2005 Honda Accord Power Steering Pump Growls When Cold/Cool

Maintenance/Repairs
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2005 Honda Accord Growls When Cold/Cool
Last winter on real cold days (okay, real cold in Houston, TX, means around freezing to about 40 degrees), a loud growl came from under the hood. The growl stayed until things under the hood warmed up a little. While it was warming, the growling would slowly diminish; however, if the steering wheel was deflected, it would aggravate the growling noise. I checked the fluid in the power steering pump, and it was fine. I did some on-line research, and it appears that the Honda’s power steering pump’s bearings might be going bad. Is there anything that can be done preemptively to avoid the expense of replacing the power steering pump? (I hear they are expensive to replace.) Last month I was in Kansas City and the growl was barely audible on a 64 degree morning. I fear it is getting worse and will not last long.

Help if you can… please.

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I recently helped a friend of mine replace his for the very same reason on the very same car and year.
Actually, his would also lose power steering intermittently.

I guess it isn’t all that uncommon on recent Hondas so you may want to have it looked at. The failure did seem a bit early in its life to me, though: a 2005 isn’t that old. It had a lot of slop in the pulley.

3

There is a service bulletin that applies to the V-6 Accord to replace the pump inlet joint o-ring that may be letting air into the pump when cold.