Steering still hard after changing power steering pump
 

Hi all,

My power steering pump developed a sudden leak at the gasket, resulting in hard steering and whine. I replaced the pump with a unit from Miami British along with the low pressure hose, and topped up the fluid. Waited until the truck warmed up and took it out for a drive, but the steering is very hard, like there is no "power" to it at all.

Checked the belt, checked the fluid, checked for leaks and nothing seems wrong.

Ideas?

lift the front axle off of the ground and turn the wheels full lock to full lock, then check for bubbles in the res.

You have to bleed the PS system to get the air out. This is how I do it:

1)Find a small wrench that fits the bleed screw and keep it near by

2)attach a clear hose to the bleed nipple and run it down to the ground into a catch container.

3) take off the lid to the reservoir, make sure it's full and start the truck.

4) once warm (around 160 and above) I take the wrench and very carefully reach my hand down between the intake tube and the fan and get ready to open the bleeder.

5) With a helper, have someone start to turn the steering wheel in one direction while you open the bleeder. Once they reach the fully lock position have them hold it there for 2-3 seconds and close the bleeder. (don't hold at full lock for longer than 10 seconds). Once the bleeder is closed tell them to start turning the other way. Open the bleeder again before they reach full lock in the other direction and close it after 2-3 seconds at full lock.

6) Top up the reservoir. You can usually open the bleeder 2 times before it needs a refill, but if you open it full blast then it can drain quick so keep an eye on it and never let it get low or it will suck in more air.

7) repeat steps 5, 3-4 times and you should be air free and have all fresh fluid in the system.

I hope this helps.

Thanks for the responses...hoping it might be something about this. I'll enlist my DW to do the turning and see if there's air in the system.

I'm to lazy to do the correct procedure.


That's why I just top off the res, lift both tires off the ground, and turn it lock to lock a few times. It has always worked for me


Jareds procedure is more professional though, and probably better for the pump.

Still no power assist
 

Bled the system, but nothing was coming out consistently from the bleed screw. With the fluid reservoir cap off, it would only show a couple of bigger bubbles when the steering was close to lock. Otherwise, no movement in fluid, so I took it to the local LR dealer....probably a bad move, but I seem to be prone to making those.

They've replaced both the fluid reservoir and the high pressure line, and still no movement. They're now saying the new PAS pump is faulty, but I think that's unlikely. It's a brand new one from Lucky8, and both the original pump and the new one result in the same behaviour.

There is still the return line from the gearbox to the reservoir that could be plugged, and also the gearbox itself. Is there a way to backflush the gearbox, or do a hydraulic pressure/flow test of the gearbox while it's still on the vehicle? Also, IF I need to replace the box, some websites indicate that there are two versions: '99-'02 and '03-'04, while others say that all years use the same one. Can anyone please confirm which is correct?

Thanks in advance.

Well, the internals are a little different in each box. The 99-01's have internal stops, while the 02-04's have nothing and rely on the stops on the axles.

If the dealer says your pumps bad, it probably is. There has been a lot of bad PAS pumps out of the box on this forum the last few months....

You could blow some air through the steering box lines if you wanted? Not sure what the result would be though? Maybe messy!!

are the bolts loose on the back?


you can see if the pumps work by bench testing it. hook the hose up, fill it with oil and spin it, it will shoot out the outlet.

Are the two interchangeable though?