jungt

Sorry folks I know this subject has been covered on a few sites ad nauseam.
I have not however found the symptoms that appear to cover my noise.

It takes a few minutes after the car starts for it to appear. When it appears the noise sounds very similar to a low oil level on any power steering pump, however my oil level is in spec.

I have also removed the serpentine belt and the noise is not there. I have checked all idler pulleys and they are fine. Also it is not the high whined pitch noise addressed in the reservoir recall.The noise has been there since I purchased the car 6,000 miles ago. I now have 56,000 miles on a 2005 Turbo S. The car had a PPI at the time of purchase and this was not indicated as a problem. I know......

I am inclined to think it is the power steering pump itself, however before I undertake the task of replacing, I wanted a little more assurance that it is in fact the problem.

Anyone experience with this?

John

"02996ttx50

agree, what you have described does not appear to resemble the "whine" of the ps res covered under the porsche TSB 4897 which never happens at startup anyway. that said, it's obviously difficult for anyone to troubleshoot words about sounds.

if youre certain that the pentosin level is adequate? then at the risk of being obvious, you're probably going to need a hands on ( ears? ) diagnosis. dont throw a pump at it! get a pro to inspect and diagnose! GL w it.

Macster

Noisy power steering pump, noisy in the way you describe and not the high pitched whine/whistle noise, is rare in the Turbo based on my research.

I have no idea of the severity of the noise -- this is not a hint to post an audio clip either because I am not qualified to make a call on the noise -- but if it is severe, and it obviously is severe enough to prompt you to seek to address it -- you need to be sure the noise is from the power steering pump and not from say the A/C compressor or the water pump.

I have no experience with a noisy water pump in my Turbo. The original water pump developed a leak and as a result was replaced. But I had a noisy water pump in my Boxster, it would rumble/grumble shortly after cold start.

However, it is hard to believe a noisy water pump would remain noisy and not just suffer some catastrophic mechanical failure after 6K miles.

Like ""02996ttx50" advises you need a pro Porsche tech to give a listen and offer his diagnosis. A Turbo power steering pump can't be a low cost piece of kit and while if one is needed it is needed one doesn't want to replace a good one it he can avoid it.

pigsypo

I know this is an old thread. I have the exact same issue on my 986 boxster. have you drilled down to the root cause? Would power steering pump replacement quite down the noise?

T Kono

First, determine if it is in fact the pump. At rest, vary the revs........it the noise rpm-dependent? With the motor idling, turn steering wheel left then right (make the pump work) - other than the slight change in pitch you should hear when the pump is working is your noise pump-load dependent? If revs only, I would take a real close look at your pulleys - on the Turbo there two idlers and a tensioner. I had a rpm-dependent groan/whine that I swore was a bad pump, but it turned out to be a worn idler. Replaced and all is well. Good luck.

pigsypo

mffarrell

Sounds like an idler bearing.

Oak

^this^

Macster

With my Boxster the only noise from that area arose from a bad water pump. The noise was a low rumble very low volume and low pitch. I first confirmed the noise was from the accessory drive by removing the belt. Be sure to note carefully the routing -- I drew a diagram on the inside of the cabin/engine compartment panel -- and note the belt's direction of rotation so if you reuse the belt you install it exactly like was installed before you removed it.

Then start the engine and let the engine idle only long enough to verify the noise is present or absent. In the case of my Boxster the noise was not present immediately after cold start but became noticable after not very much idle time.

If the noise is not present with the belt removed then check all accessory drives for any axial or radial play. What I found is the water pump had a bit. Not much but the other drives had none. I put the belt back on and buttoned the car up and had it flat bedded to a dealer where the water pump/T-stat were replaced along with the coolant. (I had this changed every 4 to 5 years over the 16 years I owned the car. Makes for long lived water pump and hoses.)

If all the accessory drives feel good check the idler roller/tensioner rollers for any excessive play or signs of bearing/seal failure. While the idler/tensioner roller bearings in my 2002 Boxster were factory they lasted 317K miles. (Except for the water pump: at 172K miles; the other accessories were all original too.)

OTOH, my 2003 Turbo had to have a noisy idler roller replaced two times in the 150K miles I put on the car.

Both times I had all idlers and tensioner replaced, too. With the Turbo the first roller bearing failure made itself known by a "dry bearing" sound. The 2nd time after a cold start I could hear a faint intermittent chirp.

pigsypo

pigsypo

jtt99

I know this is old school but get a piece of rubber/vynal tubing and put one end at your ear and then put the other close to the pump, idler, etc. to try and isolate where the sound is coming from. It works and takes a lot of guessing out of finding the source.

Macster

Could be the wrong idler got replaced. There are several and they are pretty close together. Never had any idler issues with my Boxster -- soon after I bought the car I also bought a full set of idler rollers and a tensioner but never in 16 years, 317K miles did I ever had to use one from the set -- but with the Turbo the first what proved to be noisy idler bearing had me suspecting it was a power steering pump cause the noise was so high up the engine.

Got the car in the shop and the tech determined the bad idler roller. It was up high near the power steering pump. Not sure how he made the call maybe by a mechanic's stethoscope.

Regardless, because I had never had any issues with my Boxster I just had all idlers and the tensioner replaced. 'course, this didn't last as some considerable miles later another idler bearing went bad. I don't recall its location now if I ever knew. But like the first time I just had the tech replace all idler rollers and the tensioner.

T Kono

The way I located my one bad idler was to simply remove the serp belt and hand-spin each piece. Found one that wobbled, replacing it did the trick. Bought the cheaper Sebro replacements from Pelican, no problems since.