[beerDonut]

Hi,
It's my first post, but luckily for forum (but not for me) it's far away from "usual" problem, I guess. I just literally can't find anything close to that.

I've got problem with weird, whining noise from power steering (videos included in the end of the post). It started around 1000 km before, just few incidents with this sound, when turning left on crossroads. Then it slowly started to appear very often (only in turning left), now it's whining almost 30% of my usual 20km way to work, even when I'm going straight.

Few important facts:

• it NEVER whines on full stop, car must be rolling, it does not matter, slowly or fast. On full stop I can do full lock wheel rotations with any tempo, no sound at all...
• it's NOT speed dependent, it's sound basically the same, does not matter it is 20 khm or 100 kmh
• I don't have any issues with loss of steering power or something, it seems to be fine all the time
• wheel bearings are healthy, also front and rear suspension
• it happens when I'm going straight right now, but mainly on turning LEFT, an only LEFT (right is perfectly "healthy", I cant tell You why - tested on empty parking lot, different speeds and angles, not a single failure)
• it's not about knocking or clunking noise and anything similar, steering wheel is pretty tight, first of all I was thinking about rubber coupler, but it's not the point i guess
• no EPS errors appears ever
• my car is i30 FD, 1.6 CRDI, hatchback, 2011, 202 000 km (125 000 miles)

THANKS for all your answers, I hope we're gonna figure it out.
And sorry for potential language mistakes, I'm not native english speaker.

 

[Gerard 2]

What makes you think it's steering? The video unfortunately I can't what you're doing with the wheel. Reading your description I don't see it as steering.if it's quiet at rest and with load. No pitch change with speed though has me wondering. Is this auto or manual? If you put it in neutral and coast or if auto lift off the throttle and coast any change in noise?

 

[Drunken Elvis]

Sounds to me like an electronic power supply whine. Look up an example of "coil whine" on youtube. The electric power steering has some large electronic components and probably a pulse width modulator to drive the steering motor. I would suspect these parts. A mechanic's stethoscope placed on the various parts could help pin point the problem.
It's very hard to diagnose over the interwebs.

 

[mmichalak]

hello there, did you get anywhere with this weird noise? my i30 started doing what seems a very similar thing. At random times when turning left or right, a wheezing or "coil whine" sound will start and it will persist while going in a straight line. if I hit the breaks a bit and accelerate the sound stops. like in your case, it does not happen when the car is stopped and the wheel is turned, car has to be moving.

if i jiggle the steering wheel left or right with small movement, the frequency of the "coil whine" changes a bit