Bleeding power steering?

[dave@threat]

I just put on a new AGR power steering pump on my Ranger. I have been trying to bleed the system by going by the specs AGR says. I replaced both the high pressure and low pressure lines and checked all the fittings countless times for leaks and I still get bubbles in the resi when I bleed it. I even loaded the fittings with thick grease to see if they were sucking air in somehow. Truck is off and its up on jack stands when I am bleeding it turning it lock to lock. Is this something that usually just takes for ever to bleed? Any other pointers would be greatly appreciated.

 

[red85]

I usually turn it slowly lock to lock 25 times. That's all you should need to do. There will be a little aeration for the first few turns but it subsides.

 

[Jason]

I usually turn it slowly lock to lock 25 times. That's all you should need to do. There will be a little aeration for the first few turns but it subsides.

sounds about right. Unless it's not self-adjusting!! Just kidding.

 

[dave@threat]

Thanks for the replies! Well I made a contraption to adapt to the reservoir and added a vacuum pump to suck out any air. The pump still shows bubbles and is loud as shit. Did everything mentioned above about 200 times. Could the steering box itself have anything to do with it?

 

[84projectFORD]

If you were concerned about the box having air, id just take both high and low side lines off at the pump, put a vacuum to the low side and and fill from the high side till you have fluid comin out the low side if the box allows you to, im not too sure if you can. Otherwise it sounds like the pump you got is bad dave or there is a big air bubble you can purge. have you called ARG yet?

 

[dave@threat]

If you were concerned about the box having air, id just take both high and low side lines off at the pump, put a vacuum to the low side and and fill from the high side till you have fluid comin out the low side if the box allows you to, im not too sure if you can. Otherwise it sounds like the pump you got is bad dave or there is a big air bubble you can purge. have you called ARG yet?

I probably did that 50 times already haha! I checked it again this morning and it is sucking air in somewhere because I see bubbles again. AGR said to find the leak and it will run quiet. We will see lol!

 

[84projectFORD]

hmm. have you tried pressurizing the steering box from the high side and capping off the low side? maybe a seal inverted its self and is allowing air in and no fluid out for a leak

 

[4x4junkie]

Truck is off and its up on jack stands when I am bleeding it turning it lock to lock.

You should run the engine while doing this.

 

[dave@threat]

You should run the engine while doing this.

That is a bad idea and it is not recommended. Never try to bleed Ford power steering with the engine running..

 

[84projectFORD]

yeah x2, you can ruin pumps pretty quick that way. Already done that once

 

[4x4junkie]

A few bubbles in there for a few seconds isn't going to hurt a thing if you have the wheels jacked up off the ground. I've always bled mine this way (you won't get much air out of it anyway without circulating the fluid unless you put a vacuum pump on it)

I actually drove 5 miles with no fluid in the pump AT ALL after flipping the truck once. Bought some fluid, poured it in and resumed driving without even bleeding it (I did cycle the steering a couple times with the truck rolling though). Pump still works fine and eventually quieted back down to what it always had been.

 

[doorgunner]

sometimes thick grease will not dissolve for a while & cause more problems, but your problem started b4 you used the grease, right?
I rebuilt my '89 Ranger steering, and it took an hour to get it working right (which is way too long)

did anyone suggest removing the return line fron the resevoir, sticking the end of the hose in a gallon milk container, ducttaping the hose in place, then pouring power steering fluid into the pump resevoir as fast as it is emptied into the milk jug while the engine is running & someone is slowly rotating the steering wheel to limits until fluid returns into the jug without air?

with the pressure line loosened slightly, does fluid even try to spurt out & soak everything down with the engine running and a shop rag held over the loose fitting?

 

[dave@threat]

A few bubbles in there for a few seconds isn't going to hurt a thing if you have the wheels jacked up off the ground. I've always bled mine this way (you won't get much air out of it anyway without circulating the fluid unless you put a vacuum pump on it)

I actually drove 5 miles with no fluid in the pump AT ALL after flipping the truck once. Bought some fluid, poured it in and resumed driving without even bleeding it (I did cycle the steering a couple times with the truck rolling though). Pump still works fine and eventually quieted back down to what it always had been.

After I bleed it with the engine off and started the truck to see if it worked I basically did bleed it with the engine running. That's how I found out it was noisy. I even used my make shift vacuum before I started it.

sometimes thick grease will not dissolve for a while & cause more problems, but your problem started b4 you used the grease, right?
I rebuilt my '89 Ranger steering, and it took an hour to get it working right (which is way too long)

did anyone suggest removing the return line fron the resevoir, sticking the end of the hose in a gallon milk container, ducttaping the hose in place, then pouring power steering fluid into the pump resevoir as fast as it is emptied into the milk jug while the engine is running & someone is slowly rotating the steering wheel to limits until fluid returns into the jug without air?

with the pressure line loosened slightly, does fluid even try to spurt out & soak everything down with the engine running and a shop rag held over the loose fitting?

I did what you mentioned also and I cant get the fluid in fast enough. The AGR pumps 4 gallons per minute vs a 1 gallon stock pump.



I did find a trace of power steering fluid on the pulley shaft. I have a feeling that is where the air is getting sucked in at. We will see when the new pump gets here.

 

[dave@threat]

New pumps in and it is nice and quiet. Pulley shaft seal was toast on the other one.

 

[84projectFORD]

i kinda figured something like that was bad. glad you got her all worked out! Now why is the ARG pump better other than flowing more fluid?