Whirring sound Belt or Power steering?

[HSVREDSLED]

My car has developed a whirring sound from the engine bay. The sound gets louder and higher pitched with increased engine revs. It also gets louder when turning corners. This makes me think it is the Power steering pump.
I checked the fluid levels and they appear OK.

but..

The noise comes on after a few minutes of driving and not when it is cold.
This makes me think it is the belt (after it has heated up).

what do you think?

[Jargle]

have had any work done on the rack lately, sounds a bit like air in the rack.

[HSVREDSLED]

Nope..no work done. It goes in for service soon, but I trust opinions on here better than holdens service departments.

[GHZ28]

My car has developed a whirring sound from the engine bay. The sound gets louder and higher pitched with increased engine revs. It also gets louder when turning corners. This makes me think it is the Power steering pump.
I checked the fluid levels and they appear OK.

but..

The noise comes on after a few minutes of driving and not when it is cold.
This makes me think it is the belt (after it has heated up).

what do you think?

Power steering pump noise is pretty common with Commodores these days. And doesn't have to be air in the system, though that is the most common cause.

They do seem to go on for ever with that noise though. A friend's VU has been making a noise for well over a year now.

gh

[scottie_VZSS]

i too had this problem since new... after a few months it finally decided to give in totally and had no power steering at all... replaced the power-steering pump.. suprise suprise it is about 6 months later and i am in need of yet another pump!! thank god for warranty!!

[enemyss]

sorry but i have a whirring sound in our vuss but it gets louder with higher revs but this is a bearable one. Maybe it the whirring from the supercharger I have. I know it is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Sonnymad]

My car has developed a whirring sound from the engine bay. The sound gets louder and higher pitched with increased engine revs. It also gets louder when turning corners. This makes me think it is the Power steering pump.
I checked the fluid levels and they appear OK.

but..

The noise comes on after a few minutes of driving and not when it is cold.
This makes me think it is the belt (after it has heated up).

what do you think?


It most probably is the power steering pump,check the power steer cooler lines,they are located on the left front,standing in front of the car,those hoses leak slightly,this also causes the power steer pump to suck air cuaing a whirring noise,if its wet round those hoses,get a screw driver and tighten them up & you will find the noise will go away.hope this helps .

:)

regards sonny

[STATEYOLDFELLA]

I would check the lines as Sonny has stated.
I too had that whirring sound recently and after a week or so I noticed the fluid level dropping.
Not to mention the whole front left corner under the bonnet around the radiator support panel was slowly getting soaked in pwr str fluid.
Checked and sure enough the line had a tiny split and was weeping.
A few dollars and heaps of cursing time later - no leak an NO NOISE.

[Scramjet]

you could have someone turn the steering wheel while you stand at the front with the bonnet open. When the pump comes under load the sound should change or become more noticable if it is a steering pump issue. Alternatively it could be an idler pulley on the way out. They can make a pump like whirring sound. ( I am talking V6, not sure if the V8 has the same serpantine belt system.)

[HSVREDSLED]

Hi People.

Just to add to the knowledge base on this forum, the power steering pump was replaced due to the pump airating power steering fluid due to internal failure. (Under Warranty)

Thanks again people.

[WOMBIE]

Apologies for digging up an old thread guys but i thought better to than start a new one.

Just this morning after dropping my daughter off at the train station,i suddenly had this 'whirring' sound that HSVREDSLED has described in his initial post which was very noticeable upon acceleration as mentioned.Thinking it was the power steering pump,when i got home i popped the hood and i looked for leakage around the hoses which i did have but it's barely worth a mention and there doesn't appear to be any cracks in said hoses that i can see and the fluid lever is good.

I tightened all the clamps and then took it for spin only for the noise to have disappeared :confused: .......seems to have fixed itself so to speak.Is what i had happen an indication that it's on the way out or should i not be overly concerned at this point in time?

Any thoughts welcomed :)

Darren

[BLACKWAGON]

My steering pump went at about 65k same noises as you have described.
Apparently a common thing.

[WOMBIE]

Yeah your right about it being common .I just got back from picking my daughter up and it's not there now.Oh well i'll play the wait and see game and replace it if or when i need to.