Powersteering Pump Replacement.

MAC'n89Blckstng

Active Member
Jun 11, 2003
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NJ
My power steering pump sounds like a CAT D-9 excavator is under my hood pushing earth whenever I turn my wheels. I can hear it over my exhaust with the music off. I want to replace it with new hoses. I was wondering if there are any essentials I should also buy to also replace. I was just gonna go to autozone for the pump and lines. Im in college so my budget is extremely tight. I found a pump for 49.99 and the hoses are 20.99. Should I replace all the o-rings? I have never done a powersteering overhaul on these cars and would like to do it right the first time. No more half ass fixes for the stanger!:notnice:
Thanks for the help,
Jesse
 
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You will need to rent or buy a PS steering puller. The PS pulley has a ridge that the puller seats on. Then you crank the screw on the middle of the puller to get the pulley off the shaft.

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You can rent the tool at Autozone or other auto parts stores.

I have used a bearing separator & harmonic balancer puller together to do the job.

Use this tool to put it back on...

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I usually just use the bolt that comes with the new PS pump.

The pump should come with the O ring for the high pressure line.

The return hoses are all low pressure and are most commonly secured to the pump and associated plumbing with worm gear hose clamps. After a while they will frequently soften up at the end where they are clamped, and should be replaced. The auto parts store will sell you hose by the foot and it takes about 3 feet or less, depending if you have the fluid cooler in the low pressure side of the line.

The high pressure hoses have an “O” ring at the fitting end and will swivel even when the fitting is completely tightened. They are factory assembled and not repairable – if any end is damaged, replace the hose assembly.


Buy several extra quarts of fluid to run through the system to flush it when you change the pump. The car needs to be up on jackstands for the next step. Fill the pump up, start the car, and turn the wheels lock to lock to bleed the air out. Then stop the engine, disconnect the low pressure hose (the one that is secured with a hose clamp) and drain the pump. Re-connect, refill and do it several more times or until the fluid looks clear and not burnt or black.
 
Thanks man, I'm pretty mechanically inclined, so its not gonna be too bad. I've had a nasty ps leak for a while now that I think is coming from the pressure hose o-ring like you were talkin about. So I wanna make sure I solve that problem when I replace the pump. I have a puller and have taken the pump off the bracket several times in the 3 1/2 years that I've owned her, just never taken the whole system apart to overhaul it. Again, thanks for the heads up on everything Jrichker!!!
 
I actually swapped mine out AT Autozone once....it's pretty straight forward. They'll loan you the pully tool and you can do it right there if you have tools. I wouldn't bother calling Ford to buy one though....all i needed was the plastic reservoir for mine (it was cracked) and they wanted $85 just for the reservoir!!!! I said man do you realise that Autozone sells remanufactured PS pumps WITH the reservoir for $30 bucks? The guys says yeah well they're rebuilt junk and won't last...


I go....dude.....it comes with the reservoir and that's really all i need...don't you get it?


I bought new lines while i was at it so they were nice and clean looking. Attaching the line to the rack is a total PITA though. I had a lot of trouble getting the threads to bite and start screwing on.
 
Actually, I think Shaker is correct - my owners manual calls for Type F fluid. It's got a higher coefficient of friction than the Mercon fluids (it seems to me that Dexron is a GM fluid which happens to be very similar to Mercon, but it's a GM-application name. One of those Posi vs Trac lok type things).
 
Actually, I think Shaker is correct - my owners manual calls for Type F fluid. It's got a higher coefficient of friction than the Mercon fluids (it seems to me that Dexron is a GM fluid which happens to be very similar to Mercon, but it's a GM-application name. One of those Posi vs Trac lok type things).

Type F is the required fluid and if I remember correct it does not mix well with other fluids, most noisy pumps will quiet with the correct fluid in them.
 
make sure you get all the fluid out of the rack, old burnt fluid will contaminate the new stuff.
Believe it or not, the pep boys counter guys changed my friends at the counter. We brought the whole thing in, and they did it right there.