Power steering pump(s)

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SierraDully

Newbie
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Dec 9, 2017
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Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
So, the small block Yukon blew it's original 1997 p/s pressure line in June. Replaced it with a Napa pressure line. That was my first mistake.

The Napa line was made from cheap rubber and sprung a huge pinhole-style leak ( like a fountain of p/s fluid all over the engine bay. The old lady was driving it when it started leaking and she kept refilling the p/s fluid daily until one day on her 100km drive home from work. It would leak out the entire reservoir in about 3 90 degree turns. She drove home like that, and made it with no fluid. Just what was left in the gear box. Next morning the entire garage stank like burnt p/s fluid. If you've ever smelled it you know what I mean. It kind of lingers in your sinuses, a very unique smell indeed.

So I grabbed a spare pump I had sitting in the garage and put it on. Pump was from a parts truck I had at one time. And had pressure and return lines still on it. It worked great. Flushed the system. Back on the road. Not for long though.
She was halfway to work, about 50km and turned around and came home. Pump would not whine at idle or when steering, but with no steering input and only throttle input it would start to whine. It started at about 1200rpm and was more noticeable the higher you go. She kept it at about 1500-1600 rpm to get home and that made just enough noise to know your pump is about to die. Still full of fluid. Just burnt fluid.

So, again, I go out in the morning to the smell of bunt fluid. Went and got another pump from a parts truck with a known history and a good pump that had no issues. went through the entire process again to install pump #3 and this time made sure I drove it on the highway and got it good and hot and no noise at any rpm or with any steering input. Problem solved. Not for long.

So she goes to work today and makes it no problem. I thought we had it licked. But 5 mins after leaving work to come home she started getting the same whine that the last pump made. Almost identical symptoms to the last pump. Noise increases with engine Rpm but not with steering input.
So now I have to get another pump. I have a spare gear box in the shop. I'm thinking that somewhere along this mess (which was originally entirely caused by a faulty $18 Napa 6-month old p/s hose) might have caused some rubber flakes to flow or something fell off a pump or somewhere and got in the steering box and that must be slowly destroying every pump I put in. The first replacement could have been bad from the beginning, but the last replacement was definitely a working unit and indeed did work but only for about 125km. She told me when she first heard the noise tonight she got out and checked the fluid. The part of the reservoir above the fluid full line was full of smoke and the p/s fluid could be smelled from 10' away and inside the cab. It was full. Just burnt.

The original pump was an Evo and all replacements were as well. I have a replacement steering box with a good pitman still on it which makes for a super easy install since I don't have to use a pitman puller. I'm thinking I get another pump and install both at the same time. Therefore any contamination from any of these failures can't cause any more problems. Anyone else have any suggestions? Or been there done that? I keep getting the feeling I'm forgetting something really obvious here but for the life of me I can't thing of what it is.
 

Stokes1114

I'm Awesome
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Apr 24, 2016
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Colorado
Put an inline filter on the return line for good measures. They are very cheap.
 
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