# Nissan Altima Steering Pump Problem **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** nissan, altima\ **Created:** [May 22, 2010, 4:10am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/nissan-altima-steering-pump-problem/49174 "2010-05-22T04:10:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![yester64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/47e85d/32.png) [@yester64](https://community.cartalk.com/u/yester64)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 4:10am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/nissan-altima-steering-pump-problem/49174/1 "2010-05-22T04:10:15Z")
Hi, my pump makes a lot of noice and i am not sure if its the pump or not. Its like a grinding noise, but the pump sucks still the oil fine. And there is no noise at turning. Can it be a pulley? My Nissan Altima is a 2001 with about 120K. ---
**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 12:19pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/nissan-altima-steering-pump-problem/49174/2 "2010-05-22T12:19:35Z")
Can you describe under what conditions the noise occurs and anything that affects it? When turning? When going forward? When stopping? Is it affected by engine speed? Is it affected by braking? Is it affected by turning? ---
**Author:** ![yester64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/47e85d/32.png) [@yester64](https://community.cartalk.com/u/yester64)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 6:07pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/nissan-altima-steering-pump-problem/49174/3 "2010-05-22T18:07:02Z")
none of them. It start when the engine gets started. Turning has no effect. I mean with that that it doesn’t get worse. I wish i could describe it better. It sounds like two metal blades grinding at each other. Under the hood i would say it is the pump. ---
**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/nissan-altima-steering-pump-problem/49174/4 "2010-05-22T18:25:50Z")
A failing pump will generally become louer when the wheel is turned and it’s under load. Try touching a metal rod to various components. The vibration should propogate up the rod and help you find the bad component. Or yuo could remove the belt and check every pulley you can reach for lossness and wobbling. ---
**Author:** ![yester64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/47e85d/32.png) [@yester64](https://community.cartalk.com/u/yester64)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 6:35pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/nissan-altima-steering-pump-problem/49174/5 "2010-05-22T18:35:03Z")
That would mean, that the pump might not be the problem, but the pulley. I base that on the assumption that the noise is steady and not affected by turning the wheels. ---
**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 6:51pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/nissan-altima-steering-pump-problem/49174/6 "2010-05-22T18:51:13Z")
If the pulley wobbles, the pump bearing is bad. That’ll be true of any belt-driven component. Don’t forget the alternator as a possibility also. ---
**Author:** ![yester64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/47e85d/32.png) [@yester64](https://community.cartalk.com/u/yester64)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/nissan-altima-steering-pump-problem/49174/7 "2010-05-23T21:18:10Z")
have to go tomorrow to the shop. Since this a pressing issue for me, i hope its not the pump really. I have to go aftermarket, since the original is to expensive. Darn. ---
**Author:** ![yester64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/47e85d/32.png) [@yester64](https://community.cartalk.com/u/yester64)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 10:14pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/nissan-altima-steering-pump-problem/49174/8 "2010-05-27T22:14:58Z")
Just an update. It popped out to be not the pump at all. It was rather the idler pulley. ☹ At least it was cheaper, but i am so angry at myself that i did not locate the noise properly. Is fixed now. But supposedly i had to take the original nissan part which cost about $70. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![richardyee](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/richardyee/32/2310_2.png) [@richardyee](https://community.cartalk.com/u/richardyee)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 2:41am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/nissan-altima-steering-pump-problem/49174/9 "2011-04-20T02:41:03Z")
Good day guys and sorry for the disturbance. Just wanna share my experience about this issue and hope you’ll not gonna mind it. So it was an Altima 98. I had problems starting though the trouble was already determined. Was a fuel issue. Had Replaced the fuel pump, fuel pump relay, fuel filter and check the clogs as well as the holes on it along with the fuses. After all that the car started up great and ran for about a week before it happened again. I just replaced the fuel pump relay last month and it started right up. About 4 hours and it won’t start once again. So what i did was that i I took my altima to a local simple [auto repair](http://www.automd.com/) shop for an oil change and mentioned the steering just to bait them into looking at it. They said it was the power steering pump and the rack. Both had to be replaced for a little over $1,000. I made my appointment with him and I’m having it fixed on Tuesday morning. He also said about $300 or less. To the poster: any update on your car? Please keep it posted…in your car i highly recommend doing the same thing just in case you haven’t resolved the issue yet. ---
**Author:** ![yester64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/47e85d/32.png) [@yester64](https://community.cartalk.com/u/yester64)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 3:02am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/nissan-altima-steering-pump-problem/49174/10 "2011-04-20T03:02:09Z")
Well, i just seen the reply. Its a long time ago, really. But in my case, it was not the steering pump. It pop out to be one of the belt wheels that was broken. It broke during my home drive. After replace everything was fine.