Noisy power steering...Is it always the pump?

I have had many Fords in the past. Many of them, with the exception of an 06 Mustang I had, had the infamous Ford power steering whine. My question is, now I have an 89 SC with only 86K miles on the clock. The power steering whines pretty loud, but the fluid level is fine and the pump works fine.

A long time ago, someone told me that it is not always the pump that causes the whine, that the valve on the side of the pump that has a line (not sure if it the discharge or what) coming off of it could be making this buzzing / whining noise as well? Is there any merit to this?

thanks

not sure

about the evo sensor...think that is what it is called, but it seems to me that it would just be the pump....mine did that before it seized up....on the highway....doing 90. That was good times. but anyways, got another from big-e and put some of the lucas oil powersteering fluid that guarantees no whine or money back....seems to work pretty well. you could try to bleed the system out and with a couple quart of fluid and and fill with some good stuff...its worth a shot I suppose. but then just switching it out with another isnt that hard.

reply to PS pump wine

You hit it on the head in my opinion. It is a Ford PS pump. Some are louder than others. If it were I, exploring two options would be my course. One, look into a safe synthetic form of ATF. Two, if money isn't an issue, Summit and a few racing companies make some pretty awesome PS pumps. Some are even electric. It is working and that is the sound of it doing it's job. You might upgrade to a flaming river rack and this may limit the strain of the pump. They also carry systems that are efficient and delete the ps option?

I worked on F-16's for a long time. If it's not broke, don't fix it. If you feel it is the supply or return lines humming as the fluid passes, put a pretty steel braided kit on. This is probably the least expensive option. This would increase the efficiency of the existing pump and rectify any possible line issue. I am unclear if a bleeding procedure is necessary.

Lincoln

I just changed the motor and drained the power steering pump and refilled it with the Lucus power stering fluid and it deffinitly helped with the noise.I recomend it highly!