power steering pump question

stangbang302 said:

today i was checking all the fluids in the car, and when i checked the power steering fluid i saw a "milky" color in it kinda cloudy like, i believe its water, so im wondering how do i drain the fluid out? im pretty sure its in my rack and pinion also. i know how to drain from the pump, but what about the rack?

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87GT Drop Top said:

Pull the coil wire. Then unplug the fuel pump relay. Pull the return line off of the pump and hang it down into a drain pan. You will need to cap off the return fitting on the pump. A piece of 3/8th hose a few inches long with a bolt stuck in it works well. Next pull the cap off the pump. You will need 2 people to do this. One person sits in the car a cranks it, while the other one keeps the pump full. It will pump everything out of the whole system. I would get 4 quarts of type F transmission fluid and run 3 through and then fill it up with the 4th.

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My power steering pump has been progressively making more noise little by little. It has always whined (since I bought it), but it starting getting noticeably worse recently. I decided to replace the pump, and am happy to say the end result has pretty much totally eliminated any whine from the power steering.

A lot of people know this stuff, but this questions gets asked alot so I thought I would share with others what worked for me. I'd also like to thank Jrichker for help in recommending the easiest way to remove the old hoses that thread into the rack.

I bought a rebuilt pump from Carquest. The directions that came with the pump stated that if the hoses (from the rack to the pump, from the rack to the cooler, and from the pump to the cooler) were more than 2 years old, that they should be replaced at the same time as the pump so as to prevent any internal rotting in the hose to clog the new pump.

I bought 2 new power steering hoses (the ones that thread into the rack) from Napa Auto Parts. The one that goes from the pump to the rack is not shaped identically as OEM, and the instructions mentioned this, but it was redesigned and still fit fine. The only difference is that the retaining clamp (that holds the hose away from the serpentine belt) needed to be retained to the body in a different location than stock (which is below the battery tray).

The low pressure hose that goes from the bottom of the pump to the cooler has no threaded fittings on it, so I cut a new section of 3/8" transmission cooler hose to the correct length and replaced it as well.

With the new pump installed, I pulled off the low pressure return hose and capped off the nipple on the bottom of the pump. I then stuck the open end of the return hose into an oil catch pan. Pulling the coil wire off of the coil, I cranked the motor to flush the old fluid out of the system and into the pan. I made sure the whole time that the fluid level in the pump (as it decreased by being pumped through the system) was being topped off repeatedly so the pump wouldn't run dry.

Once the proper fluid (Type F Transmission Fluid) was coming out of the open hose into the oil catch pan and had obviously replaced all of the old fluid, I then drained the fresh fluid out of the pump into the pan so I could reattach the low pressure return hose. I also made sure to add a power steering fluid filter to the return hose Click the image to open in full size. to ensure that nothing would get into my new pump, and then clamped the return hose to the nipple on the pump.

I added fluid to the pump again, and raised the wheels off the ground. With the coil wire still off, I cranked the motor while turning the steering wheel back and forth to bleed the system of air. After I did that, I reconnected the coil wire and started the motor. With the engine running (and the wheels still off the ground), I continued to turn the steering wheel back and forth to bleed more air out of the system. I periodically checked the fluid level during this process to make sure the pump never ran out or got too low.

After I was finished, I ensured the fluid level was correct, that there were no leaks, and I was done! I am happy to say, that there is NO power steering whine.

So, to sum up:

1.Reman. Pump
2.All new hoses
3.Power Steering Fluid Filter
4. Fluid flush and replaced with only Type F fluid
5.Bleed the system of air
= SUCCESS!

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