91 power steering troubles (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Aug 26, 2007
Threads
18
Messages
204
Location
Baton Rouge, LA
This saga started in July on an offroad wheeling trip. Pushed the girl pretty hard and afterwards I noticed the high pressure hose was leaking. Ordered a Gates replacement from rock auto. I had to pull the radiator, shroud and fan to do it but I got it done. I flushed the fluid and put dexron 3 and mity vaced the return line while continuing to add fluid until I got the air out. Started it up and noticed a good bit of noise.

It worked fine but the noise was too aggravating so I changed the pump. The noise did not go away. It almost seemed to be a high pitched vibration coming from the hose so I went through the entire length making sure it wasn't vibrating against something this helped a little but it still was way too loud.

I noticed the gear box was leaking so I started looking around and noticed autozone showed a "new" one made by BBB I think. I got it in today, bled everything started up and noticed the noise at idle while not turning was gone but there was a far louder noise while turning. The bleeding process i used was jacking the front tires off the ground and removing the coil wire so the engine wouldn't start turn the engine over 10 to 15 seconds and add fluid. I did this 10 or so times until it stopped needing fluid. It never got low enough to suck air.

After putting the coil wire back on, I started it up and turned lock to lock 10 times. I then put the truck on the ground and tried to drive it. There was very little power assist and a lot of noise. Still full of fluid but noise like it was low. Jacked it up again and turned lock to lock 10 times again.

Put it back on the ground and drove around still very little assist and a lot of noise. Get back pop the hood and fluid is spewing out the back of the pump.

I cannot figure this out. Everything is either new or remanufactured. I am putting the old pump back on tomorrow. If that doesn't work, I am at a loss as to what to do next. I have never had this much trouble with power steering before.
 
This saga started in July on an offroad wheeling trip. Pushed the girl pretty hard and afterwards I noticed the high pressure hose was leaking. Ordered a Gates replacement from rock auto. I had to pull the radiator, shroud and fan to do it but I got it done. I flushed the fluid and put dexron 3 and mity vaced the return line while continuing to add fluid until I got the air out. Started it up and noticed a good bit of noise.

It worked fine but the noise was too aggravating so I changed the pump. The noise did not go away. It almost seemed to be a high pitched vibration coming from the hose so I went through the entire length making sure it wasn't vibrating against something this helped a little but it still was way too loud.

I noticed the gear box was leaking so I started looking around and noticed autozone showed a "new" one made by BBB I think. I got it in today, bled everything started up and noticed the noise at idle while not turning was gone but there was a far louder noise while turning. The bleeding process i used was jacking the front tires off the ground and removing the coil wire so the engine wouldn't start turn the engine over 10 to 15 seconds and add fluid. I did this 10 or so times until it stopped needing fluid. It never got low enough to suck air.

After putting the coil wire back on, I started it up and turned lock to lock 10 times. I then put the truck on the ground and tried to drive it. There was very little power assist and a lot of noise. Still full of fluid but noise like it was low. Jacked it up again and turned lock to lock 10 times again.

Put it back on the ground and drove around still very little assist and a lot of noise. Get back pop the hood and fluid is spewing out the back of the pump.

I cannot figure this out. Everything is either new or remanufactured. I am putting the old pump back on tomorrow. If that doesn't work, I am at a loss as to what to do next. I have never had this much trouble with power steering before.
I've heard of this happen in flexible brake lines but not sure on power steering lines I replaced my share of power steering racks in my time. I could suspect that there could be a breakdown in the pressure or return line of the power steering rack. That is if it uses flexible hoses but chances. That is if it uses flexible hoses but chances are I probably. That is if it uses flexible hoses but probably does not. I would find a power steering expert that has a way of measuring the power steering pressure and if the pressure gauge has a return going back to the pump see what happens when it's hooked up and then you start the ignition and do a full cycle of the steering wheel see if it changes see if the steering system Behavior changes. This is one of those rare incidents where I probably have not seen this before. Now if you are a shop mechanic I will suggest you subscribe to iatn.net. thousands of ASE Master technicians use the website.
 
Not a shop mechanic. I was a diesel in the army 30 years ago. I have seen the power steering gauges but I would hate to have to invest in them for this but I might look into them. Thanks anyway.
 
Fluid from back of pump = failed seals in pump or bad bushings/bearings allowing movement of shaft.
Steering gear boxes can leak from a variety of places and can be rebuilt.

The PS system should not require all that much bleeding to get the air out of the system, as it self bleeds. As long as you don't let the pump cavitate too much, the fluid should not foam. If the fluid foams, let it sit for a while and start again.
Fill the reservoir, start the truck for a second or 2, shut down, fill the reservoir. Keep doing this until the system is full. Turn left and right 2 or 3 times under power, go for a drive and check level again when cold. Done.
 
Okay, I think I might have figured it out. When I said everything was new, that wasnt totally true. The reservoir was not. I had cleaned it thoroughly when I changed the pump. Rinsed it out with gas and let it dry then blew it out with air. While inspecting it I noticed a few particles on the screen directly above the hole that goes into the pump. I looked at the rest of the screen and it was clean. I figured that 95% of the screen was clean so that should be plenty of flow, right? What I didnt realize was that the screen had broken loose on that side so the screen would get sucked flat to the hole feeding the pump. The pump was starving for fluid even though the reservoir was full.

Because of my escapades with this, I have a spare good pump on the shelf. With a big LED light, tweezers, small angled pry bar and hemastats, I have removed 100% of the screen. I am going to put everything back together and see what happens. I need a new reservoir though because, while I know that there is absolutely no foreign particles in it now, I know something will eventually start circulating. I have seen power steering filters so I might put one of those on. I will let you guys know if that solved my issue soon.
 
Problem SOLVED!!! Smooth and silent. Bleeding was so much easier. It is now so quiet that I can hear an exhaust leak. I am totally embarrassed by not figuring it out sooner though. Throwing parts at it was a mistake that I dont usually make but quite honestly power steering systems have been a mystery to me because 99% of the time that I hear a noise, its the pump. Now I have a good, except for a leak on the input shaft, steering gear box that I can rebuild and a pump with a blown rear seal to rebuild and sit them on the shelf for backups. I have been dealing with this noise for so long, even before the leaking high pressure hose, because it has never been this quiet in the 2 and a half years that I have had it.
 

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