Pyrrhic victory

"winterlegacy, here 'till the end" (winterlegacy) 07/07/2020 at 21:34 • Filed to: Subaru

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Pic somewhat unrelated.

The Subaru is back, and the Town & Country is gone. That van barely even paid for itself... barely... but for what it was, it was an experience unto itself. Vans are fun.

But back to the Subaru.

Today, the Subaru passed inspection with flying colors, but it always seems to find some way to spite me. The negative terminal worked itself loose, so it died in the middle of a small incline after a left turn, which was... great fun. I limped it to where I needed to go (which thankfully had a tool kit with a 10mm socket I could use), then it sat for abou t an hour and a half. When I started driving it again, the power steering pump protested and whined whenever it was off-center, so I chose the straightest path home and made sure that I didn’t stress the power steering pump. When I checked it, it was full of the requisite ATF, but it was boiling and bubbling.

Oppo, I call upon your hivemind knowledge so I can know what I’m getting into and what I should be looking for in and around the pump.

(Also, what the hell is with Kinja forcing attribution rights to pictures? When did they add this anyways?)

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > winterlegacy, here 'till the end 07/07/2020 at 21:49

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“winterlegacy, now with more minivan - now with no minivan”

No idea. Just here to make a bad joke about usernames.

winterlegacy, here 'till the end > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 07/07/2020 at 22:07

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Oh damn I should go fix that real quick.

bison78 > winterlegacy, here 'till the end 07/07/2020 at 22:09

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The power steering pump on my 2004 Outback VDC went very noisy. It was resolved by replacing a very cheap part: the rubber O-ring on the one of the pipes connecting into the pump. 10 minutes and done, although it took a few days for the dealer to get the part. Since the dealer didn’t stock it, I suspect that lots of unnecessary power steering pump replacements have been done on Outbacks.

The “ boiling” you see is probably because the failed o-ring is allowing air into the system.

winterlegacy, here 'till the end > bison78 07/07/2020 at 22:11

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The more I think about it, the more the “boiling” seems like air escaping the system. I opened the cap and the boiling effect subsided quickly, and when I restarted the car, the squealing stopped.

Looks like I’ll be examining the hoses and their connectors in fine detail.

Beefchips > winterlegacy, here 'till the end 07/07/2020 at 22:11

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Hm, its a subaru   of a certain age so imma   go with head gaskets ...

Seriously though, f luid is full but ps pumps whine when there’s bubbles in the system, so I’d guess the heat/boiling is the root cause of the whine. Maybe an exhaust leak or rotted/missing heat shroud?

bison78 > winterlegacy, here 'till the end 07/07/2020 at 22:15

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There are plenty of comments, videos and pictures on the Internet about this issue. You need to disconnect the hose that goes into the top of the power steering pump in order to see the o-ring (which may remain in the pump).