Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) No power steering or brakes. Now what???

[DBoyd]

Went to fire up the 99 to get groceries this AM and discovered that sorry dog had thrown craps while setting in the driveway!!!! That POC breaks down even when I'm not driving it!! Anyway, the symptoms are, no power steering, no brake boost, and a big puddle of oil under the ps pump. I can't see where it is leaking and was needing a clue as to where to start!! I suppose that there is a seal between the pump and gear case and how hard is it to get all that equipment apart? There is more than plenty oil in the reservoir on the pump. I am even questioning if it is possible for engine oil to migrate back into the pump and overfill it. HMMM???

Thanks for any and all help.

 

[Bloomy]

Ok, help me out a little bit. You should have a two piece vacuum pump with the powersteering pump attached to it, yes? I am pretty sure that is what you have. My 95 actually has the 3-piece pump. Get a vacuum gauge and start the truck and see what for vacuum pressure you have. I am willing to say that you don't have any. It is very rare for the vacuum pump itself to fail because the design is so simple. It will however develop leaks and most of them do. There are now rebuild kits availlable. I just did mine with a kit from Pete Gould. The directions on the DVD make it easy. If you determine that you don't have any vacuum then look for leaks. At the cruise control under the driver side battery is a good place for leaks, but check everywhere. Keep us informed.



http://www.fixinrams.com/



Thomas

 

[RichB59]

Had same problem!!

I solved this by servicing the pump res. with valvoline synthetic PS fluid. This happened to me twice after long trips it would puke out in the driveway, a little scarey to start up with no brakes and no steering. Since I changed fluids I have driven across country and a trip to Alaska without a problem. Try it its a cheap fix.



LOL Rich

 

[DBoyd]

Thanks for your posts. I have the synthetic fluid in the res. currently. Where is there a location to check the vacuum??

Thanks.

 

[DBoyd]

Bloomy,

Why would a seal failure on the vac pump cause the steering and brakes to quit? Aren't they powered by the strg pump??

 

[Bloomy]

I didn't mean necessarily to imply that a leaking seal would cause the problem. The brakes are powered by the vacuum. If there isn't any vacuum they won't work. What does the pedal feel like? The steering is a bit more difficult. The shaft that powers the vacuum pump also powers the power steering pump. If for some reason the shaft broke/damaged, then the power steering wouldn't work. That, however isn't something I have ever heard of. So I would start with checking vacuum. You can pull any vacuum line and attach the gauge to it so long as it is tight. As soon as you start the truck it should read around 25hg/in. Start with that. I need to look at a 97 to see how the hydraulic brake booster works.



Thomas

 

[bnbrown]

The power brakes an steering are powered by the ps pump, I imagine they were refering to the oil pool under the truck... what kind of oil is it? color is different typically, I run the valvoline synpower ps fluid, and it is clear. I had a problem that the bolts on top of my steering box (hold the cover plate on) would work loose and then pee fluid out, but took care of that, and replaced the ps pump, and replaced all the seals in the vaccum pump with pete's seal pack also last week... trying to patch up all the leaks and dribbles, kinda embarassing sometimes when she marks the wrong territory. I would loose power steering and brakes when the bolts on the steering box worked loose, but the ps res. sure wasnt full. For r and r of the vaccum and ps pump took me about an hour and half for remove and an hour for replace... only took me a half hour the second time when I couldnt get the pressure line to thread into the pump.

 

[ata]

If the power steering pump res. is over full probably what has happened is. The Blue can on the brake hydra booster is full of Nitrogen it gives you about 3 brake app's when the engine is off. They blow a seal and leak the Nitrogen in to the system and push the oil out the res. cap. Jack the front wheels off the ground and start the engine and turn the steering wheel from stop to stop to work the nitrogen out of the system. (This will take lots of turns) If this gets the power steering and brakes to work turn the engine off and try the brakes if the pedal is hard again there is no nitrogen in the can and the Hydra booster needs to be changed.

 

[DBoyd]

Well, here's the latest update on the saga!! I fired it up to see if I could find the leak, to no avail, but after idling for 5 min or so I got the steering back along with the brakes. So I drive it down to the car wash to hose off the leak area and then drive back. Steering and brakes the whole way. I get back to look for the leak some more and check the reservoir and discover it is empty!!! It was full before the trip of a mile or so and now it needs refilled. No major oil down underneath or anything!!! This thing is getting curiouser and curiouser!!! Any ideas??

 

[DBoyd]

Oh, I have good vacuum too.

 

[Bloomy]

Dboyd,



I had to do a little research on the hydraulic brake booster. So basically what I told you doesn't apply. My truck doesn't have the booster since they didn't start that until 97. My brakes are vacuum controlled and I have had a few problems that were similiar. Sorry to mislead you. It's pretty obvious you have a leak somewhere. Fill it up again and keep watching. That's about all I can tell you now. If you are leaking engine oil at the vacuum pump, don't be afraid to do the rebuild from the site I gave you or some of the others. Keep us informed.



Thomas

 

[DBoyd]

Thank you for the input and I will continue the inwestigation. Is it possible for the ps reservoir to dump the oil into the engine and vice versa??

 

[Bloomy]

I am going to say no. From the rebuild I did, I can't remember seeing any way possible. The reservior is completely sealed from the vacuum pump. Keep looking.



Thomas

 

[DBoyd]

Thank you Thomas, I am dragging out the service manual to try and decipher the problem and maybe see an exploded view.

 

[ata]

If the power steering pump res. is over full probably what has happened is. The Blue can on the brake hydra booster is full of Nitrogen it gives you about 3 brake app's when the engine is off. They blow a seal and leak the Nitrogen in to the system and push the oil out the res. cap. Jack the front wheels off the ground and start the engine and turn the steering wheel from stop to stop to work the nitrogen out of the system. (This will take lots of turns) If this gets the power steering and brakes to work turn the engine off and try the brakes if the pedal is hard again there is no nitrogen in the can and the Hydra booster needs to be changed. [/QU



Like I said in this post the power steering Reservoir was full or over full because the nitrogen booster on the Hydra booster failed and filled the Hydralic system with nitrogen. When you drove the truck the nitrogen bubble got to the power steering reservoir and that's why it was low. With the engine running you have brakes with the engine off the brake pedal is hard but you should have atleast 3 applications before the pedal gets hard. You can drive the truck with a failed Nitrogen booster but if the engine dies while your driving the truck you will wish you had fixed it.

 

[BryceC]

My truck has done this twice now. One suggestion that the dealer mechanic made was that I would turn the wheel when I was getting in or out of it with the engine not running. The other suggestion he had was that there is a valve sticking the steering box or something, but I haven't done anything about it yet.

 

[DBoyd]

Hey ata,

That sounds reasonable and I will check it out when it quits raining!! Thanks and I'll let you all know what I find. Oh, how hard is it to change the blue can??

DB

 

[ata]

The easy way to find out if the Nitrogen Booster has failed is, The next time you drive the truck is stop set the E-Brake take your foot off the brake pedal turn the engine off wait 10 seconds then step on the brake pedal if the pedal is hard to push the Nitrogen Booster has failed. If the pedal pushes easy I'm all wet and you can go back to looking for something else. You can't just change the Blue can you have to replace the whole Hydra-Booster. Hope you get it figured out.