Power steering(?) whine only on startup

[JH225]

I was noticing some whining from the engine on my 08 v6 that happened all the time. Warm, cold, hot - all the time. I couldn’t pinpoint if it was linked to turning the wheel or to RPM change. Just a constant, ever-present whine. Not very loud, but noticeable if you’re paying attention.

I’ve only owned this car for 6 months so I didn’t really know what was old and new so I started with the east stuff.

1) replaced idler pulleys, tensioner pulley, and the belt. No noticeable change in noise, and the old bearings didn’t feel too bad

2) PS fluid flush. Used valvoline Max life. The old fluid didn’t look half bad and it wasn’t low on fluid. I flushed a ton of fluid through (almost a whole gallon) to be totally sure I got the old fluid out. Spent a lot of time with the wheels in the air going lock to lock (40-50 times).

That brings us to now. It’s been maybe a month and the power steering feels the same is it did before the flush, but I don’t think I was having problems before.

The noise still occurs, but instead of all the time, now it is ONLY at startup (cold). Once warm, no whine. I want to say that this startup whine is louder than the constant whine from before, but that’s just a guess and I have no way to prove it.


Any thoughts? I’m not super concerned about it, but I am curious what could be causing it. It’s interesting to me that it goes away when warm.


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[Syr4RinNC]

My guess is the power steering fluid pump. Usually whine us either air in the line or the pump, I believe. If you’re not leaking and did a flush recently, my guess is the pump.

Mines had a whine for about a 40k, mines all the time though

 

[Shiftless Joe]

Went through the same process, turned out to be a bad bearing in the alternator in my case.

 

[JH225]

Went through the same process, turned out to be a bad bearing in the alternator in my case.

That’s what I’m wondering if it is. That would make sense with it only making noise while cold. Once the bearing warms up it shuts up.

Did you replace the entire alternator or just the bearing/pulley?


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[AuSeeker]

That’s what I’m wondering if it is. That would make sense with it only making noise while cold. Once the bearing warms up it shuts up.

Did you replace the entire alternator or just the bearing/pulley?


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Get a mechanic's stethoscope for about $10 at most any autoparts store and pinpoint where the whine is coming from, if it's the alternator simply placing the stethoscope probe on the alternator will tell you if that's where the issue is.

 

[allcaps55]

This same thing happened to me. Changed power steering lines, flushed with Valvoline max life as well and same whine that you mentioned during cold start that goes away within a couple minutes. I’m starting to think it might be the fluid.

 

[firebirdguy]

This same thing happened to me. Changed power steering lines, flushed with Valvoline max life as well and same whine that you mentioned during cold start that goes away within a couple minutes. I’m starting to think it might be the fluid.

did it make the noise before you replaced the lines & fluid or only after? if it was there before changing the fluid, its probably not fluid related.

 

[chili]

I believe I have the same whine, after first replacing the PS pump, then all the pulleys & tensioner. It's generally so loud in the front of that engine bay that even a mechanics stethoscope didn't help pinpoint it. At this point I believe it's the bearing in the alternator-- also interested to hear if folks who have encountered this have replaced the whole unit or just the bearing.

 

[allcaps55]

did it make the noise before you replaced the lines & fluid or only after? if it was there before changing the fluid, its probably not fluid related.

It was not there before replacing the fluid and I replaced the alternator about a month before with a new Denso unit so not concerned about it being that bearing.