I bought a pump for an 86 Cutlass because it was in stock after Auto Zone lost the correct pump for my 77 Cutlass in shipping. The only differences seemed to be that the mounting stud on the back was metric, which i swapped from the old pump. The high pressure fitting was the O-ring style on the 86 pump so i swapped it out for my original which is the flair fitting style. I didn't change the flow valve behind the fitting however which i feel was a mistake. Now though the pump seems to be pumping and the system is bled, i have no power steering! Should i take it apart and swap flow valves? If not i suppose i got a bad new pump (Shocking!) Anyway thanks in advance for any advice you could give.

 

It SOUNDS like you may not have bled all the air out of the system. JMO. If you have flow, you should have power steering. Have no idea since I'm not there. That pump should pump what you need for power steering. We're talking max pressures of ~1300 psi. The shuttle valve should only come into play during max pressures, like hitting the stops at a turn. The big spring behind the shuttle valve can make a bit of difference in the lower range, talking hundreds of psi depending on the length, but the shims in the shuttle valve can make a huge difference on max pressure. The flow control valve seems to be correct. The shuttle valves are pretty much the same piece over the years, the only differences I can think of would be the number of shims on the valve, and the main "big" shuttle valve spring tension/length. There's a spring and check ball inside the shuttle valve, but again, that pressure is adjusted by the number of shims. You can take them apart, but if everything is free and clean, you shouldn't have to. MOST car pump valves are calibrated similarly within a few hundred psi, but not always. But regardless, they all should pump enough to give you power steering. The 86 Cutlass pump should be very similar to your 77 calibrations.

Had you swapped the shuttle valve and main spring and the control valve all in one shot, along with that stud, you should be on easy street as you would effectively have the same pump as you did before. Even so, unless you had several missing or stuck pump vanes, or a heavily scored pump housing valve bore (both very unlikely), you still should have some flow, thus power steering. Another possibility, and unlikely, is the shuttle valve is stuck in the bore. If you have like a long 1/8" allen key, you can take the hose off the fitting and stick it in the flow control valve hole and press on the shuttle valve to see if it's stuck. If it moves in and springs back, it's free. If it doesn't move, it may be stuck and that isn't good.

Just some ideas. Good luck.

 

So i spend several hours with the car today. I again flushed everything and bled the crap out of it. Wheels in the air, turning back and forth probably about 100 times, then drove it, and had nothing. I then bled it some more. and still the same result. I started to suspect the pump, and swapped back to the old pump because it was getting weak but still working somewhat before removal. I bled the old pump just as many times bleeding, driving, bleeding again. Still nothing. The new pump makes no noise at all when installed. and now the old 1 makes no noise either? What am i missing here? This seems like there is still an air bubble in the steering gear, but i cant bleed it away. What's more, fluid flows from the steering gear through the return hose when the wheels are turned, engine off. Is it a possibility there's something wrong with the steering gear it self? Why cant i seem to burb this air bubble if that's what it is. Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

It makes NO hissing sounds when turned to the locks while running?

Still doesn't make much sense. If you somehow have blown seals in the steering gear, you would still have some power assist. But that's if you have bled all the air out of the system.

How did you bleed it? Cap off, engine off when doing the many turns back and forth?

It's POSSIBLE you got a bad reman pump.

The only thing I can think of if it's not trapped air, is blockage. How old are your hoses? Original, or new? Like brake hoses, any old hoses could degrade on the inside and look fine on the outside. Thinking out loud here but I haven't had coffee yet so I can't think straight. It may not block flow 100%, but could cause issues if partially blocked.

 

So i changed out the return hose when this all started. The pressure hose is only about 2 years old. I bled it with the wheels up and cap off. There's more craziness however! This morning i went to move the car, and the power steering worked for the first 3 turns. After that it faded out to nothing halfway through the 4th turn of the wheel. What would cause it to work, and then not work again?

 

Air.