Does anyone make a "quiet" power steering pump for our SC's?

phils89sc

Registered User
I don't know why some do this, but it is extremely annoying to hear that stupid power steering pump all the time, especially at low speed, and turning. It works well, just noisy whining sound all the time. Any sourced for a "quieter" replacement?

Thanks

Philip Stocker
 
You know, the best I've heard is that this is just one of those things that's pure chance.

Some pumps will run silently, some will be noisy. Brand new or years old, it doesn't make much difference.

I've never heard of an aftermarket P/S pump though.

Hopefully someone else will have suggestions.
 
Hi, Philip.

Not by any stretch of the imagination are you alone on this one. My 35th drives me nuts and I have changed pumps twice. One guy called this "the unknown Ford option". In conversations with other SC'ers, it was surmised that perhaps the aluminum construction of the rack and pinion units over time degrade inside and cause particles to circulate through the system eventually making any pump whine. I bought an 89 SC in 91 and owned it for 3 years and it never did this. Somehow something changes with age to do this. If you find out what it is, I'll be the first to congratulate you and I'll pass it along to everyone else. I am a hair close to buying and changing every thing there is to the power steering system to see what the cause is. I really wish I could help on this one.

A great week to you.
 
Power steering pump whine

The whine, I believe, is cause by a fatigued pressure relief valve, alot of times when you replace the pump, you actuall are instructed to use the old valve and spring. I would call Ford and see if they sell a new spring and valve. The whine you here is called hydraulic resonation. If you listen closely, sometimes you can here a high mileage autotrans make a similar noise in the pan.
 
Re: Power steering pump whine

TheTransDoc said:
The whine, I believe, is cause by a fatigued pressure relief valve, alot of times when you replace the pump, you actuall are instructed to use the old valve and spring. I would call Ford and see if they sell a new spring and valve. The whine you here is called hydraulic resonation. If you listen closely, sometimes you can here a high mileage autotrans make a similar noise in the pan.

Ya know, I was going to post earlier that since we hear the noise it must be a vibration in the pump. That valve was the only place I could think of that would vibrate but then I thought to myself "Naaah, I must be crazy. Someone would've thought of that already." Or maybe not :D
 
I also had the same problem. Replacing the fluid helps, but it will still be louder than the average pump.
This is probably a stupid question, but are you low on fluid?? That would be the easy solution.
 
my high pressure line blew once and i ran the thing for two months with 0 fluid (no power steering at all)

got it fixed, same pump no rebuild or anything, and still perfectly quiet :)
 
Bought 2 SCs recently. The rough one makes no noise. The one obviously kept garage parked and cared for is the loudest I have ever heard, but works fine. My cousin who worked as a mechanic at a used car dealership says Fords just do that. He put a brand new pump on a Ford truck that a man would not buy until they did. It sounded the same. We cycled a bunch of new fluid through my good SC but it still emmbarrasses me in my own front yard. I hate to drive it!!!

I hope someone takes this on as a project and reports.

Doug
 
I hate to drive it!!!

OMG!!! No you dont! If you do, I'll take it off your hands.:)

I also have a noisy ps pump. Not low on fluid. Had the fluid changed when I had the rack and pinion done.

Aaron
 
Hello, Aaron.

Okay so rack repair and new pump STILL didn't quiet it? Glad you mentioned that. Now it's narrowing down. So far it sounds like it just might be something in the valving. I had a mechanic tell me last week that he has had the best luck getting pumps through Motorcraft and that they are better than other remans. I'm passing on changing the rack for now then.

Hey Fast ED. any inputs here? What is the scoop on Motorcraft pumps versus others? Could this be the direction to go? I promise I am going to find out what the heck this is. :)
 
Man I need 2 pumps myself. My 94 almost dies when turning at idle. My 93 ejects fluid out of the breather hole on the top of cap and sounds like crap. This is the only things wrong with my cars.
Anyone know where to get the good pumps at a good price?
 
I'm not usually a big fan of chemical additives for the fluids of our cars, but one of the SCCoO members had good success with the Lucas brand P/S additive in his 95 SC, quieted the pump right down ... going to pour some in mine when it comes out in a few months.


cheers
Ed Nicholson
SCCoO
 
Hi, Ed.

I just had a mechanic at Pep Boys today tell me noise is common with Fords "900 gear" pump??? He also suggested that Lucas additive. I don't care for additives either but I'll give it a try too and see what happens. Thanks.

A great week all.
 
Never heard these referred to as "900 gear" pumps, but then again, we don't have Pep Boys stores up here either. :p

I believe the official Ford designation for these is a "C-II" steering pump ... the ones with the remote reservoir on the 4.6 Birds are known as "C-III" ... next generation obviously. One guy I had sold a Ford remanufactured pump to said it was noisy until he put an additive in, so who knows ... my old 5.0 Mustang was like that, and as the guy at Pep Boys said, it seems to be a common ailment on that style of Ford pump. Unfortunately, brand new pumps aren't even available from Ford anymore.

cheers
Ed N.
 
tbirdsc35th,

I had the rack and pinion replaced. They put in two new hoses for the p/s and new fluid. They did not change the pump though. It is not the original pump however. We had that replaced in 97 i believe.

I'll be installing new motor mounts whenever I change out my oil pan and check for any wear and tear on the hoses. If need be I might be replacing one or two of those again.


Additives, I try to stay away from those also. Not too sure how the p/s will handle the extra friction. It might quiet it and at the same time cut the life of the pump.

Aaron
 
I was the one Ed was refering to with the Lucas additive. I also had the rack replaced with a ford re-man from Ed, plus a new pump, aslo from Ed. Both of my motor mounts are new and of the solid variety. My lines where in good shape, so they are original.

Now as for the Lucas, the stuff did a good job, the pumnp was SCREAMIN' something fierce. So I sucked ALL the old fluid, ran some new fluid in it, cycled it around for a bout 10 minutes, then sucked it out, put in the Lucas first(like molasses). Used one litre, I think. Now I filled the Lucas bottle with the remanning fluid shook it well, had to do that a few times, but it was night and day.

Hope that helps out some.
 
sounds powerful...

Its not all bad. I had a kid walk by my car once and he said, "wow man, I can hear that supercharger going now, that thing must be powerful!" I just said "yep, sounds good doesn't it" He was hearing my all powerful power steering pump. ;-)
 
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