ArmyofOne

there is a groan from under my hood no matter if the wheels are turned or not, BUT, it gets worse if i turn the wheels, especially while stopped or moving at speeds below ~8mph. there is no abnormal play or kick of the wheel, its smooth as it ever was, unlike with the old belt, which was slipping and making the wheel kick.

when the old belt was on, i put Belt Dressing on it every day for like 3 days in a row, is it possible that this dressing is still on the pulley now and with the new belt it will have to burn it off?


if i put dressing on the old belt it would shut up for about 5 minutes...i havent tried it on the new belt...i hope the pump isnt gone.

ArmyofOne

Autozone has them for $77 + a $34.00 core charge. does that sound right?

i was just told that the belt being too tight will cause the belt to groan like this...ok. the thing is, they guy that did it, said the 310 MM belt was too big, and he had to use the 300 MM. there is no such thing as a 305 MM. Napa had the part listed as a 10 MM. he had to stretch the belt onto the pulley...took almost 3 hrs...WTF???

the Napa part # is NBH25030310
the part # he used is NBH25030300. only reason is the 310 was wayy too big...help!


and thats why, the Item#: NBH25030300 is the one for the camry, and the one for the ES250 is NBH25030310...NOT the same belt!

RTIS250

iTrader: (9)

If it was too tight, and its groaning now, you've probably already eaten up the front bearing. It sounds like a bad pump to me.

ArmyofOne

it was groaning when i took it in there, and the belt was just sitting still while the pulley was turning, i had no power steering.

what is the front bearing??

it started groaning when it started raining really hard a few days ago, not the steering is flawless, no wheel kick like there used to be, im not getting any resistance at all in the steeriung, i woudl think there would be if the pump was bad though, right?

ArmyofOne

UPDATE:

the fluid was low. i took it back to the mechanic this morning, he said the main hard pressure line has a leak, nothing too bad, he has seen cars with alot worse, so i should just keep an eye on it.

the problem is that my power steering fluid is so old that its the same color as the oil that is leaking, i would have never guessed that it was leaking. they topped it off, and put a Lexus OEM belt on it and it shut right up after a few turns to the left and right. it was all free. i even got refunded the original $82.37 because the mechanic put the wrong belt on in the first place., and then proceeded to NOT check the fluid like he was supposed to. i got lucky, too much longer on low fluid and it would have burnt up. it is now no louder than it was before this hole fiasco.

gserep1

Hello there,
If your fluid is as dark as your engine oil, it is WAY overdue for a change. The book calls for Dexron to be added, but when I did mine, I used AMSOIL synthetic Universal Transmission fluid. I flushed out the old stuff by removing the left front wheel, and finding the rubber line connecting the pump with the power steering rack. I disconnected the line and moved the rack and pinion left and right numerous times until the old fluid came out.

I put the line back on, refilled the reservoir, moved the rack and pinion back and forth with the air automatically bled itself from the lines. Then I started the car and turned the wheel back and forth again.

I repeated this ritual 3 or 4 times until all the dirty fluid came out....CAUTION...Do NOT run the engine with an empty fluid reservoir, or the pump could be damaged.

Good luck!

ArmyofOne

well, it doesnt even look like ATF in there, and its not dark, its the same color as new Valvoline Max Life, a olive oil color. strange huh? i will have it flushed first chance i get, its easier for me to take it somewhere.


FYI, the groaning was coming from the INSANELY LARGE amount of air that was caught in the lines.

saber

The factory fill power steering fluid has the same brownish / amber color as slightly used motor oil. So the color is nothing to be worried about.

ArmyofOne

thats what i figured. i went back today. new problem, inner CV joints. will it never end?

$659 later i will have new ones, until then ill be cutting WAYYYYYY back on the miles im driving, no more driving the lex to the store or to work (i only work 2 miles away), il be riding a bike to work and walking to the store. for a few weeks. i only have $400 to put towards this, so it will have to wait a week. maybe 2. i have alot of expenses that come before the car.

they will replace the entire drive axle on both sides, inner and outer cv joints for $659 P&L.