My P/S pump was whining so I changed the o-ring. The ring was already the updated orange one. It was a little low on fluid so I added some, but now-3days after adding fluid it seems worse.

Does my pump need to be replaced?

Did I add too much fluid?

The fluid was reddish-brown and the Honda PS fluid I added was clear. Should I flush the system?


I just bought this car in May, have put about 5-6k miles on it.

 

How's the super charger?

 

I'm kind of on the same boat as you. Still makes a faint whining sound when I move the steering wheel left and right. I'll be having a buddy of mine that's a lead-tech at an Acura Dealer take a look and diagnose a potential problem. As of right now, the suspects are a bad serpentine belt and the worst would be a bad power steering pump.

Will keep you posted!

 

yes, please keep me posted. The serpentine belt looks brand new.

 

hello, so what was the verdict?

 

you must use Honda PS fluid because gm and/or ford fluid will damage the system I know the regular fluid its cheaper but it will burn your pump in the long run!

 

i sucked out all the fluid in the res. it was REALLY dark. i should have taken a picture. anway, the steering is lighter, not much at all of a whine anymore. im thinking of doing it again this weekend so do a better flush of the system.

 

I think i'm in the same boat also, i start my car in the morning and i get the whineding noise plus there's times where i turn the steering wheel right to drive in park and i get this whineding noise. I would like to know what it is so i can get this fix

 

iirc the whining sound is the result of air in the system. could be wrong though.

 

OEM Honda fluid is a "cheap" fluid. However, it's a little thicker and has more zinc than most fluids making others incompatible. Amsoil synthetic is a good alternative to the overpriced factory fluid. I've been running it for 4 years in the TL.

 

It's the O-ring on the PS inlet hose-- see https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-problems-fixes-114/diy-105-power-steering-whine-fix-754586/.
The OEM O-ring was drying out or shrinking enough to let air into the system (if you open up the PS fluid reservoir when the whine exists, there will be bubbles in it), then expanding out when warm, which stops the whining from the air in the system.

 

did the o-ring. Whining persisted.

 

Yes, I noticed that in your initial post; your car's whining was reduced with a change of fluid. A couple or three AZ members had bad PS pumps on their TLs which caused whining as well.

However, for most others (as with my TL), changing the O-ring eliminated the PS whine. I suggested to Bankz and sixsixfour that they start with the O-ring as the most likely cause (and the cheapest and easiest to fix) since they had not changed the O-ring before.

 

Same here. Just changed the o-ring and flushed the fluid. Still makes the noise.

60K on the odometer.

 

Wait, you just got the car in May this year, right?

Was the power steering hose recall performed on your TL? If you don't have the records, call a dealership and give it your VIN number.
Get the recall done if it wasn't done.

I just responded to ross' issue in the (main?) PS O-ring thread and recalled that there was a recall because of leaks-- air and fluid-- from a bad batch of PS hoses. The O-ring is supposed to be changed along with the inlet hose during the recall, but a bunch of dealership techs changed only the hoses during the recall, and not the O-rings that came with the recall kits.

 

Would air cause the noise and does it take awhile to push out after a fluid flush? I had a lot of air bubbles in the reservoir after flushing.

 

Yes-- the air in the PS system is what causes the whining sound.
It may take a while for those bubbles to dissipate. It may take longer at the air temps you have, which is why I'd wait a couple of days to see if the problem is fixed.

 

i have the same problem when the car is started up in the morning the whining noise comes and once the car warms up the noise goes away. I also have a stiff stearing wheel that is hard as hell to move when its parked. Its also really hard parking. I checked the fluid and it is full. The recall was also performed on my car.

 

The noise was gone when I started the car this morning. No bubbles in the reservoir.

 

 

the warmer the engine seems to get, the louder the whine. Bad pump? I checked online and say the recall was done. When I changed the oring it was the orange updated one.

 

A whine due to air will almost always be on the inlet side of the pump. Look for leaks from the inlet back to the reservoir. Check the fluid for aeration. Watch it with the cap off and engine running (be careful that it's not overfilled). Check every connection between the reservoir and pump. While the o-ring is what usually allows the air in, it can get in at other connections as well and sometimes there will be no trace of fluid.

If you find nothing, drain the reservoir and check the screen for plugging. It's pretty fine and the best way to check is to remove the reservoir from the car for inspection. It should be very free flowing, any resistance to flow such as pouring fluid through it is too much.

Now the bad news, usually air related noise is worse when cold and gets better as it gets hot. I would definitely lean toward a bad pump at this point but it can't hurt to check for air leaks and aerated fluid.

Make sure you're using Honda fluid, this is one of the very few fluids that you should stay OEM or Amsoil.

 

the fluid is extremely dirty and thick. The whine did go away for a day or two after I changed the fluid. Should I flush 3 or bottles through there? It gotreally dirty again after 2 days.

I ran the car with the cap off and no bubbles. Could there be leaks elsewhere?

 

I tried to look for the orange PS Pump inlet hose oring online and was unsuccessful. Where can i buy the oring? I have an Acura TL 06.
Thanks