88 Merc Sable trans/pwr steering whine??

Yesterday I got my 88 merc sable back after having my transmission rebuilt and also the power steering pump and lines replaced . Since then I have a high pitched whine that changed in tone as the car goes up or down in speed. THe steering itself feels fine. The transmission was a little stiff at the changing points but have driven it 3 times now and that seems to be getting better. The whine is pretty noisy tho. I am taking it back today but would like my own knowledge of whether a transmission would make that kind of sound? I also have a leak of dexron near the front of the car that they will look at.

 

If the sound doesn't change while steering then from what you are describing I'd suspect something went wrong with the transmission installation. It can be a tricky thing to get the torque converter into the front of the transmission. This is what connects the crank shaft of your engine to the transmission. It holds a fair amount of fluid and acts as a kind of viscous clutch. It also drives the pump in the front of the transmission. IF the torque converter is not properly locked into that pump then it will put excessive pressure against the pump drive. That can make a whining sound. It gets better with time because it is basically grinding the pump drive into submission and the transmission will soon start to slip. This can cause a slight leak at the pump seal too and put excessive pressure against a thrust bearing within the engine. But it's been my experience that the transmission pump gives in before the thrust bearing does. Now, if the sound does change with your steering then they either didn't top off the power steering fluid all the way. (It can take a while for the system to burp all the air out.) Or your power steering pump might be on it's last leg.

Good luck and lets us know how it turns out.

 

Thanks for your reply. It did turn out to be the power steering pump. As soon as we replaced it the whine was gone. Yippee!
Cindy