Please read thru first as it gets complex. A local guy replaced the power steering pump a few months ago because of a squealing belt. He bled the system and refilled it and it worked OK. The squealing persisted so he tightened the alternator belt (very tight) and that fixed the squealing.
A couple weeks ago the KIA started making a whining sound on acceleration, but I couldn't tell where it was coming from. Now when the accelerator is pressed the PS pump whines/grinds and vibrates, and the inlet tube gets sucked flat, possibly due to a clogged filter in the reservoir. He did not replace/clean the filter/reservoir. Also, prior to all this, someone had replaced the standard belt with one directly from the drive pulley to the pump pulley, too short to reach the idler, but it is very tight . Don't know if this was a shortcut due to a bad idler bearing.
Last night with the correct PS belt in hand, I cut the short belt off (to save time) and the whining/grinding stopped.
I am going to get a new PS pump along with a new reservoir, and am going to wait for them before bothering to drain/refill the system.
So now some questions as I am going to do the work:
Do I have to worry about something in the rack and pinion system producing more particles?
I would like to replace the idler bearing regardless, what components would I need to buy? Just a new idler pulley?
The guy claims turning the steering wheel rack to rack a few times will bleed air out of the system after refilling, do I need to vacuum it out or will that work?
What fluid should I use?
I am also thinking about replacing the alternator because the weather here gets life threatening in winter, -40 wind chill, back gravel roads, whiteout blizzards etc. and the commute is almost mandatory (hospital work).
A couple weeks ago the KIA started making a whining sound on acceleration, but I couldn't tell where it was coming from. Now when the accelerator is pressed the PS pump whines/grinds and vibrates, and the inlet tube gets sucked flat, possibly due to a clogged filter in the reservoir. He did not replace/clean the filter/reservoir. Also, prior to all this, someone had replaced the standard belt with one directly from the drive pulley to the pump pulley, too short to reach the idler, but it is very tight . Don't know if this was a shortcut due to a bad idler bearing.
Last night with the correct PS belt in hand, I cut the short belt off (to save time) and the whining/grinding stopped.
I am going to get a new PS pump along with a new reservoir, and am going to wait for them before bothering to drain/refill the system.
So now some questions as I am going to do the work:
Do I have to worry about something in the rack and pinion system producing more particles?
I would like to replace the idler bearing regardless, what components would I need to buy? Just a new idler pulley?
The guy claims turning the steering wheel rack to rack a few times will bleed air out of the system after refilling, do I need to vacuum it out or will that work?
What fluid should I use?
I am also thinking about replacing the alternator because the weather here gets life threatening in winter, -40 wind chill, back gravel roads, whiteout blizzards etc. and the commute is almost mandatory (hospital work).
