I had some damage last summer, which was focused around the front suspension, and bent a tie rod. The auto body shop supposedly replaced the whole rack while fixing other damage.

Ever since then, the power steering makes a whining noise which I have associated with a bad pump. I have had several vehicles in the past which made a similar noise. This only seems to happen when it is cold and needs to warm up, and I have not noticed any poor performance.

I would like to track down this issue and fix it, because right now I do not trust auto crossing the car with what may be damaged steering parts. I am looking for recommendations and or people who have had a similar experience.

So far my plan is to have the fluid flushed at the dealer, to remove any air that might be in the system, and well thats about it. I really don't know hot to diagnose it until something breaks.

 

In my past experience, but with other cars, that whinning has always been a bad pump, but get it checked out for sure...wont hurt.

 

I had a bad pump and it had the same simptoms as you are stating. Mine would whine also when it was cold and I turn it to its limits, lock to lock. You can try getting the air out yourself first before taking it in. If you want, or need also I have the pump that I bought, it only has a few thousand miles on it since I am parting out my car I don't need it. PM me if you need a pump. Could save you a little money.

I have heard some people have had issues with the rack also. Have you worn your tires out at all. How many miles do you have on your car. My pump went out at 95k miles.

 

I only have 16k miles on my car, but it has had front suspension trauma, which may have caused the problem in the first place.

 

Mine whines a bit on startup, about 10 seconds. My other Z (stock and not track beaten) only whines on really cold mornings. A few of my friends Z/G's do the same, it could just be on the of the quirks of the car.

 

Hi don't want to jack the thread, but I changed my pulley on the pump and after that it is whining and of course not working
Any comments about this ??

Regards Micael