2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Power steering issues...

[PPillard]

Hey all,



Intermittantly, I've been having some power steering wierdness. Initial morning startups reveal very sluggish power steering, with whining coming from the pump, and sometimes ps fluid is being forced past the fill cap! Quite a bit of it.



Now, my power steering has completely failed, and I'm wondering if the pump is toast, does the filter need replacing, or were some seals ruptured?



I'm a little green on the power steering portion of automotives, so any help from you guys would be greatly appreciated.



Thanks in advance...

 

[JohnG]

Yup. . sounds to me like your pump is toast. . If you let them get low on fluid they can wear in a hurry, or it could just fail on it's own. . I'm a fairly new Dodge guy, so I'm not that familiar w/ the pump yet. . (thank goodness). . but you have all the symptoms. The fluid going ot the top could be from overheating and foaming due to the failure or low fluid. . Just my $. 02. . JohnG

 

[PPillard]

Hmmm, You got the foaming right on. I bought this baby a couple of months back, and it was low on ps fluid when I got it. The pump seemed to work fine when I filled the resivore, however, so I wasn't too worried about it. I guess the pump must really be toast, since it's starts pouring out and foaming right on start and hasn't had a chance to overheat yet...



I went to Autozone and they don't sell the pump. Is this something that I have to get from the dealer, or does someone have a line on a cheaper (yet still quality) option?

Thanks for the input, JohnG.

 

[Dan_69GTX]

I can't say I'm 100% convinced it is your pump.



It could also be a blockage - possibly your filter.



use this link to check your filter.

https://www.turbodieselregister.com...threadid=69047&highlight=pump+filter+picture*



good luck!

Dan

 

[PPillard]

I will definately try that before I swap out the pump (that could save me some denero). Thanks for the good link!

 

[PPillard]

Well, I just tried the filter-cleaning tip. My ps pump was puking foaming fluid out of the resivour mouth, and I pulled the filter to check it before swapping out the whole pump.



The filter was dirty and clogged, just as Tejas descibed. I was able to clean it well, but once re-assembled, my steering was still in the tubes.



My next step is to swap the pump. The question is, would I need to replace the pump had I cleaned out the filter 20k miles ago?



I also went and posted pretty much all the above on the thread Dan supplied me with, for info's sake.



I'm gonna do a quick search on ps pump swappage before heading to bed. If anyone has some tips on the whole ordeal, I'd be glad to hear them (never swapped a Cummin's ps pump before). Thanks.

 

[jrobinson2]

I just posted on the other thread, in my case it was the accumulator. I got mine working until I had a chance to change the booster by completely flushing and refilling with the Valvoline synthetic fluid. Everything works fine without the accumulator, you just don't have reserve pressure to the brakes if the engine quits running.

Jared

 

[PPillard]

I was wrong! Cleaning the filter really did work!

Originally posted by PPillard

The filter was dirty and clogged, just as Tejas descibed. I was able to clean it well, but once re-assembled, my steering was still in the tubes.

I have to retract this statement . The next day after the cleaning surgeory, I took the truck out for good long drive. Apparently it needed the drive to really prime the system, as the steering perked up a bit. I pulled over and capped off the system with fluid (it was low after it finally primed), and she's been performing flawlessly ever since. Even cold morning startups have revealed plenty of pump for steering.



I purposely held back from posting this long to ensure that the pump was really doin' it's job for the long run, and I now I believe it seems to be fixed. Thanks Tejas, as you saved me the cost of a new ps pump. Oo.