Power Steering making noise

I have a 95 Tacoma, 4x4 V6.
The other day a friend and I started to hear a buzz or whine coming from the engine compartment. By the time we got home, it was clear that it was related to the steering, as it was much worse when you turned right or left, especially when not moving.
The power steering fluid was brown, so we drained, flushed, and put new fluid in. The same loud whining occurred.

So, I resigned to the thought that I just would have to replace the Steering Pump. I bought a new one (rebuilt one from O'reilly's) and put it in. This resulted in no change at all. Now I see in a few forums that many a customer made the same diagnostic mistake, leading to the real issue being in the rack.

So my questions are:

1) I used normal (even cheap) power steering fluid. How important is it to use the ATF instead, like I am seeing in the forums. Could that alone actually fix the issue?

2) If it is the rack, what in the rack is failing? Perhaps the check valve (is there a check valve?) is stuck, or there is a block somewhere?

Basically, is there any way I can possibly avoid having to buy a new $300+ rack? Kind of strapped for cash these days

 

this happened to me , well kind of my in leaking fuild and i can figure out where, the fluid is brown also, i hope you find out what it is, so i can get a clue on what to do

 

Try flushing it with ATF first. If that doesn't fix it you probably have to replace the rack.

 

If the sound is coming from your engine compartment and it whines when you turn your wheel that means its the pump. If it was the rack you would hear it down by the rack. I had the rack go on mine and it came from the rack. No doubt about it. I know you said you replaced it with one from Oreillys. Take it back.. Oreillys,autozone or anything other then OEM are junk. I stopped using those parts in my toyotas years ago, after having lots of problems.You may find that A rebuilt from the dealer may only be A couple of bucks more, but worth it .