anybody know how to make the power steering pump on a 5.0 shut up. it gets annoying sometimes. it has 220xxx on it any advise?
while its running take a wire brush to the underside (side that touches the pulley) of your belt to rule out that it is the belt and not the pump.
belt is only 2 months old its done this for years its a whining noise
Typically they whine for one of two reasons. They get low on fluid or there are metal flakes in the fluid. I usually just replace the pump if it got low on fluid. If there are metal flakes in the fluid it can only come from two places, the pump and/or the rack. Does the whole steering assembly have 220,XXX miles on it? If so its probably time to say your got your money's worth and put a little TLC and a few $$$ back into the car. There are a couple of threads here with some really good ideas on servicing the front end on these cars.
http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showthread.php?29909
http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showthread.php?30351
You may also want to look at the control arm bushings and ball joints, sway bar mount bushings, sway bar end links, and the outer tie-rods. All of this with that kind of mileage needs to be thoroughly inspected.
Darren
Mine does the same thing. I added the stop leak fluid and it did make it a little better. Not too much though. I just deal with it, it makes more noise when it's cold out.
Put in ATF instead of PS fluid. The manual actually calls for MERCON instead of PS. I put it in mine, quiet as a mouse. Replacing everything definitely can't hurt though.