Power Steering

[98blu]

Power steering went out, was doing a donut and it quit right after I let out of it and got straight. No squeal from the pump, no loss of fluid anywhere. Any suggestions on where to start looking for broken stuff and/or has this happened to anyone before n how’d you fix it?

 

[Schurkey]

WHAT VEHICLE? What engine?

 

[98blu]

WHAT VEHICLE? What engine?

98 c1500 5.0

 

[pressureangle]

Power steering went out, was doing a donut and it quit right after I let out of it and got straight. No squeal from the pump, no loss of fluid anywhere. Any suggestions on where to start looking for broken stuff and/or has this happened to anyone before n how’d you fix it?

I've seen them melt the internals. Forcing the fluid through the pressure relief gets hot fast. If you held the wheel to the lock and held high RPM for very long, you probably roached the pump.

 

[Supercharged111]

I think I've heard burnouts can quickly kill a pump, though I don't recall how.

 

[alpinecrick]

I think I've heard burnouts can quickly kill a pump, though I don't recall how.

Burnouts can kill a lot of things......lol.....

 

[98blu]

I've seen them melt the internals. Forcing the fluid through the pressure relief gets hot fast. If you held the wheel to the lock and held high RPM for very long, you probably roached the pump.

You think just putting a pump should fix it?

 

[Schurkey]

How much debris went through the steering gear?

Kinda guessing that there's no way to know without pulling the pump apart, and cutting open the hoses to see if they're overheated/deteriorated/burnt inside.

OTOH, a person could easily pull the pressure relief valve out of the pump, and exchange it for any post-71 pressure relief valve from a similar-looking GM pump, (higher pressure than '60s PR valves) examine the PS fluid, and see what happens.

 

[pressureangle]

You think just putting a pump should fix it?

Probably. What I would do is disconnect the return line from the pump and flush with new fluid into a bucket. It's probably burnt, but you can check for any hard debris. If no debris or metal flakes, you should be ok with a new pump. Install a filter- they make power steering filters, cheap in-line ones. Then flush it going lock to lock and change the filter. If you find metal in the fluid, it's gone through the system; you may be ok, change the filter every hundred miles or so until you get nothing. If you get notchy or sketchy steering feel, the box has been wounded.

 

[someotherguy]

Huh, and I thought it was just the late model Mopars that had weak pumps that would croak from doing donuts. I don't do donuts in my 300, but I guess it's a popular hobby of the owners of these cars as they're frequently posting of this exact issue.

It never occurred to me to try donuts in a GMT400 truck since I'd be more worried about roasting the transmission instead..

Richard