You won't open it up, it's kinda moulded into the reservoir & not replacable.

Just having lumps in there tells me you might be right about the hoses coming apart. When I did that it was dirty but no lumps at all.

 

Well I chatted to the servicing manager from the local Honda dealership this morning he informed me that he has never heared of the hoses wearing from the inside (and looked like he had been in the game 30 odd years). He also told me that the fluid darkens naturally as it absorbs water vapour out of the air. Which has lead me to the following theory:-

The O ring previously mentioned is failing and air is being sucked in (this is causing the fluid to foam). As air is being sucked into the system and is being circulated with the fluid, any moisture in it will be absorbed quickly. I am in England. Or to put it another way a country where if it rains 200 days of the year we are having a drought and the water company will be banning hose pipes in the summer. When I disconnected the PS belt at the weekend the bearings in this pump felt fine. So if I replace the O ring all the problems should be solved...

I realise this is exactly what was said earlier in the thread. But I am constructing a plausible causality for the additional symptoms I have witnessed

 

and I thought northeast ohio had a lot of rain...

Foaming is the key - that means air is getting sucked in. I wish I'd noticed that earlier.

If it's sucking air in, then it'll suck water along with it. When you're driving in the rain it's splashing all around under the bonnet.

 

im passing through the same dilemma.. humming noise when cold and after like 5 min it disappears. Im going to change the O ring and see if it that helps (changed the powerSF at tops, a month ago). Hope that fixes it.. its kinda awkward sound coming from a decent ride.

 

I read the preceeding. Also had foaming, so added fluid and turned wheels to purge. Still hums and friends advise pump needs overhaul, which I plan to do. I have a 96 V6.
Question: Is my ps pump vehicle specific or can I use a 4cyl model? (Usually 94-97's interchange, is this true for ps pumps, too)?
The plan is to get one from junk yard to use as temp. while rebuilding my present pump.

 

What i see, the 4 and 6 are different pumps.

 

V-6 vs 4-cyl engines turn in opposite directions, so the PS pump will NOT interchange.