2002 Chevy Impala help diagnose groan on turn

Tiny
RHEADLEY
  • MEMBER
  • 2002 CHEVROLET IMPALA
  • 6 CYL
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 105,000 MILES
Car gives high pitch groan upon turning with stress, such as up into gas station. I would have guessed power steering pump, my mechanic is guessing"air pump" and my brother is guessing CV joint. How to tell?
Friday, September 11th, 2009 AT 7:25 PM

3 Replies

Tiny
PEAR69
  • MECHANIC
  • 1,482 POSTS
A c/v joint will cause a ticking vibration. The most common cause of c/v joint failure is a torn c/v boot - look for a torn c/v boot.
An air pump will groan most of the time, regardless of the steering position.
A failing powersteering pump will groan, and squeel. Remove the powersteering pump fluid reservoir cap ( with the engine running) and slowly turn the wheel from side to side. Look (with a flashlight) to see if there are any bubbles in the fluid inside of the reservoir. If there are-it is a powersteering pump.
Since we are playing 'guess that groan' my guess is POWERSTEERING PUMP. Keep me posted and tell me if I win.
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Saturday, September 12th, 2009 AT 4:11 AM
Tiny
RHEADLEY
  • MEMBER
  • 2 POSTS
Thank you ever so much! I am delighted to declare you the winner of the guess-the-groan problem. I found with much difficulty, the power-steering pump fill cap, and discovered that I was way below "add". After filling the reservoir, the groan went away. Now the question is, how can I find a new mechanic! Best Rob
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Sunday, September 13th, 2009 AT 3:46 PM
Tiny
PEAR69
  • MECHANIC
  • 1,482 POSTS
Obviously you have a leak in the powersteering somewhere. If the leak is not pouring out of the steering system, sometimes you can stop it (for a while) by adding some powersteering fluid conditioner. The seals get hard after some time, and conditioner softens up the seals, so they perform better. If you add some conditioner, extract an equal amount. Now---if I can only pick the Monday night football winner.
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Monday, September 14th, 2009 AT 12:20 AM

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