power steering noise finally fixed

[David Anderson]

 I have posted about this growling noise in the power steering on startup since 2006.  I searched my history and have 7 topics I've posted about this to try to resolve it.  I finally got a knowledgeable tech from BAB steering and he assured me my pump was good and that somewhere there is a leak or another source of an air lock.  I told him the reservoir location height is really close to the pump height, so I suggested I could raise it higher in the engine room.  He thought that was a good idea, and he recommended a suction hose change that will not collapse.  Also, T clamps only on that hose. 

I moved the reservoir up high in the engine bay, found some Aeroquip type hose with a wire coil to make it stiff and T clamps.  Relocated the hoses, tied everything tight and out of the way of the radiator fan, and refilled with ATF.  The first engine run had lots of noise and took almost a gallon of ATF to get the system back to normal.  The noise finally stopped after the system purged the air. 

That was 2 weeks ago.  Today was the first test.  Started up the coach and oh my, no noise, no fluid blown overboard, no ATF all over my back end   Finally, something I tried worked.  I hope I put this to rest for good.  13 years of this annoyance is too many.

Below is a picture of the relocated reservoir.  It is about the same level of my radiator surge tank. 

[chessie4905]

Maybe one of the hoses in original position had an air trap in it. Glad to hear you fixed it.