I recently has the timing belt and water pump replaced on my 2000 Honda Odyssey as a maintenance item.
(Manufacturer recommends at 105,000 miles, I had 133,000 miles)
Upon driving the vehicle I noticed a noise coming from the engine compartment. I returned the vehicle to the repair shop and they explained that there were air bubbles in the power steering system because the power steering resevoir had to be removed to replace the timing belt. They worked on it for awhile and said that the noise would disappear over time once the air had worked itself out. It’s been 3 weeks and the noise continues. How long should I expect this process to take, and is there anything that can be done to speed up the process?
If the noise was due to air in the power steering fluid it would have cleared some time ago. The noise is coming from something else. It is hard to say if it is a real problem or just an annoyance. I suggest you let the shop look it over again and have them find the real source of the noise.
I’ve Never Worked On An Odyssey, But I Can Read.
Maybe my information isn’t complete, but the procedures I looked at don’t require removing the reservoir for neither the timing belt nor H2O pump. Air in there doesn’t sound good.
Why can’t it be bled?
Addition: I stand corrected. Another source does mention opening the P.S. system.
They did bleed the system when I returned it. The noise lessened, but didn’t disappear.
Then they need to bleed it again, and again, until the noise is gone.
Your Odyssey should operate exactly the same as it did before the timing belt replacement. You should not notice any difference. If you do, there is a problem caused by the work done, which needs to be corrected.
Perhaps there is a special procedure for bleeding air from the power steering system, and the local shop doesn’t know it. They should, but that doesn’t mean they do.
Either way, take it back until it’s right.
The power steering system bleeding procedure is so complicated (not!). Here it is, towards the bottom of the “page”: http://www.autozone.com/shopping/repairGuide.htm?pageId=0900c152800b0e57