Whining Noise

[LS400 nut]

My 1992 LS400 has been fine until yesterday - When I started it (from cold) I could hear a dreadfull whining noise coming from the engine, when I turned the steering wheel it got worse. When driving in a straight line it's not too bad, but when you go round a corner it's awful, you can feel a vibration through the whole of the car (especially the wheel and break pedal)

My first thought, was to check all the fluids - which are fine. I tracked the noise down to where the power steering fluid goes (around there somewhere) - but could find no obvious fault.

After a visit to my local Lexus dealer (Who scared me away with the price they wanted just to look at it !!) I looked through a few posts on here, and it looks like I am not the only one who has this problem - Does anybody else suffer ? or know whats needed to fit the problem.

My best guess (and I am not mechanically minded at all) is that the power steering pump (if it has one) is on it's way out ? but I would really like some more opions before I fork out some hard earned cash.

Oh yes, as the car warms up (20+ miles) the noise almost disappears - but soon comes back when cold.

Cheers !

[obergc]

I am not an experienced Lexus owner, I just purchased a used 99K mile 93 LS400 and I found that the previous owner had replaced the power steering pump (yes it has a pump) and the alternator. Are you sure the power steering fluid resevoir is full, the noise you describe is typical of a power steering pump that is pumping a lot of air. If you change a power steering hose you get air in the system and the pump will squall like a banshee until you get the air bled out. It appears that the power steering pump may be a common problem with this vintage car.

Curt

[LS400 nut]

Thanks for this Curt - It's funny, about a week before I had this problem I had just had the timing belts changed - Didn't think they would remove any hoses on the power steering to do this, but they did.

I took the car back and told em there was Air in the system ( I tried to sound as though I knew what I was talking about) Anyway, they "bled" the system and guess what - the noise has gone :D

Certainly a cheaper option than having a new P/S Pump !

Cheers for your help !!