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Help needed. My power steering worked fine, but the gear box seemed sloppy. I got a replacement from Rock Auto, the AC Delco direct replacement. Made the swap along with new hoses and pitman arm (didn't want to waste time getting the old one off) and rag joint. Got it all together, did a couple of quick starts of the car in order to get the system filled back up. Turned the wheel from lock to lock to clear air bubbles. I took the car for a ride and it worked absolutely great. Then the problem started...
I drove it around the block congratulating myself on a job well done, when all of the sudden the power steering started to act intermittently. By the time I finished a 15 minute ride, the power assist was gone. I checked for any binding, couldn't see anything. The fluid in the pump was clear but now is a brownish cloudy. What happened?
Last edited by Kowal; November 2nd, 2016 at 04:13 PM.
Reason: Update
The return hose did seem a little odd in how it ended up being routed, I swapped it late last night, though too tired and interested in the baseball game to do a test run. Hopefully that and another effort to purge air will do it. Will advise.
I changed the return hose to be sure there was no obstruction. I put the front end up in the air, with the engine off and steering pump cap off ...I turned the wheels repeatedly stop to stop. Did get some air out of the system, sort of like the air at the end of bleeding the brakes. When doing this, the steering wheel, the whole steering linkage turns very easily with no obvious binding.
Put the car back down, started it up, pulled in and out of the garage with no power assist to speak of. So...still broke!
So...pump? Could the box be bad? What do I swap next????
Also, I did notice while checking for any binding that when I grab a wheel, I could get the linkage to move a bit side to side, the play coming from the pitman arm shaft in to the steering box.
If you've got no assist at all, then sit in the car with the front wheels off the ground and the engine running and turn it lock to lock for 30 minutes.
If the power assist cuts in and out while driving, I'd worry about it. I had exactly this happen on an Olds years ago. While not fatal, the sudden loss of assist is disconcerting, and if it comes back in the middle of a turn, that CAN cause an accident.
I agree this is likely to be an air problem, but another thing to look at is the pressure valve in the outlet port of the pump. This valve has a spring and adjusting nut (hint: you CAN adjust the pressure and thus amount of assist in the steering). In my case, the nut had come loose and the valve would alternately build pressure in the system then lose it.
I should clarify that, in my experience, the NO power steering mode can last longer than you think (ie: until after a lot more repetitions of lock-to-lock turning than seems right), but after that, when you basically have power steering all the time, the steering can still be juddery (not flat-out NO power, but un-smooth and irregular) for a day or more, with occasional hiccups lasting up to a week.
Based on my own experiences, I personally don't believe that you can effectively bleed a dry power steering system in a single sitting - I think that "foamed" air needs time to rise, and for its tiny bubbles to coalesce before it can be expelled, and that this requires both several days' time, and intermittent driving in order to be accomplished.
I took it out tonite for about a half an hour. Hitting a lot of nearby parking lots and doing a lot of figure 8's. Seems better...my 69 Charger is a manual steering car and it was worse than driving that when I started, now it seems better...I am down to problems with it not really being possible to turn the wheel much while stationary (have to be moving), it seems OK while driving but stiffens occasionally, some turns are stiff. It was doing the cut in and out thing but that seems to be settling down. I will hit it again over the weekend. Thanks for all the input. I would hate to take it all back apart, the whole project seemed to come out so great with no leaks, etc.
If the power assist cuts in and out while driving, I'd worry about it. I had exactly this happen on an Olds years ago. While not fatal, the sudden loss of assist is disconcerting, and if it comes back in the middle of a turn, that CAN cause an accident.
I agree this is likely to be an air problem, but another thing to look at is the pressure valve in the outlet port of the pump. This valve has a spring and adjusting nut (hint: you CAN adjust the pressure and thus amount of assist in the steering). In my case, the nut had come loose and the valve would alternately build pressure in the system then lose it.
Ding, Ding, Ding...we have a winner! Still couldn't get it working, took the power steering pump off figuring I would just replace. Opened up the pressure valve and the whole thing was loose in my hand. Swapped the pump anyway since I had ordered it. Everything works now after a careful flush and bleeding. Thanks guys!!!!
November 1st, 2016, 04:26 PM
