[NImesh]

Here’s EXACTLY what’s happening – seems I need to learn how to properly bleed air out of the PS system.

Looks like it’s normal that the fluid is spewing out if there’s air in the system.

How many times should I have to turn the wheel – as many as it takes to get all the air out?

[NImesh]

I’m not even sure if the problem still exists – this created a new problem – perhaps when I disconnected the hose – it was open into the pump via the inlet pipe and the entire time I was trying to get the pipe off to access the old o-ring and put on the new one, air could have gotten into the pump – Is that a possibility?

I’ve never had a leak as the fluid was at the correct level on the reservoir.

It’s a 2005 RL – I did place the new orange O-ring on the pipe and topped off the fluid – maybe I did put too much fluid in and now’s it’s causing it to overflow. Should I take some of the fluid out even after it overflowed and leaked out of the reservoir? I was thinking at this point to pay for a flush and see if that will take the air out. Other than that – a new pump?

[NImesh]

I believe I’ve narrowed this noise down to the power steering system. I replaced the o-ring in the inlet pipe of the PS pump by removing the inlet hose that goes from the PS reservoir to the PS pump’s inlet pipe. When I removed the inlet pipe, I noticed there was no old O-ring in the inlet pipe or in the PS pump itself where the inlet pipe connects to the pump so I just placed the new o-ring on the pipe and put everything back together. I topped the reservoir off with PS fluid made for Hondas and Acuras (because some fluid leaked out when I took the inlet hose and inlet pipe off) and when I turned the car on to take it for a test drive and check f the noise is gone – I didn’t make it out of the driveway – the reservoir started foaming and bubbling and overflowed with foamy PS fluid and a lot of PS fluid leaked out. It seems the return hose is filling the reservoir faster than the inlet hose is taking the fluid to the PS pump .

What would cause the fluid to not be pulled into the PS pump?
How do I get the air out which would (I’m guessing) stop the foaming / bubbling /overflowing?

I lost quit a bit of fluid and the pump was making a lot of noise – most likely because is very low on fluid since it all overflowed from the reservoir.
I then let it sit after cleaning all the fluid under the reservoir and filled the reservoir back to the fill line. The next day I tried to bleed the system and the first time I turned the steering wheel from lock to lock (engine was on) – the fluid did get pulled into the pump. I turned the car off and added more fluid to the reservoir (it was empty after turning the wheel) and the second time I turned the car on and turned the steering wheel from lock to lock, the fluid started bubbling and foamed up and overflowed from the reservoir again.

Any thoughts on what could have transpired? Why would it pull the fluid the first time and overflow the second time? Any advice is greatly appreciated. I have not driven this car in about 5 days now because of this issue.

[NImesh]

Okay, I’ll check with this method and let you know.

[NImesh]

This is a great example of what I’m hearing:

Some comments do mention the bearings inside the tensioner pulley.

[NImesh]

That’s good to hear. The noise is not really squealing but more of a whining noise. I found this that sounds like it:

To go along with what you’re saying, what’s the best way to test/diagnose the tensioner pulley?

[NImesh]

I did have the alternator burn up on me about a month ago – it just failed out of nowhere. I was driving and the check charging system light came on. I turned the car off, pulled into a parking lot and left the car off for a few minutes. I turned it back on and the light went away and I drove to my destination, parked for a few hours and when I started up again the check charging system light came back on and stayed on and every single light on the dash came up. I lost power steering, power brakes, and the car stalled in the middle of traffic. Luckily there was a Midas about 5 minutes away and I managed to get it there and pull into the lot of the Midas where the car just turned off. The mechanic was watching me drive in and saw the car die right in front of him. They were going to test the battery when the alternator started smoking and they said the alternator burned up. $600 and 3 hours later , I was on my way with a new alternator. I told the mechanic about the noise I was hearing and he said maybe it was the alternator going bad. But the noise is still happening with a brand new alternator. Could a bad tensioner pully have caused the alternator to burn up and if so am I in danger of having this same issue occur again?

[NImesh]

It’s coming from that area but I discounted the drive belt because it only happens after driving for at least 15 minutes. It makes the noise while I’m going straight and turning. The ps fluid is up to the high level but is kind of dark, I was thinking of doing a flush.

[Author]

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