Archived no steering/no brakes

[BVol]

took off down driveway. . no power steering and no brakes. I checked under the hood after work,found leak by power steering pump,can't tell exactly where from. I figure since brake hydro boost isn't working it must be the p. s. pump. I hope it is all covered by warranty---going to have to be towed into the dealer

 

[Joe Mc]

BVol - Let us know how you make out - don't spare any details. What is your rig? year etc.

 

[SS]

Seems like there have been a few of these lately. I'll bet it's an '01 and the accumulator on the brake master cylinder has burst and forced fluid out of the cap on the pump. It's the anodized blue cylinder next to the master cylinder - it's filled with pressurized nitrogen to give you a couple of stops it the engine quits. Fill the p/s reservoir and work the air out of the system - may have to raise the RPM and saw the steering wheel. That should get you going. Then check brakes in a big parking lot by shutting the engine off and stopping from 2-3 mph. If the brake pedal is hard immediately and no assist you've found your problem. Get the dealer to fix it. Good luck.

 

[TMorris]

I had the same thing happen to me TWICE this past winter in my 2001 ram. In the first week of january i was backing out of my garage and i noticed that there were no brakes and i could not steer. As i was backing out of the driveway my dad was waving his arms and yelling at me to turn off the truck. I got out and right infront of the truck there was a 2' diameter puddle of fluid. I was like "oh ****, what's wrong now. "



I had to gingerly pull it out of the driveway and park it off to the side. The next day i had it towed to the dealer to get it looked at. This was not a warranty repair, since i had about 45,000 miles on the truck at the time. I was hoping it wasnt the hydroboost pump (thousands of $$ to fix). It turned out to be a bad power steering pump. They said it blew up, and let out all the ps fluid.



So $600 and 3 days later i had my truck back. All was well for almost exactly 2 months, when a similar thing happened in the first week of march! I could not brake or steer the truck. I was beyond ****** at this point, after paying $600 to fix this problem and it showed up again. So it was towed to the dealer the next morning and they said that there was excess air in the system from when then did the work in january. So they let it sit for a while inside their heated shop, and then let the truck run for a while to warm up. That must have helped to purge out the air in the system. Then they filled up the fluid and i was on my way.



This is just my own experience with the ps pump going out. I would think that in your case the ps pump has gone south. If you are under 36,000 miles it IS a warranty repair, so you shouldnt have to pay anything. If not it'll run approximately $600 to get it fixed at a dealership.



Tim

 

[BVol]

thanks for the info! I think that's what I am up against,been raining to hard to go out and look closer. My truck is also a '01 and it has just over 31,000 miles . This is the first problem I've had. Actually paid off the loan this weekend!

 

[SS]

Tim,



Can you check your brakes with the engine off (in a large, empty parking lot of course) and report back here? A few guys have reported this issue. My original pump seems to be fine now for steering and brake assist, but with the engine off - no brakes. Might never need to use it, but I sure want it there just in case. Thanks.



Steve

 

[RichB59]

Same problem

I am going thru the same problem. Puddle of oil found it to be comeing from the PS pump fill cap,appears to be overfull as if oil is returning and not pumping back to the system. I took some out and let it sit. The next time I started it everything is working. I'm afraid to drive it. I'll let the dealer deal with it. (not much hope there) Something is sticking maybe an oil change to Syn PS fluid???? If you come to some solution let me know.







Thanks Rich

 

[wtrenholm]

I get four good applies with the engine off. The fifth is pretty much depleted the accumulator charge.



To test, just start the engine for a little while and shut it back down. Then pump the brake pedal, you can tell when the accumulator depletes by the change in pedal feel, doesn't kick back and noise changes.



On some early intergal ABS systems you had to do the same thing to check brake fluid level.



Wayne

 

[BVol]

dealer told me I'd have it back tomorrow(again!!)

 

[BVol]

got my truck back today... ..... new power steering pump AND vacuum pump with seal I'm at 31,300 miles so it's all covered by warranty(thankfully) anyone have any idea why the vacuum pump would have failed? I was told after they "got brakes and steering working(meaning installed new p/s pump I assume)" they found a leak by the vacuum pump and "might have nicked the seal while re-installing it" thanks to everyone who weighed in with comments---good luck to those in same position