Slant 6 Power steering issue

[gregpurcell]

I recently bought a 72 Valiant with a 225 upgraded to the Super 6.
The guy said that the power steering pump leaked at the housing, so I decided to swap out an identical Federal pump I had in the shop. I started it up to work on another problem (Carb won't idle) and I set the idle high so it wouldn't stall (about 2500 RPM).

A few minutes later, the power steering started doing the "low on fluid" howl, and I returned to find my PS pump "boiling over" with fluid being violently forced out of the cap. When I shut down the engine, the pump was too hot to touch!

Did I just install a defective pump or should I replace the steering BOX? I have tons of parts, so price is not an issue..just the time and labor.

Any ideas or similiar problems?
Thansk!

 

[RustyRatRod]

It may just have air in the system, Greg. Try refilling it but not too much and fire it off and turn the wheel lock to lock several times. Then check the level again. You only want the level to be at the bottom of the fill snout, regardless of what the little dipstick says...if there is one. If there's too much air in the system and you don't turn the wheel to circulate the fluid, it will churn it right out like you describe.

 

[gregpurcell]

I guess I should elaborate to say that this did not happen immediately. I replaced the pump the day before and turned the wheel lock to lock like you suggest. I drove the car around the yard, etc and thought that problem was fixed.

The next day is when all this happened. I was working on the carb that day and didn't expect PS problems. I'm wondering if I have something wrong in the system that blew out the case seal in the original pump and then pressurized mine. It's something I haven't experienced before.

Maybe today I'll start it and let it run up to temp again.

 

[BillGrissom]

I don't think the power steering gear would affect it. The pump should be able to run dead-headed. It has a pressure relief built-in. If there was a lot of air in the system, it might get hot because compressing air takes more energy and generates heat. You should probably post under "steering" since not a slant-specific issue.