Power Steering Fluid Leak

[leathermaneod]

Hi all,

Well I mentioned in my thread about injectors that it was finally time to re seal my vac pump because it had started really leaking. Seems I was wrong about the source of these new, and very sudden large puddles. Its PS fluid, and I can't figure out why, or where its coming from. Heres whats happened lately. Flushed PS fluid a couple months ago. Next, flushed fluid again to replace hydrobooster. At this point I was leaving drips, not puddles, from all the residual PS fluid all over the place from the two flushes. Next, I washed the underside of the truck to make sure I wasn't having major oil leaks. I went about a week seeing only a drip or two and sometimes nothing on the ground. All of a sudden I have large, very wet spots on the ground after sitting just a few hours. I thought it was the vac pump finally letting loose, but today I noticed that the fluid looked really light in color for engine oil. I got under to look and everything is a mess of course, but I can tell it is definitely my nice clean ps fluid, mixed with a little oil. The strangest thing is, everything is SOAKED, and even having not run the truck since yesterday afternoon, its still dripping every few minutes! There is literally fluid laying on the asphalt that hasn't soaked in yet, thats how fast its still leaking. Other weird thing is, the reservoir isn't really low  Where could this fluid be coming from? It definitely does not seem to be coming from any of the lines on the back of the PS pump. However, there are drips hanging off the bottom seam of the PS pump, it looks wet in between the PS pump and vac pump, but that could be oil. There is also PS fluid all over the top of the gear box which wasn't leaking much, if at all before. I do have a new return line from the gear box to the PS pump though, but even if that new line were loose(no i didnt check yet)  that couldn't be the cause, because how would fluid get up and back to the bottom of the PS pump? Could the PS pump be leaking from where the shaft that drives it comes out? Is it re sealable or does it need to be replaced? I'm planning to go to the carwash later and spray it off and then watch for leaks, but any thoughts in the meantime? I have my vac pump reseal kit on the way and Id like to tackle that next weekend. Just trying to figure out if i should be ordering a new PS pump for the same time....

Thanks in advance for any and all help!

[leathermaneod]

UPDATE!

 

I went and pressure washed everything real good. The fluid is definitely coming from somewhere on the PS pump. Drip hangs from the seam, and it is wet up the side right around the seam. So looks like I'll be putting on a new one when I reseal the vac pump next weekend. Oh well, at least this was semi good timing. Any recommendations on a good replacement? I saw Geno's has one for $185. I'm gona call AutoZone as well and see what they say too. 

UPDATE 2!

Just called AutoZone, they have one for $50 with a $50 core. Lifetime warranty, remanufactured by AutoZone. Looks like I'll be going with that one unless someone tells me I shouldn't.

[banzaitoyota]

I just did mine with a rebuilt unit from advanced  (A1 Cardone); unit has a low howl when underload. I need to contact them and see what my options are.  BTW do yourself a favor and pull the ps/vacuum pump as a unit

[Royal Squire]

Is it the reservoir leaking. iirc some pumps come w/reservoir, some without 

[Mopar1973Man]

Reservoir on the pump is sealed by an o-ring. Look at the front side of the pump and see if its leaking from the o-ring.

[John Fak]

1 hour ago, Mopar1973Man said:

Reservoir on the pump is sealed by an o-ring. Look at the front side of the pump and see if its leaking from the o-ring.

 

This ^^^ 

There is a large oring... you can replace this if leaking.

 

But $50 .....might be worth a new unit .

[Mopar1973Man]

20 minutes ago, John Fak said:

But $50 .....might be worth a new unit .

 

True... Way easier to replace the entire unit. Hard to see there is a large o-ring below my thumb.

 

 

 

[leathermaneod]

Thanks for all the help and tips guys! I think for $50 I'm just going to go with the rebuilt unit. I'm having a hard time telling exactly what part of the pump the leak is from, other than that it's right at the thin seam where, I believe, the reservoir attaches to the pump. Does anyone know if the support bracket for the vac pump that bolts to the block has an oil seal under it? It looked at little wet around that, but I wasn't sure if that was just splash or if it was oil from inside?

[Mopar1973Man]

That is all vacuum pump seals then...

 

[leathermaneod]

Thank you! I was actually just reading your write up on this. Isn't there a support bracket to the side of the block somewhere?

Nvm I see it now. That bracket is back at the ps pump. Doesn't look like it would be sealed either.

[Mopar1973Man]

Old age has me scratching my head... I don't remember one as far as I know.

[leathermaneod]

Those of you who replaced your PS pump, did you have to swap the bolts that go through the reservoir from the old on to the new one? if so did they require any kind of sealant? Also, does anyone know if there is supposed to be one of those little O rings on the high pressure line where it comes out of the reservoir? If so, has anyone found a source for those O rings, or do you just use an O ring of about the same size?

[Mopar1973Man]

Yes, you have to swap studs from the old to the new pump. No, sealants used. If it was me I'd grab a o-ring from my A/C kit and use it. I've got fairly good selection of o-ring.

[leathermaneod]

Sounds good thanks!

[leathermaneod]

Hey all, 

just wanted to update this and ask a couple more questions. I got everything done. It's really nice now my only leak that causes a drip seems to be coming from my steering gear box, the top side where the shaft from the steering wheel attaches. So that is next on the list to replace I guess. It's never ending....anyway I'm kinda paranoid about this new steering pump because it's a reman and it does a couple things I wanted to ask about. First, sitting at idle, if I press the brake pedal pretty hard, as in harder than I normally ever would unless I needed to stop really quick, it makes kind of a groaning whining noise. I'm hoping this is normal since it's working pretty hard at that point....? Second, the effort required for me to steer the truck is about the same as the old one, except for one time right after the swap when I lost power steering for a few senconds, must have been some air working its way out. Anyway if I'm sitting at idle, I can only turn the wheels slightly in either direction before it becomes extremely hard to turn. Like I said this is while not moving and I have 285's so I know it's going to be harder, but it's almost if not impossible. Is that normal? No issues while moving that I have noticed, and I'm not sure if the old one did this or not because I don't make a habit of turning the wheels when I'm not moving at least a little. Third, is it normal for the ps reservoir and lines to get pretty darn hot?

 

im definitely not looking for a reason to pull this thing again. It would certainly be a major pita without pulling tha vac pump too, which I won't do because I don't want a leak from the seal to the timing case again. I just want to make sure this thing isn't completely defective or unsafe....

[Mopar1973Man]

26 minutes ago, leathermaneod said:

First, sitting at idle, if I press the brake pedal pretty hard, as in harder than I normally ever would unless I needed to stop really quick, it makes kind of a groaning whining noise. I'm hoping this is normal since it's working pretty hard at that point....?

 

 

Normal. Mine does the same thing.

 

27 minutes ago, leathermaneod said:

Second, the effort required for me to steer the truck is about the same as the old one, except for one time right after the swap when I lost power steering for a few senconds, must have been some air working its way out. Anyway if I'm sitting at idle, I can only turn the wheels slightly in either direction before it becomes extremely hard to turn. Like I said this is while not moving and I have 285's so I know it's going to be harder, but it's almost if not impossible. Is that normal?

 

 

Normal because of all the ttread face biting the surface and low pump pressures. Becomes better with 235's very little drag and effort.

 

28 minutes ago, leathermaneod said:

Third, is it normal for the ps reservoir and lines to get pretty darn hot?

 

Warm yes. Hot enough to burn you then you have a line resriction. Mine typically is just warm about 140*F or so. If you are getting super heated that is because of a restriction in the line the pump is more or less partially dead heading. I would blow air back through all the devices in reverse direction to possibly remove the partial blockage. TFaoro was fighting a partial blockage that was creating enough heat that it was burning up the pumps. I just got of the phone last night with a guy for the same problem too. He even admits something broke and popped in the system. (Not good).

[leathermaneod]

I'm not sure about hot enough to actually burn, hot enough to sting though...it's been flushed many times now though between replacing the hydrobooster and power steering pump and actually flushing it lately. Have you ever checked yours with an ir temp gun after running in hot weather? As far as blowing air through, are you talking about removing the hi pressure line and back blowing? Maybe I'll just replace that high pressure line....

[Mopar1973Man]

2 minutes ago, leathermaneod said:

.it's been flushed many times now though between replacing the hydrobooster and power steering pump and actually flushing it lately.

 

Need to blow backward through it flushing it not going to push a wedged object out forwards your going to have to reverse the flow.

 

3 minutes ago, leathermaneod said:

Have you ever checked yours with an ir temp gun after running in hot weather?

 

After driving for 3 hours in 95*F heat I can typically grab the pressure line steel parts without being burned. They are very very warm but nothing to make me jerk my fingers or hand back. I need to buy a IR Temp Gun.

 

5 minutes ago, leathermaneod said:

 As far as blowing air through, are you talking about removing the hi pressure line and back blowing?

 

Through the device not the hose. Like the hydro-booster I would remove the lines and blow back from the opposite direction of flow. So the pressure line heading to the steering gear box that fitting on the hydro booster is a EXIT point or a supply of pressure for the steering box. I would apply pressure to hopefully blow the debris out of the hydro booster. Typically this where the hang up is.

[leathermaneod]

I'm not sure that mine is actually restriced. I'll have to check again today and see what the temp gun says. It could have been about 140° the way it felt to touch. I doubt I have a restriction because me and a friend flushed the system pretty well twice at different times before replacing the hydrobooster which is new now, and I just replaced the ps pump, and both of my rerun lines are new. Only things not new are the high pressure lines and gear box. And my fluid is very clean now. I'm not saying I can't have a restrictions, I just don't wanna be too quick to tear stuff a part again because it doesn't seem to likely with how careful we were to flush stuff before adding new parts....and I'm not sure it was actually too hot, it just surprised me how hot it was.

[leathermaneod]

Alright well I just got done with a 10 mile drive, truck was well up to temp, it is 78° and pretty humid. When I got out I felt the lines. The two high pressure ones at the hydrobooster were hot, not enough to burn me right away, but I'm sure they could if I held them long enough. The rerun was noticeably cooler, but still pretty warm. The reservoir felt about the same as the high pressure lines, but I didn't get to check anything with the temp gun yet. I'm not sure where to go from here? Are there any other symptoms of a blockage I could look for? I did just have the fairly sudden major leak that caused me to replace the pump, and I think I still have a slight drip from the input on the steering box. Maybe all the fluid changes knocked something loose and plugged something? Or maybe there was some dirt in one of the new components? I really hate to tear into things when I'm not sure that anything is wrong....

I really need to get my temp gun on this stuff. I was just googling what temps will burn and it sounds like about 110° will cause pain, so I don't know what I'm at, could be decently cooler than 140° and still burn my hand...

Forgot to mention before that I can also kind of feel a vibration or tremor through the brake pedal at times, particularly when pressing harder on the pedal. Hoping it's just due to the new pump being more powerful and moving more fluid....

Edited June 28, 2016 by leathermaneod