soflo99

Ok guys what's up?

Had a "ticky grinding noise" start about 150 miles ago. Sounds like a bearing went to hell and back.

I popped off the serpentine belt, car started and noise stopped...

Manually turned all rollers, tensioners, balancer, ect...everything rotates freely and smoothly except for my power steering pump. when I spin it by hand you can here a slight grind and tick....

Back ground on the P/S pump is, it worked for a couple weeks when I bought the car with 88,000, but shortly after I began running with no fluid, never bothered with it again... more recently I had a break in the top hose to the pump. Kinda ignored it..

so 2 questions I suppose..

1) Sound like a found the culprit?
2) What should I expect to pay to have it replaced, flushed, new upper hose, bled, ect...

THANKS Club Lex!!

soflo99

bump*

Don't want to buy a new pump If I don't have to... But the P/S pump should be able to spin freely with no noise whatsoever, correct? (S belt off)

disclaimer** I did do full timing belt over haul (ebay parts), with all the tensioners, ect, being replaced as well about 4,000 miles ago...However, those components spun flawlessly and smoothly with no noise, no give, with the S belt off. . This includes the water pump, and I am having NO over heating issues whatsoever.

With the S belt on, the noise gets so loud and abusive I think the P/S pump can't spin well at all, causing the S belt to smoke a bit, as it has too much resistance from that component.

And I am sure nobody on this forum wants to here I ran 36,000 miles on a dry pump, but I did.

If you guys need more info, or a video of me spinning the accessory components, I can do that.

Guess I just wanted to reassurance from those far more experienced. Thanks for the help, it is appreciated.

soflo99

would a malfunctioning tensioner cause these issues?

Is there a way tot est the functionality of the tensioner? I was able to pop off the serpentine belt somewhat effortlessly by applying pressure. Is that normal?

I bought a PS pump today, but just wanted some information from the community, thanks.

soflo99

here is me spinning the P/S pump pulley, and Tensioner. Tensioner seems to be noisy, no? Any ideas? If it is just a failed tensioner I could save some major money. Please help.

1JZPWRD

iTrader: (59)

The pulley bearing is bad. Should be no noise whatsoever when it turns.

soflo99

so the P/S pump sounds ok to you?? it makes a click noise....

but yea that bearing in the tensioner sounds rough, probably why its really bad when pressure is put on it like when the belt is on....

btw THANK YOU FOR RESPONDING, MIGHT HAVE SAVED ME A COUPLE HUNDO!!

so the verdict is in, my EBAY tensioner failed??

I better get ready to cook some crow!!

1JZPWRD

iTrader: (59)

After reviewing the video again, I would safe to say that the tensioner pulley is bad. There should be no noise coming from it. Usually from excessive heat build up on cheap EBay bearings. Not everything is cheap on EBay but some are. On the power steering noise, first check the fluid. If bad, then flush the fluid. That can be found at www.lexls.com under tutorials. Very easy way to do it w/o a mess in your engine bay. If this does not cure the problem, then a rebuild is necessary or replacement of the power steering pump is deemed. Not a hard job, but doable. The top bolts are the worst in most cases. There is also a DIy on how to rebuild it too, if not leaking. If it is leaking too, then do a complete rebuild of it and have many more years of life in it. Replace the bearings and seals, etc...

1JZPWRD

iTrader: (59)

Here you go.....

http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/steering/

soflo99

thank you. I am going to replace the tensioner with my OEM one that I kept from when I did my timing job 4,500 miles ago. The OEM never made noise so I assume it's in good shape, we just replaced it because it came kit I believe. Is it advisable to bother with the OEM tensioner with 120,000 or just buy one from Auto zone?

As far the P/S pump goes, it hasn't had any fluid in it for about 36,000 miles. I bought a new one though, just not sure if that's what is causing the ruckus.

soflo99

I do not think my ebay kit came with a whole new tensioner per se, just a new bearing. I am assuming my mechanic replaced the OEM bearing, with the EBAY one, and it has failed @ 4,500 miles. So I will look for the OEM bearing, otherwise I might as well get a whole new tensioner.... which is still a good chunk of change ( $200.00 from the zone, about $150 from the ROCKAUTO. )

when the issue started to manifest itself, it happened several minutes after the car started, indicating bearing heat as a possible contributor. thank you for your help, and any thoughts on what I have stated is greatly appreciated. thank you.

soflo99

bumper.....

1JZPWRD

iTrader: (59)

Your welcome. What were the results? What did you end up replacing and did it fix the problem?

soflo99

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1JZPWRD

Your welcome. What were the results? What did you end up replacing and did it fix the problem?

I ended up replacing the power steering pump, and aside from a little bit of moaning, she's working good. Hopefully I didn't damage the rack to too much while running dry for so long.

I think I need to replace my S belt though, has some noise on start up, but quiets when warm. The tensioner wouldn't be bad to replace either, But she's back on the road.

But my catastrophic knocking was the internals of the power steering pump when warm. Got VERY loud, all fixed now.

THANKS!!