I am being told be the local shop that a rack leak is actually allowing air to enter the p/s system (vs fluid leaking out), contributing to pump noise during cold starts. Recommended service to to replace the full rack and pinion. Before I pull the trigger on that, I just wanted to see if anyone else here has experienced anything similar, and if any steps other than a rack replacement may resolve the issue (is a quality stop-leak worthwhile?).

Car is a 2010 with about 215k miles on it, and is in otherwise excellent shape. I want at least a couple more years out of it, so I'm not against dropping 1500 to get it back on the road with a fixed p/s system - I mean that's only 2-3 car payments these days.

 

The power steering pump and rack are full of o-ring seals, I'd put in Bar's leak high mileage power steering repair before replacing the rack and pinion, $12 to find out if it may slow or stop the leak completely and worth a try, it won't do any harm. I just replaced all the seals in my power steering pump due to small leaks, it's nice they offer a seal repair kit for the pump, $32 and some labor.

 

I should have included this my previous response, you should also try replacing the PS pump inlet hose fitting o-ring at the pump (from reservoir), they can be found on Amazon and recommend getting the Genuine Honda part $4.5. Easy to replace with one bolt removal holding the hose fitting on the pump but you have to be careful with PS fluid coming out of the hose during removal, clamp off hose and have some rags or paper towels over the alternator to protect from fluid spillage. These o-rings get hard from age and heat and can let air get into the system because it's the suction side.

OEM Honda 91345-RDA-A01 - O-Ring (13.0X1.9)