Well it hit 25 below zero last week in MT, and PS pump finally kicked the pail. It ran pretty good for years on synthetic+lucas, but it made some weird tapping noises, so I knew it was a matter of time before it would die. On an extremely cold morning last week I started up and the pump was making heinous snarlling growls; the steering was stiff and intermittent. I poured in stop squeal additives but nothing helped. That night I flushed the system with synthetic again (no lucas this time) and that made it a wee bit better but not enough to retore it back to anything close to healthy. It appears to be pumping fluid out the reservoir fill cap while driving, so that by the end of the day the pump noise is gone, the steering is stiff, and the reservoir is empty. I say it is coming out of the filler cap because it has visibly spilled out all over the engine bay innards, with no other detected leaks thus far. with the engine running I add fresh synthetic, you can here it gushing through the system, the pump growling returns instantly, and you get alittle pressure assit bak to the steering wheel- enough to get through the day, only to repeat the cycle.

1- Any ideas? Blockage somewhere in the system. dead pump? Dead steering box?

2- Almost certainly the pump is toast just on the noise symptom alone- are they hard to swap out? Searched for a good post on the forum but to no avail. could anyone point me to one? If i rip out the pump and half the front end to get to it, what else should I replace vis-a-vis preventive mx other than the serpentine belt (water pump, etc.)?

3- A little baffled by the fluid apparently exiting the filler cap. The screen in the reservoir has alittle dirt in it that has been there for years and years, nothing that draw attention. What could cause it? Blocked line? Steering box? Any checks I could do, or just start swapping out hardware until steering is restored?


Thanks in advance. Duck





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Bmw F650Cs History

 

DI or DII?
It is normal for the PS to be stiff when extremly cold, and noisy too.
If you are loosing fluid out of the resevoir cap then I woudl say to much back pressure and that you have a blockage.
The pump making noise because the fluid is to stiff to pump until warm I consider normal.

 

use the ACE fluid when you get it figured out, the cheaper exact part number is GM cold weather power steering fluid, any GM dealer shoud stock it.i have not seen that low of a temp ever but in 5 degrees there was no hesitation from the steering gear using that fluid.

 

yeah right- forgot about those details> 99 D2 135K mi. You guys know if this system has an inline filter other than the screen at the bottom of the reservoir? Im half way through the rave download, hopefully it will tell all.

I checked for partsat ABand the OEM pump was $480!!! The steering box was $850!!! That's a lota cheetos. I am kinda hopin a reman pump from Napa will fixer up good as new. hopin and prayin.





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Ffm Vid

 

mmmmm cheetos. no filter.

 

There is not enough praying time in the day to get you past many of the rebuilds.
Consider, http://www.roverlandparts.com/powersteeringpumps.aspx as another possible option.