2000 Cavalier Squeaky Power steering pump
 

So I have this age old squeak in the power steering pump. At first I thought it was the idler. Idler was replaced and no change. Then I used a 3/4" poly tube to listen with pin point accuracy the location of the squeak and it was definitely the power steering pump. I bought a brand new pump and installed it only to find no change. As I squirt oil on the pulley shaft the squeak will go away for a few seconds only. Do any other conditions exist where a bad hose or power steering cylinder can cause a restriction which would cause a squeak? I bought a Rock Auto power steering pump. It probably had a Chinese bearing which made it bad from the start. Does anyone have any input for a remedy?

did you reuse the old pulley?

I actually used a new pulley because the old one got pretty bent taking it off.

what condition is the belt in? does it have a tensioner?

All the parts are new. Pulley, tensioner and belt.

did you change them when you noticed the squeak or before?

I changed them with the new Power steering pump. I just think that as I have found brand new wheel bearing hubs to be defective noisy so to this one also came that way. I don't remember if it was a remanufactured part. It has been a year since it was put in. It never ran without a squeak.

ok so you changed them (belt, tensioner and pump) last year and the noise is just now coming around?
or
you had the noise then changed them (belt, tensioner and pump) a few days ago and they didnt fix the issue?

yes parts can be bad out of the box and yes some new part can go bad within months on install

A year ago I spent a few days on this project. I changed the pump with pulley, the tensioner and the belt all at the same time. Just another horror story from Rock Auto.

damn it bobby, so was it making the sound before you changed the parts and even after changing them its still making the noise?