after changing pitman arm seals i wanted to fill and change the power steering fluid. did like in the movies- disconnected the return hose and turned the steering from side to side until me arms almost broke, but not a single drop went out of the return hose, and the fluid level in the reservoir didn't change.
what am i missing here?
the car has a fluid cooler and hydraulic brake booster.
Was the engine RUNNING? If it was, fluid should have shot out the return hose. You'd empty the reservoir in about three seconds. 'Bout have to have two people to do this--one to add fluid to the reservoir, and one to work the ignition key to start and stop the engine.
This is a great way to flush the PS fluid, as long as you can dump fluid back into the reservoir fast enough. Once the fluid is flushed, you may still need to bleed the system as shown on the page from the service manual.
If you disconnected the return hose, did you plug the nipple on the pump reservoir?
Consider installing an aftermarket PS filter in the return hose. Not absolutely essential, but kinda nice to have since there's no other filter in that system.