Thread: Why does my 3.8 NA sound supercharged?

It's possible.

It's called reach down there.

Check it.

Probably a bad pump.

It is not that hard to check the PS fluid. Just wait for the engine to cool down and reach down there and grab the cap.

My transmission pump did that too

If your torque converter is thirsty it will sound even more SC'd.

Originally Posted by Brammer

I mean I know where the reservoir is, but you can't exactly see the side of it to see where it's at markings wise, I didn't want to add more if it was already at level.

Get at it in the daylight.

You can see it behind the alternator if you look down.

It isn't THAT hidden.

I think what he is saying,.....is that he believes the side of the pump has a sight glass on it to see the fluid level.

No go guy.. you unscrew the cap and lift it up. The cap has a dipstick built into it. All you have to do is pull it out and look at it. BTW..that info is in the owners manual.

If conering makes it whine, sounds more like transmission. Have you checked the trans level?

Sent from my Droid

My old trAnny would start whining when it would start to hardshift cause it would max out tranny pressure, either your ps pump or tranny pump

It is the power steering fluid being low, I had the EXACT same thing on my old NA car... corner a little too hard and it gets loud and whiney until you shut the car off and start it up again, and it's magically gone until next time. My dipstick on the ps fluid was dry. Filled it up a little and this problem never happened again.

Check the fluid, it's not hard, just look behind the alternator. Unscrew the cap, wipe off the dipstick, reinsert and check the level, parked on a level surface preferably with the motor cold. Use a long funnel to fill it... only fill it a little at a time, the reservoir doesnt take much.

Same thing happened to me. It would whine in hard corners. Filled up, problem solved.

Not sure if this is the right way, but I've been moving the coolant expansion tank out of the way. Then access is not so bad.

I just had something similar. Not a whine but a hissing sound from the dashboard under heavy acceleration. Was a clogged heating core. Clogged with Dex Cool

Originally Posted by Brammer

Just to tie up loose ends for anyone searching for similar issues, it was low on PS fluid and I'm an idiot.

We were all new at some point. The talent you do have though...you made us laugh with that one.

Our dodge p/s pumps groan, but the pump on our impala just whined. They may be a different design or something, idk but they sound very different. To be fair, the dodge p/s pump sounds like a cat slowly getting run over.

That's funny that he said it sounded supercharged, thats exactly what I though when I heard it lol.

Originally Posted by Thompsju

I think I knew the groaning noise was low power steering fluid when I was 12.

Yeah..but there's a few clips and things that you are still learning.