No pressure in power steering

[Jonny]

Hello my dodge people I have a problem and need help. I have a 2000 dodge 2500 24 valve diesel 4x4. I have no pressure in my power steering System. I’ve replaced the pump and and hydro booster twice already. The steering wheel is hard and my brakes are not working. I don’t know why I’m not getting any pressure in my high pressure line. And I take down the vacuum pump when I replace the power steering pump to align them together. The vacuum pump seems to be working fine and sucking air so I don’t know what to do now.

 

[BoeingDiesel]

Johnny, welcome to the TDR...there are many folks on this forum that will ask you the right questions and help you resolve the issue.
Question; are you saying that you've replaced (2) P/S pumps because of this condition? Also, are you cracking the connection on the H/B body and not getting a good flow of fluid?

 

[DavidC]

Sounds like it is air locked, did you jack up the front to clear the tires from the ground and turn the steering lock to lock multiple times while checking the fluid level

 

[Jonny]

Johnny, welcome to the TDR...there are many folks on this forum that will ask you the right questions and help you resolve the issue.
Question; are you saying that you've replaced (2) P/S pumps because of this condition? Also, are you cracking the connection on the H/B body and not getting a good flow of fluid?

Johnny, welcome to the TDR...there are many folks on this forum that will ask you the right questions and help you resolve the issue.
Question; are you saying that you've replaced (2) P/S pumps because of this condition? Also, are you cracking the connection on the H/B body and not getting a good flow of fluid?

Yes I thought I got a bad power steering pump so I replaced it .yes I’m cracking the connection and not getting any fluid

 

[Jonny]

Sounds like it is air locked, did you jack up the front to clear the tires from the ground and turn the steering lock to lock multiple times while checking the fluid level

I read stuff about air but I jacked it up anda turned it a few times and wasn’t getting any better but I’m have to try that again

 

[BoeingDiesel]

Yeah, I agree with David. Somewhere in the past 20 years I've read that it takes about 20 cycles to the left and right to purge the air from the system.

 

[JeepBuilder]

The manual says 20 times with wheels off the ground avoiding bump stops. 40 times if you have a PS cooler. I have a cooler and man that took a while. I don't know if you have read about the pluses of using redline pS fluid, but I switched to it to address some cold weather issues along with a screen clean in the high pressure line, and it saved me a pump swap. I realize you have a clean screen now with the new pump. When you are trying to get flow by turning the wheel, try a slight bump in RPM. That brought my flow to life and got things moving.

 

[crabman]

While you have it off the ground, engine running & turning wheels lock to lock, lightly pump the brakes.

 

[petersonj]

I have no pressure in my power steering System. I’ve replaced the pump and and hydro booster twice already. The steering wheel is hard and my brakes are not working.

What were the symptoms of the first failure - the failure before you started replacing pumps?

Something doesn't seem right here. Even with air entrained in the fluid, there still should be some power steering action.

It is possible that the power steering pump shaft may not be rotating because something is broken in the vacuum pump tail shaft area or the coupling to the power steering pump. Not a normal problem - but a possible problem.

- John

 

[Jonny]

What were the symptoms of the first failure - the failure before you started replacing pumps?

Something doesn't seem right here. Even with air entrained in the fluid, there still should be some power steering action.

It is possible that the power steering pump shaft may not be rotating because something is broken in the vacuum pump tail shaft area or the coupling to the power steering pump. Not a normal problem - but a possible problem.

- John

Hey john so months before my brakes where acting up so I replace the hydro booster and it kinda fixed the problem for a little but a week after I would brake n turn and loose power steering.. then one day I took it around the block was fine than I pulled it into my drive and it took a poop there no brakes or power steering .. and that’s when the circus began ... I took down the vacuum pump and re sealed it and it seemed fine nothing was loose and the gear looked fine and was in working order..

 

[BoeingDiesel]

Jonny, a little history on the truck may help. Are you the original owner...how many miles on the truck..did you flush out the old fluid when you replaced the pump? you've got a new screen in your new pump but if you have contaminated fluid that may well contribute to your situation.

 

[JeepBuilder]

The little screen in the high pressure fitting in the pump has incredibly small fine mesh. So a new one could get restricted with dirty fluid. It occurred to me to mention that when I had my cold weather issues, and I cleaned that screen, switched to Redline, I also added a magnafine filter to the power steering return line. So it might be a good thing to add in. Don't put it in the brake return line. It should go in the PS return line. I am putting one on a couple different rigs here. Here is a link if there is a decision to get one.

https://www.magnefinefilters.com/

 

[Joe Mc]

Hey Johnny, welcome to the TDR! Do yourself a favor, best $$$ (almost) I've spent on my truck was https://www.genosgarage.com/product...rvice-manual/dodgeram-factory-service-manuals. I prefer the paper manuals as you can set them on the truck while working and not worry about them falling and crashing to pieces like a laptop or other electronic item. There's a ton of items, parts, accessories and the like on Geno's that actually are high quality and fairly priced...

 

[DavidC]

Hey Johnny, welcome to the TDR! Do yourself a favor, best $$$ (almost) I've spent on my truck was https://www.genosgarage.com/product...rvice-manual/dodgeram-factory-service-manuals. I prefer the paper manuals as you can set them on the truck while working and not worry about them falling and crashing to pieces like a laptop or other electronic item. There's a ton of items, parts, accessories and the like on Geno's that actually are high quality and fairly priced...

I have the paper and the cd. I guess the good thing with the cd is you can print out what your working on and not worry about getting oil/grease on the pages. When done throw it away. Sometimes I find it easier to navigate the paper manual tho.

 

[Jonny]

Hey everyone thank you for your input so what i got going Is I decided to take off the gear box and it’s destroyed what I was told when I took it in to get re built .. so I believe that is what was cause my power steering and breaker to malfunction and clog up .. so after I put thins gear box back on I’m flush it real good and see what happen. Hopefully it fixes my problem I’ll let you guys know what happens

 

[Jonny]

Hello everybody so I got my power steering working by replacing my gear box!!pretty happy bout it but my breaks feel funny. When I turn my wheel all the way seems like the brakes don’t work as well and truck comes to a rolling stop

 

[petersonj]

This may be worth a try. There may be air still trapped in the accumulator for the brake assist from when you replaced the steering gear box. Without the engine running deplete the accumulator by stepping firmly on the brake pedal several times slowly. You will notice the brake pedal will feel differently after the accumulator is completely depleted of power steering fluid. When you start the engine, the power steering pump should give the accumulator a fresh charge of unaerated fluid.

- John