Age old power steering question.

[DTMBENZ]

I'm sure all of you have already done this song and dance but I just purchased a used '93 ranger and replaced all the steering components from the intermediate shaft down to the tie rod ends due to extreme wear and lack of maintenence.

I have bled the power steering pump according to a post I found on here using engine vacuum and a reservoir to catch the excess but this made no difference. I've taken the truck to the ford dealer and had them bleed it twice to no avail.

So my question is......do you think changing the pulley diameter would make any difference since it seems as if the pump is struggling to turn the wheels at lower engine rpms or should I just bite the bullet and try to upgrade to a pump that won't struggle so much while making low speed turns. I'm looking to get rid of the noise all together and please no SA comments on how I shouldn't have bought a ford in the first place. I've been around cars for some time now and know this is not a NORMAL sound from power steering systems in a majority of vehicles.

Just to clerify, I have bled the pump for a week with engine vacuum and had the dealer do it twice. The pump, pulley, belt, fluid, gear box and lines are ALL brand new.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Shran]

Did you do the initial bleed with the engine running? I usually just jack up the vehicle so the front wheels are both off the ground, and turn lock to lock many times before even starting the engine. Back in the day I tried it with the engine running and had several pumps that failed immediately or were very noisy...didn't know better.

If you could find a different pulley that would spin the pump faster I would imagine that it would help but I don't think that is the issue here. A working stock pump should be able to turn the wheels almost effortlessly with the engine just idling while stopped. I would say if it's making noise and not working right then you either have a bad pump or haven't gotten it completely bled.

I have never heard of this engine vacuum bleeding technique...would like to know more.

 

[DTMBENZ]

I found it by searching "bleed power steering". I drove it this way for a week.


http://therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=76958&highlight=BLEED+POWER+STEERING

 

[Shran]

Interesting. I don't really know what to say. I'll have to try that sometime. I have always had really good luck just doing like I mentioned above... last pump I swapped in was used but it was completely drained... new lines, filled with fluid, bled using my method and no noise whatsoever.

Another thing, I dunno if doing another pulley would really be feasible or not since you have a serpentine belt setup and may have to change to a different size belt unless the tensioner would compensate enough.

 

[srteach]

The pump may need replacement. When I have to do this, it will be with the information from the following:
http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/Fall2009/saginaw_pump.htm

 

[LearjetMinako]

Ford's power steering pumps always tend to be a little noisey. Mine makes the classic whining noise when turning the wheel at engine idle. But is quite when no wheel turning is being done. And I have heard those on other Rangers & Fords, where the p/s pump whins like no tomorrow, even when its going in a straight line.

You may want to get another p/s pump.

 

[DTMBENZ]

Thank you everyone for your input. I think I'm just going to bite the bullet and return the currently noisy pump that drives me insane and look into a Saginaw pump. Has anyone had any problems with the swap into a 4.0 that I should know of? I will be putting 35's, gears, and a locker in the front and just don't want to deal with the insanely loud p/s pump that is already pissing and moaning about turning a set of 31's.

 

[strvger]

just put a new pump on my ranger. just as noisy as the old one, but it doesn't leak, so i'm happy.

 

[Captain Ledd]

Hmm.. Every vehicle I've done that to it's worked, over a half dozen now. Except for the last time I took the power steering pump off when I did the timing belt. I left the apparatus at my friends house and for whatever reason, despite being virtually completely drained it seemed to have bled itself for once. I still haven't messed with it, why fix something that isn't broke?

Is it really a NEW pump? or a rebuilt "new" pump? I could have still had some damage on the inside.

Was the fluid still frothy when you got done with the drive? or after the engine had been running?

Was all the return lines good and tight? They're not under as high of pressure and mine just has a spring loaded clamp on it (pump side). The high engine vacuum might have been able to suck some air past it if it wasn't tight enough a seal.

Having the truck on a slight incline (front pointing uphill) seemed to help it just a tad too.

You can still hear mine just a little bit if you crank the wheels with the hood open (at idle), but mine's the original pump with 200,000miles on it at this point. Mine is also is a little stiff at idle trying to turn the wheels. It went for a number of years screaming away...

Sorry my trick didn't help ya.