AWOL PS cap- second time now

[Rockcrawler]

Anyone else having PS caps fall off their 3rd gen trucks? Dealer had another one on order for someone else already- I lost 2 in less than 60k miles. Is their an upgrade or are people ziptieing them on??

 

[Not_Agn]

Yeah! I popped mine off twice now. I luckily found one inbetween the steering gear and frame, and the other time it was hanging by a thread on the spring tower. Haven't checked lately. Hope it is still there. Lee.

 

[EB]

You have an obstruction in your hydro-boost. You will have a hard time convincing the dealer of that, but that is it. I went through 2 power steering pumps, and a rack and pinion before I changed the hydro-boost. I haven't had any problems since. (over 30,000 miles. I went through 8 or 10 caps, (yes, I did put a zip tie through them to save them) DO NOT zip tie the cap on, I did that and blew the pump apart. Believe me it is the hydro-boost.

 

[Rockcrawler]

You have an obstruction in your hydro-boost. You will have a hard time convincing the dealer of that, but that is it. I went through 2 power steering pumps, and a rack and pinion before I changed the hydro-boost. I haven't had any problems since. (over 30,000 miles. I went through 8 or 10 caps, (yes, I did put a zip tie through them to save them) DO NOT zip tie the cap on, I did that and blew the pump apart. Believe me it is the hydro-boost.

Thanks for sharing that, it's an interesting thought and something I will pursue.



Playing devil's advocate, I'd have to side with the doubting dealer- at least until I review it more. It seams to me the cap has a "diaphram" on the stick, but not a seal. That being the case, the cap should retain fluid, yet breather freely in the event of a pressure spike. It may burp fluid out but the cap should stay put. I'll study this more today when the new cap arrives.

 

[obie1]

What hydro-boost are you talking about? The same for the Power Brakes and Clutch?

 

[EB]

Pressure line runs from the power steering pump to the hydro-boost, from there to the rack and pinion, from there to the cooler and back to the pump. The clutch is not included in this system.

 

[Rockcrawler]

Well, the cap has an O-ring not a diaphram..... There is no provision for breathing, a pressure spike would spit the cap right out. The tech at the dealer was suggesting I fab another res to feed the res, this one with a breather cap. I do this all the time with my crawlers, but why should I have to on an ill designed OEM system??



I'll be making some calls today. I may put the cap on a tether so the evidence is saved.

 

[Rockcrawler]

update, 2 caps later, calls to 4 dealers and DC and no one had a solution. I did not want to rack up billable hours for them to say " can't find anything".



On my current cap I drilled and tapped for 1/8 pipe, used a brass fitting with 3/16" poly line, routed it up high, with a couple small loops and zip tied it to the ps hose. It's a breather and a tether- cap is still on 1500 miles later. last one was gone in less than 100 miles- hope this info helps someone

 

[RTao]

Anybody just pull the o-ring on the PS cap? I didn't see where drilling a hole in the cap would relieve the pressure that builds up, it looks like the o-ring would just keep it in.



Thanks in advance.



Rusty