Power Steering pump whine. Is it toast?

[shawndh]

OK. I've always had a little noise from the PS pump on cold start up but since I've come back from vac (car sitting for 10 days) the whinning noise is really loud and it's there all the time at low rpms. I also noticed foamy fluid in the reservior. The fluid was also brown but not thick. So I tried to flush the system with new fluid.

It was near impossible to get the reservior out of the car so I...

1) sucked the fluid out of the res into a bucket
2) put in new ps fluid
3) ran the car (with the front end jacked up) and steered from lock to lock
4) repeated 1 to 3 until the the fluid looked clean (a bottle and a half used)

I took the car for a test drive and I'm still getting the noise and the foam. I know the foam is due to air in the system but I thought the above would have released the air. Is there something that I missed or is this pump just shot. I'm hoping to avoid having to replace the rack. Any one have any experience with this on a B6?

[NVR STSFD]

I had the same thing, was putting in PS fluid continuously, also had the foamy stuff. Took it in and the rack was shot along with the CV boot. Had it replaced with my aftermarket warranty. Maybe you caught it in time. Good Luck!

[Mikef5000]

I had the same thing. I flushed the fluid, and it still made the noise for a day while it pushed all the air throughout. But by the next day it was back to being silent.

[manhertm]

Mine did the same, it foamed and leaked for like 2 months. I was adding 1 pint a week. Finally got some stop leak for power steering and hadn't had a problem in 3 months. I didn't believe it would work, but it did.

[shawndh]

Thanx for the replies. I guess I should be looking for some kind of leak. My pump sounds fine when I first start the car now, and then it starts making a little noise after I've been driving for a minute or two. Very strange. I wish I could figure out how to get that filter out of the reservior to clean it as well.

[dougyfresh]

Is the noise coming from the pump or the rack?

The pump isn't too bad to replace. Just gotta pull most of the accessories (Alternator, A/C, etc) off the engine to get to it.

I heard the rack isn't too bad with the transmission in the car but its definitely a piece of cake with the transmission removed.