Hey guys. Sorry to write another thread, but I'm needing to get some things fixed and need a little help.

 

1st: powersteering pump.

   So Genos garage has a new, not rebuilt borgeson steering pump for my truck. I believe its 800328. I've thought about just resealing mine, but there is more going on to it than I think a re-seal will do. Fluids smell burnt, its leaking, and it whines and groans prett bad, especially in the morning. 258k miles I'm sure it's about done.

    They have the same pump on amazon, but the reviews arent pretty. So I'm not sure what to do here, I dont want to take a risk and buy a piece of crap. 

    While it's out, I'll be re-sealing the vacuum pump. Also, what is a good steering fluid to use in the new pump?

 

2nd: axel seal

 

    So when I had my ball joints done, I was going to have my axel seal done too while he was at it. But he told me I have the wrong part. I made sure at napa it was the axel with the CAD, but when looking online at torque king .com, it doesnt look the same. I've included a pic of napas for some help clarifying too. Also, the torque king has the CAD seal too, NAPA didnt. 

https://torqueking.com/product/4631/qk4631-cad-side-front-inner-axle-seal-tool-kit-1988-2001-dodge/

 

What are your guys thoughts? 

My pump is leaking quite a bit just sitting over the weekend, I need to get it done soon.

 

Thanks for the continued help.

It is likely that there is air still entrained in the system.  Even after the initial bleeding of air, there is still lots of air trapped in various parts of the system - hoses, steering gear box, the brake booster accumulator , etc.  The flow rate of the power steering pump is about 2 gallons per minute.  The whole system only holds about one gallon of fluid, so that means that all the fluid circulates through system in about 30 seconds.  I am just using round numbers here, but you get the idea. 

 

Once the engine is started, the fluid and air immediately mix and both are carried rapidly through the system.  The only place for the air to separate from the fluid is when the fluid enters the reservoir and slows its velocity enough to allow for the air bubbles to rise to the top of the fluid and escape.  When the fluid is cold, this separation takes longer and a lot of the air is recirculated back through the system.

 

When I change power steering fluid, after the initial bleeding I start the engine and shut if off almost immediately giving the aerated fluid entering the reservoir a little time to release the air.  I do this a few times allowing the engine to run longer each time.  While the engine is off, I completely discharge the accumulator by stepping on the brake pedal several times (air can be trapped here).  Eventually, with the front axle on jack stands, I steer from stop to stop using the same procedure.  During this whole operation I frequently check and top off the fluid in the reservoir.  I then drive the truck to get the fluid to full operating temperature which helps get the remaining air separated from the fluid.

 

Regarding the power steering feels weak problem:  I have had three power steering pumps on my truck through its life of 340,000 miles (I am the original owner).  The first one did not fail - I replaced it at 215,000 miles with a new Borgeson just as a maintenance procedure.  In hindsight, I should have kept it.  At 290,000 miles the Borgeson pump failed.  I replaced it with a Napa remanufactured pump along with a Napa custom ordered remanufactured quick ratio steering gear box.  All is well so far and I really like the gearbox.

 

ALL of my power steering pumps in my opinion are NOT heavy duty and are not adequate for the heavy front end of a Cummins powered truck .  All of them could be stalled at idle with foot on the brake and steering hard to the left or the right before reaching the steering stop.

 

Just one opinion,

 

- John

Edited May 9, 20204 yr by Tractorman
clarification on the last sentence of the fifth paragraph

I am blessed. Still have the oe at 500k. But it seems to have an on again and off again leak. Mostly off. Had to fill about 3 months ago and then again a month later but now 2 months after that I have not added anymore. The only time I have touched that pump is when I resealed the vacuum pump a couple years back. I took it off the vacuum before removing the vacuum pump and never opened it up.

@dripley, it seems that you and @Mopar1973Man made the right choice in keeping the OEM power steering pump.

 

- John

Edited May 9, 20204 yr by Tractorman

8 minutes ago, Tractorman said:

@dripley, it seems that you and @Mopar1973Man made the right choice in keeping the OEM power steering pump.

 

- John

It has surprised me some of the oe things that are still on my truck.

Likewise... I still have original OEM front wheel bearings, rear axle bearings and seals, wiper motor, evaporator core, right tie rod end, front and rear antisway bar bushings, brake booster, brake master cylinder, clutch master and slave cylinder -  just to name a few.

 

I think the quality of build peaked in 2002 - the last of the Second Generation.  This motivates me to keep my truck.

 

- John

Thanks for the replies. Ill give it a little time to get the remaining air out of the system. I didn't get it up to operating temp, so I'll give it a week or so and let you know if something changes or not. Next is the heater core....yaaaaaay. shouldn't be to bad. I'm excited to just get things checked off the list.