P/S Pump Troubleshooting

[The Critic]

2011 Civic 1.8, 111K.

Background: P/S pump was noisy - there was an audible whine at idle and during acceleration. The pump was also seeping.

I have tried the following:

- Replaced the fluid. Did 4 drain and refills of the reservoir using Honda PSF. There was only minimal improvement.

- Disassembled the pump and performed a full reseal. All internal seals were replaced plus the inlet joint o-ring and feed hose o-ring. The whine is now 75% quieter but I can still hear it under certain conditions.

During the reseal I found the side plate seal and the two smaller pump cover o-rings to be dried out and brittle. The bearing on the driveshaft had no play but had a slight amount of noise when spun. I would not expect this bearing noise to translate into an intermittent whine though.

So, I am puzzled why there is still noise from the pump. Any ideas?

 

[dishdude]

Probably that bearing. By hand you weren't spinning it nearly as fast as the engine does and with the resistance of the fluid.

 

[Lubener]

Replace the pump. Myself, I wouldn't waste time on servicing an old PS pump.

 

[doublebase]

Replace the pump. Myself, I wouldn't waste time on servicing an old PS pump.

I agree, and hats off to the guy for taking it apart and trying to rebuild it, but a “new” pump isn’t that much money and it’ll come with some sort of warranty.

 

[Trav]

The pump for that car is around $450 for a OE reman and $500 for new. I would replace the bearing(s) and check the pump vanes, I don't think the vanes are available for it though. You did all the work already so it wont be a big deal to swap the bearings, if they make noise turning by hand they will for sure make more noise running as the dishdude noted.

 

[fozzdesy2001]

I had a similar problem and turned out to be the hoses. I replaced all of them along with a pump. The pump was used but no more whine.

 

[JTK]

I had a similar problem and turned out to be the hoses. I replaced all of them along with a pump. The pump was used but no more whine.

Similar experience with our 2007 Honda Odyssey. Probably not related, just throwing it out there. IIRC, the suction hose to the pump was collapsing, starving the pump, causing noise and loss of PS during heavy demand for fluid flow. Hoses looked perfect to me. It was a recall at the time. Honda dealer replaced PSF reservoir and hose I believe.

 

[2010Civic]

I'd see if you can find a low mile used pump. For stuff like that I'd take a good used oem unit over aftermarket.

 

[JC1]

Did you try to use a fluid extractor on the hoses as well? You only mentioned refilling the reservoir 4 times.

Any time I've changed fluid I've run the fluid extractor hose all the way down the hoses and sucked out whatever was in the hoses. Maybe some gunk is in the lower parts of the hose as well. Just my 2 cents.

 

[JeffKeryk]

I replaced the ps pump in wifey's 06 TSX with a new $70 Amazon unit. I planned to keep the rebuilt and have it rebuilt.
There is a good rebuilder in San Jose by the Fairgrounds...
As I recall, the pump was leaking but not making noise...
That was Jan 2019. I have serviced the system using the MityVac via the return line.
When it sucked air, I added fresh fluid to the reservoir and let the MityVac pull it through.

 

[The Critic]

Upon further inspection, the noise seems to be loudest from the front-facing portion of the engine, so I don't think the p/s pump is the culprit. The noise is either coming from the a/c compressor or the alternator. I removed the belt and found the a/c compressor pulley bearing to have some play. Here is a video:


The alternator tested fine and when spun by hand, it appears to be quiet. All other pulleys have no play and are quiet.

Apparently, Honda made 2011 Civics without A/C. My plan is to order a drive belt for a no-A/C vehicle, install it, and road test the car under a variety of conditions to duplicate the noise. If the noise is no longer duplicated, then it needs an A/C compressor. If not, then we can diagnose further.

I agree, and hats off to the guy for taking it apart and trying to rebuild it, but a “new” pump isn’t that much money and it’ll come with some sort of warranty.

Not sure if I trust those rebuilds, but from a value standpoint, it probably makes more sense for most situations. A seal kit was only $20. It only takes about 30 min to rebuild one.

The pump for that car is around $450 for a OE reman and $500 for new. I would replace the bearing(s) and check the pump vanes, I don't think the vanes are available for it though. You did all the work already so it wont be a big deal to swap the bearings, if they make noise turning by hand they will for sure make more noise running as the dishdude noted.

Go forward, I think I will also replace the bearing when doing a p/s pump rebuild. I found a way to do it efficiently. The vanes were fine on this pump.

Similar experience with our 2007 Honda Odyssey. Probably not related, just throwing it out there. IIRC, the suction hose to the pump was collapsing, starving the pump, causing noise and loss of PS during heavy demand for fluid flow. Hoses looked perfect to me. It was a recall at the time. Honda dealer replaced PSF reservoir and hose I believe.

I checked the hoses and reservoir. Reservoir is clean and hoses are not collapsing.

Did you try to use a fluid extractor on the hoses as well? You only mentioned refilling the reservoir 4 times.

Any time I've changed fluid I've run the fluid extractor hose all the way down the hoses and sucked out whatever was in the hoses. Maybe some gunk is in the lower parts of the hose as well. Just my 2 cents.

Timeline:

- Last year - 3 or 4 reservoir drain and refills. used 3 bottles of fluid.
- When pump was replaced, a full 12 oz bottle of new fluid was used.
- After pump was replaced, I did another 4 reservoir drain and refills, and used 3 additional bottles of fluid. Total system capacity is .85 qt.

 

[The Critic]

Upon further inspection, the whining noise is from the alternator, not the p/s pump.

For some unknown reason, the p/s pump developed a moderate leak from the shaft seal after 3k. Due to time and several other factors, I went ahead and replaced the pump with a reman Maval P/S pump. Or at least I thought I did. Upon opening the box for the reman Maval pump, I saw a "96359MN" part number inside. So, this is actually a new pump that was being sold for the cost of a reman.

 

[JeffKeryk]

@The Critic Score!

 

[The Critic]

@The Critic Score!

Not.

 

[nicholas]

2011 Civic 1.8, 111K.

Background: P/S pump was noisy - there was an audible whine at idle and during acceleration. The pump was also seeping.

I have tried the following:

- Replaced the fluid. Did 4 drain and refills of the reservoir using Honda PSF. There was only minimal improvement.

- Disassembled the pump and performed a full reseal. All internal seals were replaced plus the inlet joint o-ring and feed hose o-ring. The whine is now 75% quieter but I can still hear it under certain conditions.

During the reseal I found the side plate seal and the two smaller pump cover o-rings to be dried out and brittle. The bearing on the driveshaft had no play but had a slight amount of noise when spun. I would not expect this bearing noise to translate into an intermittent whine though.

So, I am puzzled why there is still noise from the pump. Any ideas?

Try 1-2oz of lubegard red in your system.
I use it in our odyssey.
Called lubegard to confirm that red is ok to use.
Quiet as a mouse.
Also check our reservoir, your screen might be blocked a bit.
A new reservoir is quite cheap and easy to replace.