Originally Posted by dommmmyg

Thanks for all the responses, guys! I finally had some time to dig into it a bit more yesterday.

I 'bled' the system again, checked the fluid for any foam, and verified the level was ok without any improvement to the noise.

But to be honest, after some thinking I don't believe the issue is the PS pump after-all. I theorized it was pump because the groaning noise is highly influenced by the steering but after putting my ear around the engine bay, the groan is loudest on the underside of the vehicle. I noticed the frequency of the sound is also influenced by the gear position, which leads me to believe it's a transmission issue. I've seen others conflate the two in the past and I believe I did the same.

Anyway, I did a full flush of the transmission 6k miles ago and ensured the fluid level was correct.. I guess it's time to dig into a manual swap.