on my 99 ford taurus i took it to an auto parts store he tested my alt running great but he heard a noise and?

Question

tested my power steering pump it was making noise the fluid was black and smelled like it was burning he said i need a new power steering pump i heard this is a little complicated job for us to do how long do you think it will be for labor how many hours and .Does the pump go right away and does this sound right to you he tested wuth a hose to his ear and i heard strange noises

Answer 1

How exactly was it determined that your power steering pump is faulty? If you see the fluid discoloured from the bright red colour that it's supposed to be, that's normal. Consider this: your entire power steering system holds about one and a half liters of fluid. That's not a lot of fluid. Your car is 8 years old, so of course it's going to be discoloured slightly. At MOST, all you need is a power steering FLUSH, NOT a pump replacement, unless you don't mind spending at least a couple hundred dollars that you don't need to!!! If you are even thinking about trying to replace that part yourself, good luck trying to remove the pulley from the pump in order to access the three bolts behind the pulley, that hold the pump to the bracket. If it's whining a little bit, that's normal. If it's whining a little louder than what you think is normal, it may need a top up. I can tell you for certain that replacing the pump isn't going to achieve making it quieter. I'm going to ask you this again, if you are the one who sent me messages asking, DID YOU CHECK THE CAM SENSOR/SYNCHRONIZER? The reason they chirp or squeak, is because the shaft inside seizes up to the body of the synchronizer. If you don't believe me, just call up your local Ford dealer, and ask a Ford DRIVEABILITY technician if they are common to fail. I bet you he will smile when you ask. Just trying to save you some money and grief here.

Answer 2

It Is a Ford. I had a 98 taurus. I worked in a shop for quite some time and 90 percent of the ford power steering pumps will fail. The pump may not be replaced. First thing to do is take it to a garage that has a machine for flushing out the power steering system. It takes about 1 hour and may cost 50 to 100 dollars. small investment to test to see if it bad. they must be flushed ever 36k miles. if the noise doesnt go away, than the pump needs to be replaced.....i am guessing around $600 and about 5 hours total down time.

Answer 3

Replacing the PS pump on a Taurus is particularly ugly - its not so much the remove and replace as it is the bleeding afterwards. The last one my shop did took 7 hours in actual (not flat-rate) time!

However, just because your fluid is dirty does not mean you PS pump requires replacement. This is why you shouldn't have parts salesmen do the job of diagnostic technicians. You do get what you pay for (nothing).

Have the PS fluid flushed out and see if that makes a difference. I have a Windstar - fundamentally a big Taurus with practically the same parts - with the identical issues you describe. I had the PS fluid completely flushed out and noticed a very considerable improvement. The whine was gone and the fluid, 6 months later isn't nearly so dirty as before. It's a Ford so I don't expect it to ever be totally clean.

Answer 4

I have the same problem right now. I drive a 96 lincoln and my power steering pump is making an awful noise and I know I need a new one,but you might want to check the idler pully and the belt tensioner. Mine was making a grinding noise before my pump went out and my son said it was the idler pully and he was right,the bearings in it had gone out. So now that that I've had the idler pulley replaced,I'll get the pump replaced this weekend and that should fix my problems.

Answer 5

I had a 99 Taurus too. Had the same problem, the water pump impeller corrodes away and the pieces plug the heater core. You need to flush the heater core and replace the water pump all at once. I also had transmission problems with mine and work in transmission shop where we always have it least one in the shop needing a new tranny. They are very poor cars and the transmissions rarely last more then 120k miles before needing a complete rebuild that cost around $3000. Please take my advice and sell this lemon for what you can get and buy a reputable car. You should contact a few repair shops and ask them which models they would recommend. I would recommend a Crown Victoria.

Answer 6

Yes, this sounds legitimate. The pump may last a while or it could go right away. I would replace it pretty quickly. The ford dealer should be able to do this in a couple of hours.

Answer 7

If the fluid was black then you definetly need a new p/s pump..but must make sure to flush the whole system or next pump will fail as well. Bout 2.3 hours for pump..and another 1.2 to flush

Answer 8

On a ford taurus (what a nightmare) Im going to guess 4 hours for that power steering pump. But do yourself a favor and find a mechanic who knows how to properly diagnose a problem and tell them up front that if they want to go through the process of elimination on your car then tell them to do it on thier own time not yours. You would do well to get you a haynes auto repair manaul on your car from the auto parts store and go through the probable cause section concerning your situation. Thats 16$ well spent. I hope this helps its hard to diagnose through this medium but you can email me at [e-mail] if u want to ask me anything else.

Answer 9

I had the same problem.... I let my toddler play around with the transmission and she left a bunch of playdough in one of the gears. I used some Playdough remover I picked up at Walmart and that fixed the problem.