2005 Toyota Solara 4 cyl.
Trying to diagnose mysterious whine when turning steering wheel that started after replacing pump (twice now in the span of about a week) and high pressure hose (aftermarket). I replaced these parts because they were original, leaking, and failed inspection. Even though the original parts were leaking, there was no whine when turning the wheel.
Shop did the work. The first replacement pump they used aftermarket and despite bleeding properly multiple times and driving over course of 3 days it still whined when turning 3 days later.
They gave me 1 year warranty on part and labor so I went back to them with concerns about the persisting whining noise and they replaced the pump a 2nd time, this time using OEM. They also replaced the reservoir (with my permission) with a brand new one because they said they found the old one had a lot of debris/old dirty fluid stuck in the bottom…
Now it’s been 4 days since they replaced the pump for the second time using OEM and the 2nd pump is still whining after thoroughly bleeding the system multiple times (once at the shop and again later on jackstands at my house) and driving for a few days after.
I’m considering possibility of defective 2nd pump, but now I’m starting to think that the the 2nd replacement pump being defective is not likely at all…
I’m wondering; Can using an aftermarket high pressure power steering hose cause a whine in power steering system when turning (even if the pump is just fine?) The shop that did the work will only cover the pump part and labor but if I want the hose done again I will have to pay for the full job. So obviously I don’t want to pay for the hose job again unless there’s a very good chance it’s the culprit.
The steering wheel turned just fine after both the first and second replacement pumps (not hard to turn or anything) and there are no leaks (the shop I went to cleaned off all the old oil from underneath and then ran the car on the lift for 30 minutes occasionally turning the wheel) all while I watched. They actually insisted I watch so I can see for myself there’s no leaks.
Again, what’s more strange is before I replaced anything (with the leaking original pump and leaking original high pressure hose) that failed inspection, there was no power steering whine despite the leaks.
Now the pump has been replaced twice, currently using OEM one and both times it whined after bleeding properly, multiple times and driving for 3-4 days.
If there is a likely chance the aftermarket hose is the culprit or persistent whine, I will pay to replace it again with OEM. Some people say aftermarket hoses may whine if they don’t have a flow restrictor, but the part they used does have one…
What is the chance the 2nd replacement pump (this time OEM) is defective vs the aftermarket pressure hose? Or does anything else come to mind that could be the culprit?
In the case, that the aftermarket pressure hose is the cause of the whine would there be any harm driving with the whine as long as there’s no air in the system and no leaks? (Which i’m sure there’s not) if there’s no harm, I might just live with the slight whine noise instead of paying again to replace the hose.
Any help is appreciated
