I'm thinking the first thing I'll do is flush the system with the existing pump in place just to see what happens. 12 years and 175,000 miles might be about time, ya think? Although the pump noise sounds kinda "metallic", I know hammering hydraulics can be pretty darn noisy themselves.

This car has always displayed a bit of a "rumble" when turning the steering wheel with the engine idling and the car stationary - but not so much on wet slippery surfaces. The 11 bar pump may make this worse but then again maybe something was always wrong with the original 12 bar pump. Also, we purchased the car with 72,000 miles on it so I can't guarantee what type of fluid may be in it.

Thanks.