Hey guys/gals, I'm helping my mom out on her car. It's a 98 Camry V6 with 190K miles on it. I used to have a 90 Camry, I also owned a 97 Maxima which I've rebuilt the manual transmission on and now have a C5 Corvette and do most of my own work on, but I've never replaced a P/S pump on a V6 Camry.

Symptoms/Why I think it's the PS Pump:
There is slight squeeling when the engine is running. I've narrowed it down to the power steering area.
The power steering pump has slight leakage on it.
I've run the engine without the main serpentine and it still does it. When I remove the P/S belt, it's quiet.
I've replaced the belt with a Goodyear Gatorback belt, which helped at first but then it came back the next day.
When the engine is running and I look closely at the P/S pump, one bolt has a little bit of fluid bubbling out of it.

I am *pretty sure* the squeeling/chirping comes from the power steering pulley area. It's hard to distingush if it's coming from the main crank pulley though.

However-
The steering wheel still feels fine, no heavy pressure needed.

Does this sound like the right diagnosis?
If so- should I do OEM or rebuilt?
Anyone have sa similar experience? If so, any tips on replacing it for the DIYer?
Where is a good "discount" online Toyota parts dealer? (In the GM world, we use gmpartshouse.com and gmpartsdirect.com)

 

The squeal probably is emitting from the PSP, however, the cause is not always obvious. The bolt where the fluid is coming from - is it one of the banjo fittings with a hose attached? if so it may only need to have the coppper crush washers replaced and proper torque applied.

When you first looked at the issue did you have to add any fluid to the system? If so did you use power steering fluid (PSF)? On my 96, it's ATF not PSF. Mine used to squeal all the time until I figured that out.

if PSF and ATF have been mixed, you'll need to flush the system out abd bleed it. I just ran the return line to the reservoir in to a drain pan of suitable volume and plugged that port on the reservior. Next with the motor idling to spin the pump, cycle the steering back and forth while adding new ATF to the reservior (this is all easier w/2 people). [The haynes manual for the GEN3 camry goes over the bleedingprocess pretty well] once you have all the PSF out and clean ATF draining, reconnect the reurn line to the resevior and re-bleed it in case any air was trapped.

Another issue could be that the pump keeps falling out of adjustment.
good luck.

 

No the bolt (it's actually a nut) on the passenger side of the car had just a little bit of fluid bubbling when I looked real closely with the engine running. I have not added any fluid. I think the 4 Gen V6's also use ATF, but I don't have the car infront of me right now. The car is old and the entire engine area was kind of grimey, so I cleaned if off the best I could with engine brite so that's why I probably didn't notice the leak before.

What really threw me off was when I first looked at it, I took some bar soap to the PS belt, the squeeling went away, so I just figured it was the belt. When I replaced the belt, it was quiet- until my mom said the squeeling came back after she drove it for a bit. I started it up again (it was cold) and it was quiet. So I drove the car to do some errands and then it started squeeling again.

I think what's really going on- is there is some PS fluid contamination is getting on the belt after the power steering pump warms up.

I gave it a quick look over last night but didn't do a real close analysis, but will have more time tomorow since I'm finally off (New Years Day!). I'll probably pick up a pump and filter at the local Autozone today incase I need it tomorow and if for some reason I don't need it, return it. But with 190k miles and 11 years old, it probably won't hurt to change it...

 

Update:
I think I got it and it was not the power steering pump. Instead the crank pulley. I listened as close as possible and thought it came from the pulley and not the PS pump. I tried to clean it using brake kleen and a wire brush at first, no luck. So I found a local autoparts store who had a Dorman replacement. I read some of the stories of the pulley bolt being stuck and mine was even with an impact wrench. I did a trick I learned from my old Camry that some may not agree on- took a impact socket and breaker bar, jammed it against the ground, disabled the EFI and cranked the starter motor. Bolt broke loose immediately. So far so good though (crosses fingers) noise hasnt come back... I never thought a crank pulley could make so much noise!

 

The pulley is two piece, is it starting to wobble?