2nd Gen Ranger - power steering pump -wtf!

[SCREWd2V]

hey guys. got a 1990 4.0 4x4 ranger. when i bought it last month, the previous owner suggested that i plan on changing out the power steering, as with the belt, along with other things...

so i went and bought a referb power steering pump from our good friend oreilly's auto parts. besides the abnormally cold temperatures in Houston, and the removal/installation of the pulley, it was not to bad of a job.
after all is said and done, everything is working, but the pump is seriously 3x louder than it was before. i understand that early 90's fords have noisy p/s pumps, but jeeze this is louder than wine from a damn blower! does it take time to quiet down, or should i have ordered the part from the dealership? is there any magic few-few juice i can spray on/in it? (lol) thanks folks.

Preston

 

[alaskan155]

did you lock the wheels from left to right to bleed the system?

 

[SCREWd2V]

you know what, i didn't. but does that matter? i didn't read anything about that for changing out the pump. i disconnected the return line (it was dry rotted, so i replaced it)

 

[MountainMike]

Did you fill it up with power steering fluid? If you did get that stuff outta there!

Ford pumps like (most need, not sure about yours) ATF. Filled mine up with ATF and a touch of transmission stop leak (to swell the seals on my leaky steering rack) and it quieted right down. There was another guy with the same problem as this a while ago and it seems ATF helped.

 

[SCREWd2V]

hell yeah i put power steering fluid in it! lol
did not know that at all! excuse my ignorance, but what is ATF? automatic transmission fluid? yes and i noticed i have a very slow seepage from that line i replaced on the metal fitting. so i'll try that stop leak stuff too.

i hope it will be okay for another day, i won't have time to get the ATF till tomorrow night... i will try that out hopefully that will solve the problem!

next time before i do any work i'll be consulting TRS.

 

[MountainMike]

Yep Automatic Transmission Fluid.

I wasn't being sarcastic about the PS fluid, I just know that when I used it my truck complained like no other.

 

[SCREWd2V]

i'll try getting the old/new stuff out, and put in ATF. i hope that solves my problem, otherwise, i'll be changing out that pump again.

 

[SCREWd2V]

ok i bought the ATF and some lucus stop leak (heard it helps quiet it down maybe) and swung by the 99 cent store and picked up a turkey baser all in a 30 min lunch break. woohoo!
it's going to be epic cold here tonight in Houston... people are seriously freaking out. lol
perfect time to do some basin!

I'll keep ya'll posted. hope this will finally kill the cat moaning coming from under the hood.

 

[SCREWd2V]

well i siphoned the p/s fluid out, turned it over, turned the wheel a few times, and repeated this about 3 different times. the fluid was really murky/dirty/brown but what do you expect after sitting for 13 years.

it quieted down quite a bit, but it still throws in a hefty moan here and there.

we'll see how things go from here. i still am interested in contacting the dealership to find out how much a pump cost from there. it's hit and miss with referb junk from auto part stores.
thanks Mike and Alaskan for the help.

 

[MountainMike]

I would recommend the Motorcraft pump. Nothing like the OEM to know how to build it right. Also if you have some more ATF, bleed it a few more times before dropping the cash on a new pump. It may take a while to get all the old fluid out. $40 bucks in ATF isn't so bad when you look at pumps.

Good luck!

 

[SCREWd2V]

wow don't know if the moaning cat froze to death last night while i was sleeping, but man it didn't moan at all on the way to work today! thanks guys for the tip. I will be buying more ATF and flushing out that system. it seemed to do the trick!

 

[MountainMike]

Excellent

 

[BeaterMan]

When ever i need to replace a pump or flush the fluid, i fill the pump up-with aft- lol and disable the vehicle from starting. then i crank the engine over a couple times to get the fluid into all the lines, gear box ect. the fluid level should drop considerably and then i top off the res again and start the vehicle and start turning lock to lock. I've even used a vacuum hand pump on top of the res and with a lil vacuum applied i turn the wheels lock to lock. did that on a 80 ford and afterwards you couldnt even hear it at all.

just some little tricks for ya that really help in bleeding out all the air.