power steering

I have an 03 trailblazer with the L6. I am getting a whine when I turn my steering wheel. This morning I checked the power steering fluid and it was halfway or below between add & C. I have 28,500 miles on it. Is this unusual? Could there be a problem?

feb

Look underneath for leaks.

Yep, check the rubber bellows/boots at either end of the steering rack for signs of leakage. How'd the power steering fluid look/smell? R&P steering on a heavy vehicle really heats up the P-steering fluid. Get a dollar store turkey baster or a hand pump, suck out as much as u can, and refill with fresh fluid. I have to do this from time to time on my van to keep it quiet. Thing is- I'm not sure what p steering fluid our TB's use?!? My ford van used ATF. I know the TB's dont use ATF.

Joel

I just came back from talking to the service advisor at the chevy dealership. I have 3 months of warrenty left. My wife has the car so he did not hear the noise, but he told me not to put any fluid in it. They want to check it out first. Could be a bad pump. I will keep you updated. I did not smell it.

feb

I am very interested in what the dealer has to say about your power steering. Our '02 TB LTZ has around 60K and the pwr steering pump is whining at slow speeds when making slow turns. Seems kind of early for a PS pump to go out, doesn't it?

feb mine did the same thing last summer. Topped it off. didn't have any leaks till Nov...when if finially started leaking out the bellows. Pump was fine but needed a rack (40K) $700 later.

see my earlier post about replacing the steering rack in our '02. The symptoms you describe sound like my "discovery" - a low fluid level that seems to be fine once topped up, much later, a whine, and then a small puddle... the guy who rebuilt our rack said that he's seeing a lot of Envoy's and TB's with crapped out racks.

Get it taken care of before your warranty runs out because a GM rack is about C$1,600!

As part of the service interval GM reccommends that you flush the P/S every 25K miles......I have found that this is the key to keeping both my ford's steering quiet. I only have 16K on my 05' TB so mine is still quiet..The ford dealer charges $80 to flush the system, good luck on yours.

As part of the service interval GM reccommends that you flush the P/S every 25K miles......I have found that this is the key to keeping both my ford's steering quiet. I only have 16K on my 05' TB so mine is still quiet..The ford dealer charges $80 to flush the system, good luck on yours.
I don't see any such service recommended in the TB owner's manual, is this a dealership recommendation?

Yeah, I've never seen it spec'd as regular maintenance. I have seen TSB's for other vehicles that recommend a PS fluid swap for noisy pumps. This is very common nowadays with big heavy vehicles with R&P steering. Old school recirculating ball power steering systems didn't heat up the fluid as much as modern R&P systems do.

Joel

Yeah, I've never seen it spec'd as regular maintenance. I have seen TSB's for other vehicles that recommend a PS fluid swap for noisy pumps. This is very common nowadays with big heavy vehicles with R&P steering. Old school recirculating ball power steering systems didn't heat up the fluid as much as modern R&P systems do.

Joel
If its not regular maint will a ext. warranty cover it? I bought my TB w/ 40000 on it and i bought an ext. warranty till 76000 mi. or 12/07

I am going to bring my tb in this friday for them to check the power steering and the upsetting part about this is that the whine is gone. They told me not to fill the power steering with fluid until they check it out so we'll see.

feb

If its not regular maint will a ext. warranty cover it? I bought my TB w/ 40000 on it and i bought an ext. warranty till 76000 mi. or 12/07

I doubt they'd cover a p-steering fluid change for you, unless you spent a ton of money with them.:banghead: Your warranty would probably cover a bad pump or rack if they failed within the warranty period.

Joel

I brought my tb in friday for the power steering noise. Naturally, it was not whining anymore however there was a noise when turning the steering wheel at a standstill. This noise was coming from inside the steering gear. The repair ticket says excessive clearance. What they ended up doing is replacing the steering gear assembly.

Cool! hopefully it was covered under warranty for you.

Joel