eye on the fluid level and hopefully it'll clear itself up

__________________
Jr Tuned 35R'd 05XT Area1320 Block & IPT Race 4eat

TSTRBOY2004

just replaced the steering rack in a focus at work today... whined like a banshee for about 10 mins.. lock to lock about 20 times... turn off.. let sit for 10 mins.. lock to lock some more etc etc.. it went away...

TSTRBOY2004

bubble is from getting air in it more then a leak... he said they disconnected the hose for a minute... so they obviously got some air in it... depending which one they disconnected it may have to work its way through the system..

BAC5.2

What would possibly warrant the removal of a power steering line? Unless you are actually replacing the power steering pump or reservoir, there is no reason to crack those lines free. Not even when pulling out the motor.

__________________
09 SWP Outback 2.5XT 5MT 263whp, 337 lb-ft

g00fy

Thread Starter

Not sure why they had to undo a power steering line, it had something to do with the 3inch inlet pipe. The directions apparently call for removing the whole pump, but since they had the intake manifold and TGV's off they had enough room to just disconnect a line to make room for what they had to do.

__________________
Jr Tuned 35R'd 05XT Area1320 Block & IPT Race 4eat