Power steering pump bad?

[phillys14]

2008 Impreza 2.5, power steering pump has been squealing briefly upon starting, but quickly goes away.  Now the fluid level appears to be dropping a little, so assume a leak and the pump is bad.  Guessing this is pretty straight forward.  Just want to confirm the pump is bad and likely nothing else or anyhting else I should be looking at as well?  Just don't want to replace the pump and find out the problem isn't fixed because I neglected to check something else.  Thanks.

[Mike104]

Replace the suction hose and the O-ring under the pump on the nipple first.  Use new hose clamps too.  Try that first

[phillys14]

Thanks for the reply.  Forgot to mention the fluid appears to leaking around the reservoir, that's where I'm finding fluid.  No where around the pump.  Also, if there was just a leak around the reservoir, as long as fluid level was maintained, there shouldn't be a squeal upon start up should there?  The belt is good and properly tensioned.  My thought would be pump failure if the sound was there on cold start up.

[1 Lucky Texan]

when it squeals (idle it w/hood open, if needed, get a helper to turn the wheel) look in the reservoir for foam/bubbles. The only way that air gets in there is the suction side as mentioned above (quite common to have a bad o-ring) or a bad pump.

There's a little investigation going on another forum as to whether debris on the screen inside the reservoir might lead to cavitation. No clear evidence yet.

 

start with mike's suggestion first. If it is determined you need a pump, used is a great option.

[lmdew]

I had changed the radiator in my 06 Forester and then the pump started making noise.  Bubbles in the fluid.  Some quality hose clamps on the hose at both ends solved the problem.  Love those German rolled edge hose clamps.  I use to pick them up in the UPAP yards as I went by BMW and others.

[1 Lucky Texan]

on both my cars, o-rings fixed the problem.

don't over-torque the bolt on the elbow adapter , it can break - ask me how I know.

[phillys14]

What O ring?  I can't find it on the parts diagram.  I'll replace the hose and clamps.  I cleaned everything and found new fluid around the suction hose on the reservior, the hose return going into the reservoir, but also some on the back side of the pump.

[el_freddo]

When my pump let go there was zero warning. It collapsed anbearing or something nasty. Spewed oil everywhere. Had to drive without the belt on which meant no alternator. 

That was a fun trip off the mountain from one of our snow resorts in pursuit of the crank/alt only belt. Only just made it with the dual battery hooked in to keep me going. The batteries were at 8v at the parts store. Ecu wasn’t having much fun. 

It’s always handy to carry that smaller belt to eliminate the PS pump from the equation if needed. 

I hope yours is an easy fix. 

Cheers 

Bennie

Edited April 15, 2019 by el_freddo

[1 Lucky Texan]

5 hours ago, phillys14 said:

What O ring?  I can't find it on the parts diagram.  I'll replace the hose and clamps.  I cleaned everything and found new fluid around the suction hose on the reservior, the hose return going into the reservoir, but also some on the back side of the pump.

 

The suction hose at the pump end is clamped onto an elbow type of fitting. The fitting is held into the top of the pump by a bolt. There are 1 or 2 o-rings inside there(depending on model). they become stiff/less compliant with age and let air into the sytem causing whining and sometimes jerky or hard steering.