Stupid Power Steering

[Joshpow]

Guys I have a crazy thing going on. My power steering pump blows out all the fluid when at higher RPM's. The leak doesn't seem to be from a hose or fitting. What could the deal be. The fan blows ps fluid all over under the hood. Also, the belt squeaks while turning the wheels at speeds above idle. The belt is dry and free of fluid, and it does it even if it is full of ps fluid. Also, the belt is good and snug on the pulleys. Any ideas what is going on here? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[l1k2gadd]

I've had a bunch of old Fords with power steering and haven't ever had this happen with any of them

I'm not sure, but I could speculate that you have some kind of restriction in the system, possibly a return hose that isn't rated for tranny fluid that is collapsing under higher pressures due to it's softening up inside?

[cghstrojan08]

Probably no help but my 99 Ranger does that every once and a while when I turn real shape.

[kaptnkaos]

Hey Josh,

Is there any restriction when you turn???
If so, is there more restriction one direction or another???
It is possible that it is feeding back into the pump and leaking out the top... especially if it is over filled with fluid.

KaptnKA S

[heep70]

The valving in the gear might be going bad.

[Joshpow]

Guys there is no resistance to turning either direction. It will do this at any level of fluid until it goes dry. I am unsure what the deal is.

[fordman]

try jacking the truck up off the front wheels. block the rear tires. start the truck and turn the steering in both directions several times to the stop points. if it has air in the system that might help clear it out or equalize the pressure maybe.

[l1k2gadd]

I went looking for this one. What did you find, if anything, with this problem, Joshpow?

Did you fix it?

[Joshpow]

So far so good. I changed the hoses on it to power steering return hose instead of the fuel hose someone had on it. So far the leak has stopped. I think the hose was swelling and causing the fluid to be blocked and blow out somewhere. The squeal stopped after I re-tensioned the belt when I was done. Only remaining problem with it is a low belt squeak at idle. I hope this might be the magic fix.

Thanks Guys.

[l1k2gadd]

Very good. Is the adjustment almost all the way out on the power steering belt? If the belt is near it's outer adjustment limits it might be time to replace it.

Also, just because the belt looks and feels dry it doesn't mean that the power steering fluid that was blowing all over the engine compartment (undercoating now) didn't impregnate the rubber of the belt causing it to have some slick spots in it that only the tension that is applied to it can bring to the surface and therefore cause the belt squeal a bit.

[Blue Cloud]

I'd say that some power-steering fluid got on the belt. You could try spraying a little belt dressing on the belt, it'll work for a while. Putting on a new belt would be even better.

[basketcase0302]

Joshpow,

Changed my forever leaking PS pump on my 71' last week.
Same symptoms!
I'd had this same thing happen before on my 74' dentside but couldn't remember what I did, (many,many years ago) to fix the problem.

I too had a piece of soft rubber hose on the return side, so I replaced this.
Still puking out, like l1k2gadd said it makes for nice undercoating!

I found that my return line, (which feeds to my wimpy PS cooler) is actually "trapped". (The rubber hose has to route up before it can go down to the PS cooler).
My HVAC expierence tells me this is wrong! Traps prevent pumps of any sort from properly pulling suction.

I didn't fix the trap for now cause I was able to get all the air out of the system, (which properly "primed" the system with fluid).
I would also reccommend to anyone with this same issue to "bleed" the hydraulics by doing so with no load on the pump.
(Jack the front wheels off the ground as someone else stated above).

My Navy and other hydraulic expierence has taught me that hydraulics hate air!

I was able to get the air out of mine by simply runing the engine till the fluid got up to temperature in "cycles", (run for a few minutes, then shut it down for about 4-5 times). Then start cycling it back and forth from one stop to the other.

As Dustin and a few others have stated, we do not have the best of pumps to start with. Got a brother who has been a "rock-crawler" for many years, (yeah, only Fords for him too)!
He has ran the full hydraulic steering set-ups for many years now. The preference of all the crawlers is to remove our Ford pumps and intall the chebby pump, (can neve remember if this is the saginaw or bendix pump though).

Air/not properly primed will cause this "squealing" as well as the above mentioned symptoms!

Sorry for the long disertation.

Jeff

[Joshpow]

So far it hasn't gotten worse than the low squeak at idle. I plan to put belt dressing on it to see if it helps. The adjustment is at halfway. It is a new gates belt. There are no traps in the line. They are almost straight hoses. Best fix I have found yet is my open headers! The pump noise disappears for some reason! On a serious note, I believe a bleed, cleanup, and new belt will give satisfactory results.

Thanks again guys,