Power steering pump groaning after rack swap

[finnmole]

The rack was from the wrecker, from a 98 with less than 100K km, should of been OK, certainly not leaking.
I have to think it's probably the rack, which would be really bad. I could put the old one back in temporarily (just with the power steering hoses) but the noise is only there under load so I would have to take everything apart again.
May have to replace the pump first, though that doesn't make sense as it was fine with the old rack.

I thought I was onto something; the suction line banjo connection to the pump...the bolt has three holes that line up with the opening in the banjo. I scored the bolt with marks as to where the three holes are and it turned out
the banjo hole didn't line up with any of the holes in the bolt. I adjusted the hose and added a crush washer to make it line up.
No change with the noise :(

[twright]

Is it possible that one of your hoses is collapsed internally? One that looks OK from the outside but not OK from the inside?

[finnmole]

The hoses are are all new, I bought the Chase Bays power steering kit...so new everything.
I'm thinking now that the new fluid into the pump somehow destroyed it and should source a new pump.
Maybe the one from Rock Auto or then one from a wrecker...don't really know what would be best

[ZEKTI]

I’ve had hit/miss luck with Rackdoctor racks but they’ve been mentioned on the forums for many years so they do work. Try a local shop to assemble a used one with a rebuild kit if possible. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[finnmole]

I get the whining/groaning noise with the wheel turned slightly (holding the wheel steady), goes up an down with the revs...couldn't really be the rack could it?
I also get the screech at lock that i didn't have before the swap.

Maybe it is air in the system.
I keep seeing videos of people using a vacuum pump at the reservoir and they can pump up pressure that should hold steady for many minutes.
When I try that...the pressure never builds up no matter how long i pump it up.
IOW, there's air coming into the system from somewhere...no drips on the floor though.

[finnmole]

I went through the lock to lock on the ground again for a long time...the screech at locks is better...the groaning noise is not.
No difference at all.
It definitely goes up with the revs...must be the pump

I am still not able to pull pressure at the reservoir though...so does that mean there's an air leak...I don't know

[gtdragon980]

Not really related to the original question of this thread, but would you be willing to post a picture of the Chase Bays reservoir and lines installed in your car? I recently bought this kit and am having a hard time getting the lines to line up with the rack and pump and cannot find anything online with a write-up or pictures of it installed in an e30.

[finnmole]

Here are the photos...but please check my work as I'm having issues. Please let me know how yours turned out

[finnmole]

The rest of the photos

[finnmole]

I'm still not convinced I have a bad pump.

What I can now confirm;
If I do a lock to lock, wheels off the ground, cap open, engine off: cavitation occurs and the fluid bubbles and starts to spill out
turn on the engine and the fluid gets sucked to the pump and eventually can get rid of the air.

So, I'm obviously drawing in serious air when turning the wheels without the engine on...this should tell me what's wrong as surely this is not normal.
lets say your car dies and you need to steer it to the side of the road...surely your power steering fluid shouldn't spill out of the reservoir.

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!

[bmwman91]

I have never seen the fluid level change that dramatically when operating the steering. It sounds to me like something is either reversed, or completely clogged up. Since the threads on the pump and rack are all deliberately different, I assume that nothing could be mixed up there. So, either a hose is somehow not flowing fluid, or the rack's internal hydraulic pathways are full of crap.

In my experience, the PS pump only makes the groaning noise when it is either pushing air, or when the fluid is horribly contaminated.

[finnmole]

It is actually possible to reverse the hoses at the rack with Chase Bays kit.
The two sizes are different however the way it works is; you thread in short adapters into the rack (the two different sizes) then you add the hoses to those adapters but these hoses have the same size threads.
I have the high pressure on the high side...should be correct. There's a video on line of someone reversing these two and it caused the wheel to turn violently when turning...so easy to tell if that's mixed up.

I have to find where the air is entering the system.
Hopefully today will be the day

[eternal24k]

What fluid are you using? I had a groan with some cheap ATF that I thought was my pump, rebuilt it, no change, drained the fluid and put in Redline ATF and haven’t heard it since

[finnmole]

Used cheap ATF, thought it's better than something synthetic...maybe I should try redline
The pump was fine with the old sludge that came out of it.
I'm willing to give that a try for sure, thanks.

I went over everything again today. I still don't know why I get air sucked in when going lock to lock with the engine off (tons of bubbles and easily over flows)
It all clears up after i turn on the engine and go lock to lock a couple of times...maybe that's normal with this type of system...

[finnmole]

Did a complete flush using my old reservoir as the feed...trying Redline ATF.
I might be imagining it but it seems a little quieter.
Think it's time to let it be for a time and see what happens.