Slight Powersteering Whine

[Daston]

Hey guys,

I have just finished putting all the bits back on my RX7's engine, part of this included new powersteering cooling pipes.

The first time I moved the car the pump made one hell of a noise. I then remembered I hadn't filled up the reservoir. This is now filled to the "full mark", with the engine running its silent no sound from the pulleys or pumps at all. As soon as I move the steering it whines a little and the noise is then persistent.

Could this be air trapped in the system from when I changed the pipes?

[GreenV8S]

Is it possible that when moving the steering you're leaving it with as very slight load on which is loading the pump? If so, perhaps the noise would go away if you move the steering slightly within the dead band.

[Peanut Gallery]

I would vote swing your steering from lock to lock a few times, this clears any large bubbles out of the rack. Once a bubble has blown through the system, a lot of air is held in the fluid and the pump makes a noise until this is clear. Takes overnight or so for the air to escape the fluid in the reservoir.

On a side note, if you are trying to flush the steering fluid and get it wrong, the resultant blast of fluid in your face, over the belts, in very hard to reach places to clean, is actually quite spectacular, and the pump does make a lot of noise when air is in the system! (Who filters fluid RETURNING to the reservoir??)