[megaman096]

Here is a common issue with a twist. For seeming this whole winter season my power steering pulley has made a chip, chip, chip kind of semi chatter noise. When its cold outside. IT has never affected my power steering though and never once made it heavy hard to move OR has turning the wheel made the noise worse. It sounds like a cheap fake supercharger (lol) as the engine revs. After 15 mins its almost gone. After 30 min of continuous driving it is completely gone (may hear it a tiny bit, maybe).

So last week I did a power steering fluid flush( thanks to Hiroshima) with my dad. I replaced with Mobil 1 ATF. I was thinking this should fix my problem. Well steering does feel better with new fluid but noise is still there.

One last thing that may be a contender to the problem is this. Before the cold weather really started my grandfather insisted we washed my dirty engine bay. I said no because alot of my stuff is exposed in the engine. He disagreed and said well I wash my car engine (ls400 which engine is completely covered) all the time. So i gave in, he sprayed engine degreaser stuff and went to town with the pressure washer.

Could water using the high pressure washer get in my bearing where my pulley is?

IF someone could help me out I would appreciate it a lot, thanks!!!

 

[fuya_inc]

Doubtful that water got in your bearing causing the noise. Think of when it rains. Water coming through the grill, hits the fan and goes everywhere. I would like to think the engine bay is pretty much water proof as it rolls off the line.
Although I think you're right about thinking the pressure washer may not have been the best idea. Pressure washer is ok but not direct, full pressure.

The first thing I would do is throughly flush the engine bay again with hot water, low pressure and drive the car until you feel everything is good and dry. I'm not a pro cleaner but I would never use engine degrease. Those chemicals can creep into small spaces and get stuck if not flushed properly. Those will eventually break down more than grease. It could eat rubber---which leads me to my next step in the process. Replace the serp belt. There's an awesome DIY for this: http://my.is/forums/f115/diy-install-serpentine-drive-belt-minutes-346845/

Good luck and report back.

 

[Pawel]

I had a similar noise, at least I think it's similar to what you describe. I ended up replacing my power steering pump and the noise was gone. I think the noise that you are talking about will eventually get more progressive, you will hear it not just when your engine is cold but later on all the time.

 

[Pawel]

Here is the thread that I've started:

http://my.is/forums/f115/update-i-think-my-power-steering-pump-done-fixed-350030/

 

[megaman096]

I just changed my serpentine belt 1000 or so miles ago, toyota oem, after the washing.

 

[-Tom-]

throw a dab of belt dressing on the pulleys bet groove just for shits and giggles.

 

[megaman096]

I was actually thinking about doing that tom. I have some, is the STP brand good enough? It shouldn't harm my new belt should it?

 

[-Tom-]

I dunno, I always used permatex. Try it! I got a dab of coolant on my belt and it has squeeked a tiny bit ever since, Throwing just a small bit of dressing on makes it go away for a month or so but it comes back....I dunno why but it does....

 

[megaman096]

the belt dressing didnt do anything. I noticed with i flushed my fluid out at the bottom of my reservoir there was black flakes all in it. ALSO the bottom of my res. felt spongey when i was touching it with my suction device. Can anyone please comment on the black flakes and such? I pulled some more out of my res yesterday and black flakes were still in it when I sucked it out??? please help!

 

[sperkins]

Hey if i was you i would definitely take it to a mechanic to avoid further problems.

 

[megaman096]

just to update on this, it was actually my new belt i put on!?!??!?!. I put the old one back on and BOOM the noise was gone. So I took the new one back to toyota and got a replacement. The newer belt says Toyota dayco(including the replacement they gave me for the noisy one) and my old one that is currently on my car says Toyota Mitsubishi . Wtf is up with this? I have yet to put the new belt on. Can someone comment on this?

 

[megaman096]

anyone?

 

[Pawel]

No idea, but I just changed my belt about a month ago, and the new one said Toyota/Mitsu on it as well. I don't believe anymore in the OEM stuff, I think dealer/manufacturers play tricks by trying to find cheaper alternatives that would work and pass on as the so called OEM stuff.

 

[megaman096]

yeah seems like that, doesn't it? I wish the new one they gave me was mitsu and not another damn dayco, i still have my old mitsu on. Also did i mention that the top part on the new belt feels waaayyy different than on my old belt? The old one is alot harder sort of rubber. The new one is more like a tacky rubber??