PS Pump Whine & Clunking When Turning the Wheel...

rangerenthiusiast · Mar 26, 2018

Recently picked up an old ’92 Ranger with a 4.0 and she’s been a bit neglected. Among other things, she was a little low on PS fluid and had the typical PS pump whine. Bought the correct fluid (Ford Type F auto trans fluid) and topped her off. Turned the wheel each way a bunch of times and have been driving her for a few days. The whine is still there and I also noticed that when I was turning the wheel this way and that in the driveway (to bleed out any potential air), that as I turned the wheel, there was a "clunk...clunk... clunk... clunk" in each direction. :annoyed:

I already know there’s a small leak coming from one or both of the PS fluid lines where they connect to the steering box at the base of the column. Would a whine that doesn’t go away combined with that clunking sound indicate a worn out pump or box? :shok:

Terry · Mar 27, 2018

The steering box might have a bunch of slop in it. I would check and adjust it before you blame the pump. Mine has always made noise and it has a line that's dripping.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

rusty ol ranger · Mar 27, 2018

Does the wheel self center ok? If it does i doubt its the box.

rangerenthiusiast · Mar 27, 2018

Terry said:
The steering box might have a bunch of slop in it. I would check and adjust it before you blame the pump. Mine has always made noise and it has a line that's dripping.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

Hey, thanks for the tip. I wasn’t aware that the box could be adjusted. I’ll have to look into how this can be done. :beer:

rangerenthiusiast · Mar 27, 2018

rusty ol ranger said:
Does the wheel self center ok? If it does i doubt its the box.

Hey, Rusty! Thanks for the reply. Dumb question: how can I tell if it self centers?

I do know that the truck pulls a little to the right when going down the road and you can hear the front right tire hum a bit when at higher speeds and going through a turn to the left on windy roads. I assumed it just needed an alignment...

rusty ol ranger · Mar 27, 2018

Just turn the wheel one way or another and hit the throttle going forward, the wheel should roll back to center.

rangerenthiusiast · Mar 31, 2018

rusty ol ranger said:
Just turn the wheel one way or another and hit the throttle going forward, the wheel should roll back to center.

How hard do you have to hit it? I tried this today on a back road. Came to a dead stop, cranked the wheel all the way in one direction, then gave it a little gas to get going. The truck reached the other side of the road without straightening out to any significant degree... :icon_confused:

rusty ol ranger · Mar 31, 2018

rangerenthiusiast said:
How hard do you have to hit it? I tried this today on a back road. Came to a dead stop, cranked the wheel all the way in one direction, then gave it a little gas to get going. The truck reached the other side of the road without straightening out to any significant degree...

Try it in an empty parking lot. But yes, it shoulda straightend out some

Denisefwd93 · Mar 31, 2018

rangerenthiusiast said:
Recently picked up an old ’92 Ranger with a 4.0 and she’s been a bit neglected. Among other things, she was a little low on PS fluid and had the typical PS pump whine. Bought the correct fluid (Ford Type F auto trans fluid) and topped her off. Turned the wheel each way a bunch of times and have been driving her for a few days. The whine is still there and I also noticed that when I was turning the wheel this way and that in the driveway (to bleed out any potential air), that as I turned the wheel, there was a "clunk...clunk... clunk... clunk" in each direction.

I already know there’s a small leak coming from one or both of the PS fluid lines where they connect to the steering box at the base of the column. Would a whine that doesn’t go away combined with that clunking sound indicate a worn out pump or box?

If you have Auto locking hubs on your four-wheel drive make sure one of them isn't hanging up. I had that in my truck and it was causing all kinds of problems with the steering after we rebuild the front end steering doesn't leak anymore and acts like real power steering unless it's in 4-wheel drive

rangerenthiusiast · Mar 31, 2018

Denisefwd93 said:
If you have Auto locking hubs on your four-wheel drive make sure one of them isn't hanging up. I had that in my truck and it was causing all kinds of problems with the steering after we rebuild the front end steering doesn't leak anymore and acts like real power steering unless it's in 4-wheel drive

Thanks for the tip, Denise. Yes, my Ranger does have auto locking hubs and I’ve wondered for a while if they could be hanging up. I have some weird problems with the steering (humming tires when taking a turn to the left at high speed, pulling a little to the right, DIVING to the right if the brakes are hit hard, etc). I’ve assumed that these were probably due to bad alignment and a possible sticking caliper. Any idea how I’d test the hubs for hang-up? I’ve only had manual hubs in the past.

Also, do you know why a hub hanging up would have caused a steering leak? I ask because mine also leaks, but I don’t really understand the connection between the two.

Thanks a bunch! :icon_thumby:

Denisefwd93 · Mar 31, 2018

rangerenthiusiast said:
Thanks for the tip, Denise. Yes, my Ranger does have auto locking hubs and I’ve wondered for a while if they could be hanging up. I have some weird problems with the steering (humming tires when taking a turn to the left at high speed, pulling a little to the right, DIVING to the right if the brakes are hit hard, etc). I’ve assumed that these were probably due to bad alignment and a possible sticking caliper. Any idea how I’d test the hubs for hang-up? I’ve only had manual hubs in the past.

Also, do you know why a hub hanging up would have caused a steering leak? I ask because mine also leaks, but I don’t really understand the connection between the two.

Thanks a bunch!

just a matter of when, not if you will be getting locking hubs. Good time to have them on hand after you: do all new spindle, shaft, wheel & hub bearings, axle U-joints, ball joints upper lower..... Gasp! Alignment... Take a look at the auto hubs, then! toss them in the garbage!

What happened to the front end of my truck must be very strange or very weird because no one else seems to think it happened.

1 Hub was locked and because of that, the whole differential and other axle were spinning along with the driveshaft whenever the truck was rolling,. This apparently caused very high pressures or stress on the steering which made the fluid keep leaking out,. After all the repairs were done the bearings hubs and all that, we were going to do power steering lines, they are still sitting in the cabinet brand new.

rangerenthiusiast · Mar 31, 2018

Does anyone know if there’s a way to test for stuck auto hubs? If you put the truck up on blocks and let it idle, would it be enough power to turn not just the rear wheels, but also any front tire that has a locked-up hub?

Denisefwd93 · Mar 31, 2018

rangerenthiusiast said:
Does anyone know if there’s a way to test for stuck auto hubs? If you put the truck up on blocks and let it idle, would it be enough power to turn not just the rear wheels, but also any front tire that has a locked-up hub?

Just spin the jacked up wheel/s if the axles or driveshaft turn it is locked

rangerenthiusiast · Mar 31, 2018

Denisefwd93 said:
Just spin the jacked up wheel/s if the axles or driveshaft turn it is locked

D’oh! Of course. Thanks! :icon_bounceblue:

Denisefwd93 · Mar 31, 2018

rangerenthiusiast said:
D’oh! Of course. Thanks!

Read the tech Pages there is a huge amount of information on this site. Yes, the hubs lock, they unlock they click they buzz, mysteriously lock when they're supposed to be unlocked it just goes on and on...

PS Pump Whine & Clunking When Turning the Wheel...

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