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Welcome To Mopar1973Man.Com LLC
We are privately owned, with access to a professional Diesel Mechanic, who can provide additional support for Dodge Ram Cummins Diesel vehicles. Many detailed information is FREE and available to read. However, in order to interact directly with our Diesel Mechanic, Michael, by phone, via zoom, or as the web-based option, Subscription Plans are offered that will enable these and other features. Go to the Subscription Page and Select a desired plan. At any time you wish to cancel the Subscription, click Subscription Page, select the 'Cancel' button, and it will be canceled. For your convenience, all subscriptions are on auto-renewal.
Hey all, hoping I can get some advice or an answer from somebody who has had this problem or knows a lot more than I do. Last night, I decided to flush my power steering system because my steering never has been great and I’m also sure it’s never been done (truck has 320k miles). Before flushing, I did the DIY hot rod pump mod because after reading and seeing how much people liked it I figured I’d give it a try. I drilled the holes to the proper size and location on my Bridgeport and made sure they were exactly centered. I cleaned the relief valve and reinstalled it as well. Next, I did the flushing procedure as described in the Haynes manual, removed both return lines and routed them to a bucket, had a helper turn the wheel while I added fluid. I wasn’t expecting it at first, but when the truck was started I had fluid blowing out the return line from the hydroboost before the wheel was even turned, so the pump ran dry for a second or so cause I couldn’t catch up with the bottle of fluid in my hand. Nothing came out of the return from the gearbox. I decided it’d be best to try flushing with the truck off because I went through so much fluid before I even turned the wheels. Did the procedure with the truck off until clean fluid came out of the gearbox return hose. Reinstalled both return lines, topped it off and bled the system until all bubbles were gone and I just saw clean fluid. I could see the fluid moving in the reservoir so I knew the pump was working.
Sorry for the long part about the work I did, wanted to make sure everyone knew what I did, now to the part I need help with. I set the truck down off the jackstands and backed out of the garage and man, that power steering worked great! Turned easier than it ever has before at an idle while not moving. Brakes felt better too just in the driveway. I was pretty excited and thought I finally did something good for the ol girl. So I took it for a drive to my buddy’s house 5 minutes up the road and pulling out of the driveway it all worked great, but by the time I got to his house I had no power steering or brakes at all. Driving down the road the steering felt real easy but I did notice I had a lot of feedback into the wheel from bumps I’d hit, which I never had before. Whenever I’d slow down to turn is when I noticed my steering and brakes were basically not there. I checked the fluid level, it was fine and tried bleeding it again and got no air bubbles for the 20 minutes we turned the wheel back and forth on the stands. With the truck back on the ground, the wheel still won’t turn all, but looking inside the reservoir with the cap off the fluid level does drop some when my buddy tried to turn the wheel, but would come right back up when he’d let go of the wheel and let it return to wherever it returned to.
So does anyone have an idea of what may be going on who knows these systems more than I do? I find it odd that it did work, but then quit in the short 5 minute drive to my buddy’s house. My guess would be my pump is shot, as that fluid that came out was very black and the inside of my pump reservoir had a dirty looking thin film coating the entire inside. Is it possible I killed it when it ran dry for a second trying to flush it, or did I mess up the DIY hot rod pump mod? I wouldn’t think I messed up the pump mod, because if I had it wouldn’t have worked at all to begin with right?
I hope one of you who’s either been through this or know more about these systems can give me an idea of where to look or what I need to be buying. My guess would be the pump, but before going out and buying one I’d like to hear anyone else’s ideas first as I’m not in a position to throw tons of money at it currently.