Strange behaving power steering pump, or is it the box..?

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Moparbaker

Moparbaker

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A while ago the pump SCREAMED when I started the car, belt was tight & oil in the pump, so I replaced it...
The new pump had the return pipe going the wrong way so I heated & bended it & the the pressure hose had another nipple so I went & got me a new hose that fitted.
Here is where I get confused; with engine running & oil in the pump / tank I turn the wheels whole turns on & on but I don't get any "power in the steering" & the level stays the same in the tank!
The pipes for the hoses now goes upwards about one inch before turning down to the box, could it be that the pump don't pump if there's air in those hoses?

It's a -89 318 with the right pump & no it don't matter what car it sits in, I'm only interested in answers that can fix the problem!
 
Sounds like it's air locked the system needs bleeding. Or the hoses are run backwards to the gear.
 
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Backwards"??? The pressure hose is threaded, the return hose is just clamped on.

So how's the bleeding done?

(I've replaced the box a year ago without any problem, doe this on several other cars before since the late 70's & never have needed to bleed)
 
Moparbaker said:
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Backwards"??? The pressure hose is threaded, the return hose is just clamped on.

So how's the bleeding done?

(I've replaced the box a year ago without any problem, doe this on several other cars before since the late 70's & never have needed to bleed)
Click to expand...
I would start with the return I would unhook it and see if there is any fluid coming out.
 
The reason why I'm asking here is that I've turned the steering wheel back-&-forth full turns with engine running without any result, sorry - I forgot to write that.
 
This is what I have done in the past, and also it is a method to change the fluid in the power steering pump. Disconnect the high pressure line to the gear box, take a piece of heater hose and slid it on the end and into a tall bucket. Start the car, add steering fluid into the pump until you see a nice stream of fluid going into the bucket. It will pump fast and it is nice to have some help in doing this method to turn off the engine.
This will remove all the air in pump, the trick is to shut the engine off before you run out of fluid....
 
That trick should not be necessary on a Mopar, The fluid volume, and the pressure, is so large, that going lock to lock to lock, even just once, is usually enough to bleed the lines.
If you have kinked the hi-pressure line, this will cause a venturi to form downstream of the kink, which will cause the fluid to foam, and then all bets are off. If you have foam in the reservoir, that will not settle, there is your proof.
However,
since the old pump started screaming, my guess is that the problem is in the box, or in the control-valve..... assuming the steering coupler is still transmitting motion to the input shaft.
 
Other possible issues:
1) old hose debris now stuck in box
2) other steering issues (not sure if the box is actually turning with any assist or some assist from PS)
3)correct pump or the pump is bad. Did you do a pressure check on the pump? Sounds like you have low flow. Those rebuilt pumps seem to be junk lately. Ask me how I know.
4) what is the box we are talking about? Factory, factory auto parts store rebuild ? Borgerson? Firmfeel?
 

With working parts I have never had to bleed or anything else.
Either everything worked fine, or there was a bad part involved.

In this case I would be pulling the pressure side off the steering box and checking for flow.
No shutting the engine off needed.
It should empty the reservoir in about 3 seconds.
 
The box isn't rebuilt, I took it out of a car where it worked fine & the screaming was only with the old pump.
When the engine i running & wheels are off the ground there's no help from the pump.
So if there's some scrap in the box - how do I get it out? I tried to blow in both hoses / both ways thru the box but nothing happens...
 
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