Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Howdy

I dunno, it really does seem like moosing except that the sound is usually prevalent when the car is idling (well at least in my experience). Could you describe the sound? Is it a high pitched tone or a low pitched tone? Also, can you detect in which part of the engine bay it is coming from? Also, where are you from and how is the climate where you are? The moose usually occurs in colder climates...and when hot chicks pull up next to you. It's Murphy's law

Two additional things come to mind.

There is an inherent very mild whine from the timing chains on the Duratec. It is a bit subtle. Others have been concerned once they have heard the noise. If that is what you are hearing, it is nothing to be concerned about. It is sometimes called the "DOHC song".

Also the power steering pump sometimes makes a bit of a whine. The pump was redesigned in early 98 model year production. Nearly all of them prior to that made that noise. Mine did when new and the replacement pump had been redesigned. Even the new design can be noisy if worn. If the power steering is operating properly, some pump noise doesn't hurt anything.

Thanks to all ya for your ideas/input.

I just recently climbed underneath the car and discovered that the steel P/S lines have been hit/snagged(apparently the previous owner did a little "off-roading" or something)and caused the steel lines to rub on the RH(pass side)CV axle.

I pulled the lines away from the axle, damn near worn through too, and the noise(whine)still exists during acceleration only.

I did notice that the rubber P/S line that is part of the system is kinked but NOT completely folded over and I wasn't able to really straighten this out completely(I'm afraid of disturbing this anymore than necessary).

I dunno if I should let dead dogs lie" or try and "get the kinks out" so to speak...

My feeling is that if I let this stay the way it is I will eventually be purchasing a new P/S pump and line assy and/or let 'er ride and hope that it's ok(for now)

I would consider replacement lines, or head to a hydraulics shop to fasten new line to your existing fittings.

The hydro shop route is relatively cheap & surprisingly quick. I had lines re-done on the stock fittings for my BMW tranny & they cost me $10 and took less than 10 minutes to fab by the pros at Hyraline in WPB. New tranny lines from the dealer started at $180 - EACH!

I'm starting to get noise from my PS pump in my '99 SE, but I performed a flush of the PS system & that seems to have reduced the problem to near nil for the time being.