Hi all, I'm having a little trouble with the power steering. When I drive and turn the steering wheel, I have no problem. However, if I'm at a full stop and turn the wheel to the major left or major right, I can feel the steering wheel vibrate and hear what seems to be sort of a grinding noise. What could be the problem?
Power steering vibrates when turning
- Thread starter fudge12
- Start date
joegr
Dedicated LVC Member
How about some more info first.
Year of LS?
V8 or V6?
Mileage?
How is the power steering fluid level?
What is the fluid condition? (What color is it and so on...)
Get someone to turn the wheel to cause the "grinding" noise while you are watching the fluid reservoir. See if there are any bubble in the reservoir when that happens.
(Note that the power steering reservoir is on the driver's side. Don't confuse it with the hydraulic fan reservoir if you have a gen I. Also note that if you need to add fluid, use only Mercon V ATF.)
Year of LS?
V8 or V6?
Mileage?
How is the power steering fluid level?
What is the fluid condition? (What color is it and so on...)
Get someone to turn the wheel to cause the "grinding" noise while you are watching the fluid reservoir. See if there are any bubble in the reservoir when that happens.
(Note that the power steering reservoir is on the driver's side. Don't confuse it with the hydraulic fan reservoir if you have a gen I. Also note that if you need to add fluid, use only Mercon V ATF.)
I have the 2000 version, Gen I. I do notice that the power steering reservoir bubbles even when the steering wheel isn't being turned. I'm not too sure if it's just circulation or if it's bubbling. I have the v6, current mileage is 123,880 on the clock. Fluid level is a little above the max line.
joegr
Dedicated LVC Member
It sounds like you may have either a clogged filter screen at the bottom of the reservoir where it attached to the pump suction line, or a small air leak somewhere on the suction side of the system (pump or hose). There should never be air bubbles in the reservoir (or anywhere else in the system).
joegr
Dedicated LVC Member
Yes, how else could it work?
oddball
Dedicated LVC Member
He may be thinking of the old GM setups where the reservoir was just a fill point, and the return went straight back to the pump, hence you never saw the fluid circulating.
In the LS's system, like the vast majority of systems in the past couple of decades, the return goes to the reservoir. So you can see it circulate through the bottle, typically at a pretty high flow rate.