Hey

There's a hissing noise coming from the power steering pump when the car is anywhere above idle and under 2500 or so RPM... Sounds like a leaking vacuum line, and if it is, it would explain ALOT of **** that's going on with my car. But the problem is, I checked for vacuum leaks, and have found none. I used propane... but of course with the fan blowing crap everywhere... the gas might have been diluted to the point of not doing anything.

Anyways, whats around that vicinity that could be causing my idle woes?

Thanks
-Ross

 

hold the fan still with your hand.. as long as the car is cool it should be pretty damn easy to hold the fan still

I used carb cleaner to check for vacuum leaks... its easy to spray directly onto things you think might be causing the problems.

 

Use water to check for vac leaks - it's free and unaffected by the fan.

The 'hiss' may actually be a failing bearing in one of the pulleys. The bearing in my adjuster pulley is toasted and it produces a squeal that briefly goes away if I lube the hell out of it.

I realize that you know the difference between a squeal and a hiss, but I didn't think that any air lines run to/from the p/s pump and so I'd suggest that maybe you're mistaking one sound for another...

 

What about in the general vicinity?

 

all our gooseneck trailers at work operate on hydraulics. power steering uses hydraulics..

i dont have much experience with failing power steering, but i CAN tell you when a hydraulic cylinder on a trailer or the like at work is starting to fail, they hiss or whine as the fluid travels through the system..

 

problrms with power stearing ey just rip the sucker off and you wont have any more problems and you will like your car alot better without it

 

There is no vacuum stuff on the power steering pump. I just took mine off. The A/C compressor, if you have one, its directly under the power steering pump. No vacuum lines there either, but that pulley may be making noise too. If you look at the brake booster (that big black round thing that the brake master cylinder is sticking out of) you will see a vacuum line on that. It goes to the back of the lower intake manifold. I don't know if it will cause brake problems or not if it is leaking, but that is the only vacuum over there. The rest is on the motor itself. Check the bypass air control valve on the driver side of the throttle body. If its a turbo, then I don't know where your BACV is.