Power steering whine while turning and radio on

Joined
Apr 11, 2004
Messages
4,005
Location
los angeles
If I listen to AM radio, I sometimes can hear the "whine" of the power steering on the AM radio. It's very low. I'll turn the steering to the Left and then to the Right, and I can hear it. '11 Kia Optima.Bad ground?
 
Electric power steering, yes? Maybe an electronic component in the EPS system sending out signal, or just extra load on the alternator and a filtering capacitor somewhere degrading, Possibilities abound. By the time my chevy truck was the age of your car the the AM radio had turned into an audible tachometer from the alternator whine.
 
Just curious, how did you isolate and determine the source is the PS pump as opposed to another source
don't know what else it could be. As far as the alt, it's still spinning while I turn wheel. i don;t see how that would react to PS. But it could still be
 
EPS is relatively new, and I’m not sure automakers pay much attention to AM radio anymore. Whine comes in either through power (needs filtering) or via the antenna, which means the source needs some kind of shielding or other trick. You could experiment by installing a power conditioner in front of the radio and/or perhaps adding supplemental grounds between the rack, the battery and the alternator. i would not enhance grounding between the rack and the chassis on the first attempt, I’d play with that after the others first.
 
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