1999 4.0 reporting.

I changed out my nasty, leaking, high pressure power steering hose only to find that the steering is much louder now. It sounds the way it would sound when you push the steering angle to the max left/right.; a whining or whirring noise, except it makes the sound at the smallest turn of the wheel now.

I bled the steering both on and off the ground, my fluid levels match up to the H and C marks on the cap, there are no bubbles in the reservoir and there are no visible leaks from any of the hoses.

If it matters, a couple years ago when my HP hose was only slightly leaky, I remember accelerating hard into turns and would hear the PS hum extra loud to the point I could feel it on the steering wheel. It wouldn't go away unless I restarted the jeep. From then on I paid close attention to PS fluid levels and that hum never came back. (This hum was much louder than my current one)

Everything works fine, I'm just scared to have my power steering Grenade itself. Also, the PS fluid I put in is blue, but the stuff that came out was reddish brown? It didn't look/smell like ATF. What's the first step I should take to troubleshoot this? Thanks guys

As a last resort, take your mother in law's turkey baster, pull out as much steering fluid from the reservoir as possible, refill with lucas ps fix, red snake oil, this snake works. If the whine won't go away, then pump replacement is the only alternative.
PS, skip the next turkey dinner at the in laws.

It's possible there is still some trapped air. If that's the case, it will work out over time.

Otherwise, yeah, the pump is probably history. I suppose you have nothing to lose by trying the Lucas, though I'm not at all a fan of anything they make. But if it's going out, and the snake oil will buy you a few months, why not?

A broken PS pump wont strand me, right? I've had a hose go out on a car and it was still driveable, albeit giving me sore forearms.

Anyway, can someone explain why there would be a noise after I replaced a hose? Its like the jeep is unhappy that it was changed...

Air in the system.

All power steering pumps in Chrysler group vehicles of this era sound exactly the same. They might be a little quieter if they're newly built, however normal wear and tear makes it sound pretty obnoxious, its normal.

I would say as long as you aren't experiencing any loss in steering power, keep using that pump until the housing starts leaking.

How did you bleed the air out? Turning the wheel from one lock to the other multiple times normally does it.

I bled the system by turning from lock to lock, front axle on and off the ground, and letting the jeep sit overnight with the wheel turned full lock on both sides. It's still noisy :/ is it possible to have an air leak but no fluid leak?

Mine makes noise too if that makes you feels any better. Even at the slightest turns. Funny thing is, I'm running a new steering box and steering pump less than half a year old as well as new fluid.