loud steering sound

[Jordan325iC]

I did my front suspension a few weeks ago. Havn't got my car alligned yet because I'm putting on new wheels in the next week or two.

Ever since, whenever I turn on the car and turn the steering wheel I heard a loud, low-pitched shriek coming from the front.

- It only happens when I turn the steering wheel, if I don't touch it there is no sound.

-It either isn't present at all or isn't noticable at anything but very low speeds.

-I'll check tommorow, but I don't ever remember hearing it once I had arrived and was navigating the parking lot at low speeds, making me believe it either goes away or gets much less severe once the car has warmed up.

-It's been pretty cold around here recently, but I'm pretty sure it's much less severe when it's warm out.

I'm certain it's something to do with the suspension. I had the steering rack replaced last year. I'll be jacking my car up this weekend to do the front brakes and put in SS brake lines, so what should I look for?

That bushing/bolt that holds the strut assembly to the control arm got pretty badly beaten during an epic struggle. The tie-rod bushing wasn't treated real well either. Would either of these cause this problem and how could I tell if they're needing replacement?

[Jand3rson]

Maybe check your power steering belt / fluid? Other than that, I can't really think of anything. Did you happen to tweak or damage anything related to the power steering system when doing the install? Sounds like a power steering issue to me.

[Jordan325iC]

I don't think I ever came in contact w/ the power steering. Maybe I indirectly messed it up, but I've never worked on the steering system so I'm not sure where it and the front suspension components meet. But that weekend... let's just say that many, many newtons of force were exerted and anything is possible.

What's the relationship between steering and front suspension? Would I have been dealing with something in direct contact with the power steering?

[fretburnr]

consider the upper strut mounts/bearings. my steering used to kinda groan, and it went away after replacing the mounts

[MarkH]

Check to make sure that your power steering lines are not touching the subframe or any other suspension parts. The power steering system is a noisy beast and will transmit this through the chassis of the car if it is touching anything. When I changed my leaking power steering lines, one of them was barely touching the subframe and it was very noisy when I made a turn.

[Digitalwave]

Make sure your power steering resevoir is full, and make sure the power steering belt (actually, all the belts) are tight.

Wheels don't alter your alignment, you should get it done right away.

[fannyj]

Hi

I just had mine sorted today, had nothing to do with the power steering belt, or fluid. It was the Alernator bracket, and since the power steering pump shares the same bracket it caused the pump to shift when i turned the wheel. Make sure the bolts are tightened. Mine broke cos there was a bolt loose and it evetually snapped the bracket cos of the load..

my 2cents!

[kowalski]

the pump could also be shot. it will whine when shot, especialy at low RPM's, or if you have thick fluid in there like PS fluid instead of the ATF