Loud power steering pump

This has probably been asked before, but I have an 86 e30 325e that has a very loud power steering pump when the car is cold. Once it is warmed up and driven 10-15 miles, it quiets down. But initially it is very loud and is only quiet if you are going straight down the road. It seems to work okay, just sounds like it is straining when ever you make a turn. Is this the pump or do I need a new rack? Mileage is 168,000 so these parts are probably the original components.

this may sound stupid, but did u check the level of the power steering? my old cadi had the problem when it was low. fill er up with ATF. . .

No, not stupid at all. First thing I checked and it is full of ATF. The pump is quite loud like it is straining at full lock, even when you barely turn the wheel.

I'm having the same exact problem with my BMW e36 328i.
I'll appreciate if you'll post back the probelm cuase when you have it.
Thnx

I'll let you know what I find. I have the car apart as we are painting it but will have it back on the road probably in February. One thing I was going to try before replacing any parts is to completely drain all the fluid and replace with new ATF. Someone on another board suggested I try this as when the fluid gets old, it can have air in it and this generates the noise as the fluid bubbles in the lines and pump. Makes some sense and is a cheap fix if it works. Have you replaced your PS fluid on your car? When we bought the car, we did the oil, ATF for the automatic and replaced the coolant but did not touch the PS system.

Dherr, look into power steering pump while running, if you see a lot of air bubbles, then one of your power steering hoses or connections is leeking air into the system. there is no drain for p/s pumps. you could drain by disconnecting the return line and let it run out, but that is not going to solve the problem. Hope this helps some. Later Mark

I bought a thing to suck the fluid up with (like a syringe kinda) to replace mine, of course I couldn't get all of it but I got most, after I refilled it, it was a lot quieter.