Intermittent Steering Noise

[Gardd]

The power steering pump on my '99 Taurus SE Wagon (Duratec) was beginning to fail a couple of weeks ago (very noisy all of a sudden, with minor leakage) and when I brought the car to the garage, they also found that the steering rack was starting to leak. Oh yay.

I had the PS pump and the steering rack replaced; everything seems fine and dandy except for kind of a very low hum or rumble that happens once in a while when making right turns. Never happens at all during left turns. The sound seems to be coming from under the front of the car, which makes me think it's the new rack. Prior to the recent repair work, I'd never even heard a sound like this coming from the car before.

Any ideas before I take it back in for a look-see?

Thanks!

[GPFred]

Ford is famous for its noisy power steering pump, could be that is popping up. The rumble would concern me though, maybe the steering rack. Did they flush the power steering system before installing the new pump and rack? Definitely take it back for a look see.

[shorod]

Could it be possible that the noisy pump was masking the sound of a bad wheel bearing before, and now that the pump is quiet, you are hearing the bad wheel bearing?

Not actually being able to hear the noise in person, what you are describing could be consistent with a sound caused by a bad wheel bearing. As you turn right, you are putting an increased lateral load on the bearings (particularly the left wheel bearing).

-Rod

[Gardd]

Thanks for your replies!

The new PS pump is almost dead quiet -- it's aftermarket, not a Ford part. Very nice! Such a nice change from the original whining & groaning Ford piece. With the new pump and rack, the steering feels just great -- smooth, light, with no play.

When the PS pump started to fail, I had the rest of the front end checked at the same time; I'd like to think they would have noticed a bearing problem but you never know.

I'm pretty sure they flushed the whole system because they had everything totally disassembled. Huge dirty job it was, and it took a whole day.

Anyway, I'll definitely put these things on my list of things to ask them.

The good news is that it hasn't made the sound since last weekend. Last time I heard it though, it occured to me that it sounded like it could be a valve somewhere "singing" if you know what I mean.

I'll try to get it back to the garage (not Ford, it's a good local shop) this weekend... will post again if they find anything.