Does anyone know how to tell when a power steering pump has gone bad. i have an 03 with about 40K miles. At idle it feels like i don't have any power steering at all(this started yesterday), but when i rev a little the steering wheel turns freely, has my pump gone bad? also there's like a whistling noise coming from the pump, its not the fluid because its full, and the belt looks okay as well, what could be wrong with it? thanks

 

A whine is an indication of pump restriction, powertrain warranty should cover that.

 

BTW you ARE still under warranty.

 

40,000 isnt an awful lot for a pump, but if it wasnt perfect, it could be going bad. Frankly in all yrs Iv replaced pumps, its been because they are whinning/howling really bad, or leaking real bad. Its the call of the mechanic thats working on it.

But the deal is --- A power steering pump is a Hydraulic pump. If it is not doing its job at low RPMs, then that is an indication of wear that has to be compensated for by spinning it faster. I kinda doubt it is a Rack and pinion prob ---They tend to just start leaking.

On Cars, U cant just plumb in a set of gages as I do with larger systems to check PSI.

Noise is the main sign and if u take a length of vacuum hose and put it in ur ear and press the other end to the pump, it will amplify that sound, and if u by chance have another Nissan around u can compare it with thats the way to go

 

im gonna take it to nissan on monday to see what they say, i hope they cover everything it needs, but i would like to know wtf happened to it! thanks for the help