*WILDSTYLE 5.3*

iTrader: (1)

I have a 2001 Trans AM with 45,XXX miles on her and two days ago I started hearing a humming nose everytime I would turn the wheel. I checked the PS fluid and sure enough it needed some. Topped it off and with in a few miles no more noise and wheels turned better actually... (go figure) Lol anyways...Well yesterday as soon as I left the house that noise came back and I only did maybe 4 miles of driving and when I got home the wheels would not even turn I had to fight the wheel. So i check the PS fluid and its DRY. WTF!!! Any ideas what it might be? Hope its not to expensive to fix. Does it seem when something goes wrong not just the **** but EVERYTHING hits the fan?? Or does that only happen to me?

Thanks Guys

Sunset01TA

iTrader: (7)

Do you have the power steering cooler option?
They are prone to leak into the coolant.
Check your reservoir for a milky substance.

If it is not leaking anywhere I would check this.

97ramsst

iTrader: (162)

MOST OF THE TIME...its the other way around. The coolant enters the PS system and riuns it because the cooler is on the low pressure side and the radiator operates at more pressure than it does, thus forcing collant into it. BUT if your loosing that much fluid and its not visible that its leaking somewhere then thats where its going.

My thought would be that its getting water in it, boiling, and then coming out the top of the resv. Any evidence of that?

*WILDSTYLE 5.3*

iTrader: (1)

Yeah I forgot to mention it was leaking fluid.. dont know where exactly but i did see a trail leading to where I parked..

EchoMirage

iTrader: (3)

the PS pump is a weak spot in LS1s. the rear and PS pumps are about the only bad things for us. if you ever autox or road race, the pump will go even sooner. buy a turn one pump, and youll never have the problem again.

CETAWS6

iTrader: (2)

It sounds like your p/s cooler got bad. As you may know, it's a 10 inch pipe that have coolant flows in it to cool your p/s fluid. You may have an internal leak in that pipe which cause the coolant to mix with p/s fluid. That may explain the milky looking fluid that others in this post said. It will overfill and get hot which builds pressure and it's pushing out of your p/s pump thru the top. That's why it gets dry and empty and you feel like you lifting weights trying to steer. I had the same problem. I got a new p/s cooling pipe. That solved my problems. Now, obviously you have to flush out your p/s system to add new fluids. Since my coolant and p/s fluid were mixing, I also flushed my radiator to eliminate any further contamination if any.

2002redhawk

I just had to replace my powersteering pump. .and i noticed that when i put the new pump on...i started it up and it made a horrible noise. Buddy said i just had to get the air out of the lines. The color of it was milky tho. He said that was common *hes a gm mechanic. how do i tell if i have a ps cooling unit in my ta?

CETAWS6

iTrader: (2)

It's a 10 inch pipe that is located behind the radiator on the driver side. It's below your ram air box off on the driver side. It looks like a pipe. You probably didn't need a new powersteering pump but it's good that you did. I almost done it til I realized the coolant and p/s fluid was mixing. That's what causing the milky colorness. That's caused by internal leak within the p/s cooling unit. Is it harder to turn your steering wheel?

2002redhawk

my new pump just went out today. I had it on one freaking day. Its shot! Wtf. And its leaking massivly on the left side of the pump. I cant tell if its coming form the pump or the resivor itself. No matter how much fluid is in it i dont have powersteering. Whats the chance i just got a faulty pump?? ugh. what should i do?

CETAWS6

iTrader: (2)

Maybe it's a faulty pump. I'm not sure. Just get u another one. As long as u got ur receipt and im certain the pump has a warranty on it. Also, u should get another p/s cooler while u at it. Without that cooler, u gonna have the same problem again. When u return the pump, just say it fucked up on u or it's a defect. Something along those lines.

2002redhawk

They kept the recipet beacuse i had to return a pulley puller along with the core. SO basically i have no proof of getting it there. Even tho there records should show it. I'm still confused as to this ps cooler. I do see a pipe coming off the right side of the powersteering res. that leads to a line of the radiator. Is this what your calling hte "cooler".... I dont see how this doesnt continually pump antifreeze into the pump.

CETAWS6

iTrader: (2)

On the pipe, one side says "ENGINE" and other side says "RADIATOR". It's hard for me to explain how it looks on the inside without pics. If u take the cooler off and look inside it, u can see where the antifreeze flows and where the p/s fluids flows. The antifreeze is used to keep the p/s fluids cool. I'm no mechanic or anything like that. I've done some research because I ran into this problem with my powersteering. Fluids were mixing together and running hot. I flushed it 3 times and it was still doing it. I thought my pump was going out cause it was getting hot. When I learned about the p/s cooler and what it does, I suspected that may be the source to my problem. I took my car to a pontiac dealership and I told them to look at my p/s cooler and p/s pump. They said my pump was fine but the cooler had a internal leak which caused the antifreeze and p/s fluids to mix and make that milky color. I went out and bought that cooler myself and flushed the radiator and p/s. My p/s been fine ever since.

2002redhawk

Good call man ....i noticed my pump even smoked it was so hot. . Im gonna take my pump back to autozone get a new one. Did you have a bad leak from your pump/resivor? i'm gonna put another pump in and hopefully get a new resivor and ps cooler. And i'll go from there.

CETAWS6

iTrader: (2)

Well I really wouldn't say leak about the pump/reservior. What happened to me was the fluids got hot and plus the mixing caused lots of built up pressure so it's pushing the fluids out thru the top. It might be a good idea to replace all the components that u just mentioned. But you gonna need that ps cooler if yours is faulty. Hope it works out.

2002redhawk

Went to 2 gm/pontiac dealerships showed them what i needed and they said thats not a ps cooler. And they dont make them anymore and could't order them. And then tried to tell me the resivor doesnt come without the pump and wanted 210 bucks for a resi/pump combo. What ****. I'm so mad. I told them im pretty sure its a powersteering pump cooler and they basically laughed at me and told me it didnt have one. So i asked them what the purpose was having the pump lined up to the coolant hose and they said it was a vacuum...wtf. These people are quacks!

CETAWS6

iTrader: (2)

Ur right...they are ****. As of 2002 all V8 models, power steering cooler became standard equipment. They are so full of ****. I ordered the p/s cooler from a chevy dealership so they still make them. U should of laughed at them for being so stupid and pimp slap them too. A vacuum yeah ok. Anyway I paid 184 for the cooler. U want me to get the part number for u so u can order it?

EchoMirage

iTrader: (3)

trust me....from someone who races, get a turn one pump, and youll never have to worry about it again. dont bother with stock pumps, or adding stock coolers. at the least, get an aftermarket air-to-liquid cooler. works like a radiator.

*WILDSTYLE 5.3*

iTrader: (1)

Where did you get these parts from?

2002redhawk

yea i finally found a dealership that could order it. . . 184 is pricey, i found one for 20 used. Im just gonna hope it works out. Guys giving me a 6month warrenty on it so that works. My powerstearing pump has a lifetime warrenty on it from advance auto . I just keep running into problems tho. The pulley puller stripped the lining around the pulley...so idk what to do now.

EchoMirage

iTrader: (3)

http://www.turnone-steering.com/ls1.html