Okay, if I had read all the problems with Land Rover power steering pumps I would never have let my son buy a used Land Rover with a power steering pump that was leaking really bad.

After he got it I read up on here about the seal kit. So we replaced just the main seal, not all of the inner o-rings and seals. We put the pump back on and bled out the air. The leak was fixed but the pump was making terrible noises so I decided to go ahead with a new pump and a new bottom hose from the reservoir to the pump. The high pressure hose from the pump looks fairly new. So we put the new pump on and didn't have any power to turn the wheels. Opened up the bleed valve and no fluid was coming out.

So I sent the pump back and they sent me another one. Installed it and again no power to turn the wheels. Opened the bleed valve and no fluid. So my son just forced the wheels to turn back and forth. On about the fourth cycle a spurt of fluid shot up from the gear box and my son shouted that the steering got easy. But then immediately the steering got hard and no more fluid from the valve. He kept turning and around the 8th or 9th cycle there was one more spurt of fluid but that was it. Soon after he got tired and we had to quit for the night any way.

I am at a loss for what to do now. Could it possibly be two bad pumps in a row? We reinstalled the bad pump and it pumped and we installed the two new ones the same way and they don't pump. We drained the reservoir each time we changed the pump. We are using Prestone power steering fluid. I see from tonight's reading that we need to go with a synthetic. Would that cause the pump not to pump? Is there a step we missed in the installation process other than attaching two lines to the pump, filling up the reservoir and cranking it up? I appreciate any suggestions.

Mitchel
2000 Land Rover Discovery II - 140,000 miles

 

First observe the reservoir!
The suction side of the pump is UNFILTERED.
Filtration only takes place on the return or basically under return pressure as it gets filtered on this side of the system.

The filter on a D1/D2/, & P38 is housed inside the reservoir, its not a serviceable item from ZF, its a throw away item and replace at service intervals & repairs .

This reservoir MUST be changed when you replace a major item like a pump.

Basically when you install a pump without changing it, junk stirred up in the reservoir just gets ingested into the new pump and much of it ends up in the FCV where the delivery pressure and flow volume is controlled.

Besides all residual system fluid MUST be discard/flushed by directing the return hose into a bucket and get an assistant to continually fill the reservoir as you start the engine and rotate the steering two cycles from left to right to purge out old contaminated fluid. This must be done before you connect up your return hose to the new filter reservoir assembly.
In this manner you will protect the new pump ensuring ONLY clean fluid is passed through the unit.
Amistades
Tuercas Viejas

 

Tried a whole bunch of filtering and such and still no luck. Since I didn't have anything to lose and I had heard about the back not seating when rebuilding a pump, I decided to rebuild the old, existing pump that I still had. Put new gaskets and o-rings in it, made sure the back was seated and put it together. Replaced the new pump with the old rebuilt pump, cranked up the engine and the pump started pumping. Apparently I had the misfortune of getting two bad new pumps in a row. The old pump is working like a champ and purring like a kitten. Probably will have to replace it in 6 months but till then I am happy.

 

No worries.
Loosen the high pressure hose at the servo.
Get fluid to come out by just cranking the engine.
Then put the hose on.
Leave it a bit loose to see if fluid come out.

My other idea ---
they put SEALANT in the bleeder.
You need open the bleeder and get a small bobby pin and use that to dig out the sealant in the bleed screw hole.

If nothing else take the bleed screw ALL THE WAY OUT.
Crank it to get a geyser and then put the bleed screw back in.

Once there is flow - it will self bleed.

 

I am going through the same thing right now, on my second brand new pump, not remanufactured.

When I open the bleed nipple I will get some air coming out then straight fluid. Close off the nipple, turn the steering wheel lock to lock when not running then open the bleed valve and more air bubbles before staight fluid. This happens continously.

The steering wheel has little resistance when bleeding like this until turning the engine on. When the engine is on and then turning the wheel from lock to lock, everything becomes stiff again.

Any ideas? Agian, this is the second brand new pump. There was a leak on the bottom of the pump which does not seem to be there now after managing to get one of the screws on the back tightened a quarter turn.

Is there too much air in the system?

Before the old pump went the steering was fine. Two days of the pump being noisy and then on the third day fluid went everywhere and the steering then became tough.

One mechanic is saying that it is the steering box but I am not convinced since the steering was fine before the fluid starting flying!

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

You need to leave the nipple open a bit and let the stuff squirt out.
You need a pretty big puddle under the rover and then the major air pockets are out.
I changed two of these and that's how it went.
Leave the cap OFF of the steering pump plastic bath too. You don't want a vacuum.
That defeats the purpose.

So,
Open the bleed screw wide.
Clear out any debris in the bleed screw.

Cap off of the power steering fluid tank - and go at it.
Yes, steering wheel - just back, forth, back forth.
not lock to lock.

When the pump is primed properly it is QUIET.

 

you could also pull off the hoses and see it there is any suction or discharge

 

jfall,

When moving the steering wheel back and forth, not going lock to lock, should the vehicle be running or off?

Also, this pump installed is quiet, no noise what so ever, just hard steering.

Could this be a steering box issue?

 

Running!!!
You got to run it to get the pump to pump.
Always running.
Just watch for it spewing fluid.
That's actually good if it spews.

 

Jfall -

I figured as much but since I have read other threads about turning the wheel with the engine off and opening the bleed valve I thought I should double check. I know the engine has to be running to build pressure!

Okay so here is what happened...

I attached a piece of clear tubing to the bleed nipple.
Started it up and waited for a couple of minutes for pressure to build.
Opened the bleed valve and air bubbles with a slight amount of fluid started into the tube. The air bubbles increased and then after a 45 - 60 seconds the line filled with fluid and no bubbles.
The fluid started up into the tube (tube is 2 ft long) and at around 10 inches it stopped flowing.
I turned the wheel side to side slightly and all the fluid started down the tube, back into the steering box.
When I stopped turning the wheel there was air bubbles back in the tube before it started filling with fluid as before.

I then took the bleed nipple right off and no geyser just a small amount of fluid came out and at one point there was nothing coming out.

This is the second straight new power steering pump and the company I have bought it through is having a hard time believing that two pumps in a row are not working and are saying it has to be something else.

Is there anything in the steering box, that if fails, will not allow for pressure to get to it or build up? Can any of the hoses impair pressure build up? The suction hose, the one from the reservoir to the bottom of the power steering pump was replaced with the pump.

Anyone's thoughts?

Thanks.