Steering makes a whooshing sound; normal?

[The_Handier_Man1]

From: Oldbag373861  (Original Message)
Sent: 7/30/2005 10:13 PM

I have a '74 D19 with a 318. It runs OK right now, though I never go for really long trips. But it sure does seem to make a lot of noise when I cramp the wheel, like when I'm maneuvering into a camping spot. It isn't a squeal like you would associate with power steering, rather it is a "whooshing" sound. Is this normal? I'm guessing it's some sort of vacuum noise.



From: cooneytunes
Sent: 7/31/2005 2:49 AM

Check your fluid in the power steering pump it will whoosh when a little low when you turn your wheels...sometimes and especially, when turning the wheel to max, this will make the pump pull a little more and push a little more fluid, and will whoosh or growl very much... this is somewhat normal due to the pump being right below your feet and very little sound dampining material betwwen you and the pump...you might want to drain the pump and refill with new PS fluid.......and see if this quiets it down any..............also you probably have a breather booster filter behind the drivers seat ...that is the air breather filter for the power booster to your brakes, and will make a small whoosing sound if not drawing enough air (filter dirty) they are available at several places not sure of the part # but Fram makes them.
Hope you find the whoosh....
Timmy



From: denison
Sent: 7/31/2005 7:57 AM

There is a normal sound the p.s. makes. I would call the noise mine makes a wheeze or hiss. It is there anytime I am not steering straight ahead, but if I am on the road somewhere I dont hear it, as we always drive with the windows open and road noise predominates.
The small orange-ish filter behind the drivers left hip is for the Bendix hydrovac brake boosters. This admits clean dry atmospheric air into one side of the booster chambers (instead of a vacuum) when you put your foot on the brake. You should hear a soft whoosh from there when you put your foot on the brake pedal - again, its something you probably wouldnt hear when slowing down from 55 mph, due to other road noises.
My power steering system doesnt have a breather: I think if you follow the rubber hose from below that little orange filter, you will find it goes back the 2 boosters.



From: Oldbag373861
Sent: 7/31/2005 9:24 PM

Thanks, Cooney and Denison for the replies. I will check out both the filter annd the fluid level. Appreciate your expertise.
Steve



From: ClydesdaleKevin
Sent: 8/9/2005 12:35 AM

At the NECWJ, my rig was making a hell of a racket at the power steering pump, and leaking from SOMEwhere like a sieve!  Tom helped me locate the leak by taking a shot of power steering fluid almost in the eye...lmao!!!  Anyhow, I have a pin hole leak in one of the steel power steering lines.

I mention this because we were having the same WHOOSH sound.  The sound would go away completely when the fluid was empty, but so would the power steering!  If you are refilling a very empty reservoir, it will seem full until you start the rig.  Then the fluid you added will fill the lines and whatnot, and still make a loud woosh.  You need to top it off, start the motor, turn the wheel a few times, then stop the engine a refill it again.  It shouldn't make any obnoxious noises after that.  We made it to CT doing that, and will have the new hoses/steel lines on order tomorrow.

Kev



From: ClydesdaleKevin
Sent: 8/10/2005 11:10 PM

Hey guys!  Finding power steering hoses from the Dodge parts numbers proved to be quite the challenge.  The steel line that was leaking on our rig was actually the return line, not the high pressure line.  That said, we took them both off and went to the local Napa with part numbers in hand...if one was leaking from being so rusted, it was only a matter of time before the other started leaking, so we decided to replace both.

Napa could get me the high pressure side, but only one store in New Mexico even had one in stock...the return line parts numbers didn't even cross reference.

Long story short, we got lucky in that this particular Napa that we went to in Connecticut makes custom hydrolic hoses.  They made one the right length for high pressure side.  They don't bend tubes though, so they sold me a tubing bender, line wrenches, and 3/8 inch break lines with fittings.  The hose has compression fittings.  The brake line fittings are a perfect match on two of the power steering connectors, but I'll have to reuse one fitting because its an off-size on the high pressure side.  The low pressure side didn't require a special hose, so I'm using 3/8" transmission cooler hose, which is what the Napa recommended.

Anyhow, our power steering should be fully functional tomorrow!

Kev



From: ClydesdaleKevin
Sent: 8/14/2005 4:26 PM

Success!  The power steering lines are installed, and the unit is leak free and as quiet as its supposed to be!  Since I had to custom bend my own steel lines anyway, I routed them different from the stock setup, which put them right in the path of the front tire's mud and stone sling-path.  I routed them in FRONT of the steering box...neat, clean, safer, and works great!

Kev



From: cooneytunes
Sent: 10/6/2005 10:03 PM

If your pump is exceeivly noisey......Growling when turning...should have a slight hiss..Below is the procedure for bleeding P/S Pump below....and it will quiet down after this....
I had to replace a high pressure Power steering to Hydo boost line..lost all the fluid and had to bleed the P/S pump...original line busted and couldn't find the part so I had one made at a place that makes hydrolic lines for tractors and trucks, fork lifts etc....Just had to make sure that they had the correct ferral ends on them. They had them in stock and it took about 15 minutes to make the new line. Now it doesn't follow the same path as the original but has the same start and finish. Had to tie it back so it was out of the way of the steering and the front wheel.....and re-enforce it with some clear rubber tubing where it would rub on any metal parts....so it should be good for about 30 years....Oldbag......if your rig is still making a lot of noise when you turn your wheels try this..

Procedure for bleeding Power Steering Pump

Open Power Steering pump and fill to top..... leave the cap off for this whole procedure...if possible jack the front wheels so they clear the ground about an inch.(tis puts less stress on the pump if it's low on fluid...now start engine....and give it enough throttle, about 1500 RPM is good...observe the fluid level....if you have Hydo-boost brakes, start pumping the brake slowly and turn the wheels right and left, HITTING THE STOPS each time.... do this about 5 or six times in each direction pumping brakes (Brake part with hydo-boots only) turn off engine and observe the fluid... wait 2 to 3 minutes and than add fluid if nessesary lower the rig so front wheels are on the ground......start engine rev to 1500 RPM and repeat wheel right and left ( pumping brakes if HB system) do this about 5 or six times hitting the stops again on each side again...
turn off engine.....wait 2 minutes, check fluid and fill if needed......if fluid seems extra foamy wait one hour leaving the cap off.... after one hour do this proccedure one more time and add fluid if nessasary and replace cap....This should quiet your P/S pump down. If it does not, your drawing air into the system from one of the hoses or fittings.....and loosing fluid somwhere.

Timmy