oilcan64

hi everyone

finally got the truck back together all but the bed and drove it home from where we did the body work and painted her. somethings wrong with the powersteering. its steers but makes a wierd noise/vibration when turning the wheel, other times its smooth for half a turn of the wheel. i put a redhead steering box on it and replaced both steering hoses, the only thing i didnt replace was the p/s pump. keep in mind the pump was fine before i took the truck apart 2 years ago...now, after i shut the truck off it makes a weird suction noise and the fluid in the pump is all foamy...any ideas what this could be? i think its the pump, only thing i did not replace and its where the noise is from. the hoses are tight and there's no leaks so i dont think its sucking air

thanks for all input

Justin

Jklawinsky

Sounds like there could be some air in the system still. Did you make sure to fully bleed the powersteering

93flatbed

If the pump sat with no fluid in it for 2 years then one or more of the veins could be stuck in the pump. I've had it happen before. Some times they will start to work other times it needs to be replaced. I'd drive it a few more days and see if it fixes itself. And triple check all the lines, sucking air will cause the same problems.

oilcan64

whats the proper way to bleed the system, i was reading thro older posts and someone said jack up the front end and loosen one of the lines turn wheel all the way left and all the way right slowly and that should do the trick. im guessing the motor should be running so the pump running during this?

dodgenstein

I recently had my pump off and replaced the fluid and rebled the system. I jacked up the frontend, filled with fluid, cycled the wheel lock-to-lock engine off several times. then I refillled fluid, started engine cycled lock-to-lock and rechecked fluid. When done, no air issues.

NJTman

You have air in your lines.


DO NOT CRACK THE LINES. you'll just add more air.


When you bought the PS Gear from redheads, why didn't they provide you a proper bleeding spec sheet ? Did you ask for one ?

Dodgenstein has the correct overall procedure, although you have to determine if you have done any damage by not originally following the proper procedures for bleeding required by the gear manufacturer. Most likely there's no damage, depending on how long you drove it this way. Put a magnefine filter in the return line, and bleed the system properly. The key is to never let the pump have not enough fluid while bleeding. This is why 2 people work best .... one in the cab moving the steering wheel, and the other under the hood keeping the pump full all the time while bleeding. Lack of fluid in either the gear or pump can cause damage. Any debris that was in your old pump, can break loose, and damage your new gear as well (if there is crud in there). This is why I changed my pump, gear and hoses all at once. Search the thread about the reverse steering gear and there's a blurb about the bleeding towards the end of the thread.

Call redheads and ask them for their procedure.

Santaclaus

I filled the power steering pump with fluid to the very top after letting it sit for a few minutes to get rid of the foam. Started the engine and immediately shut it off let the foam settle refilled to the top crank it again and slowly back out the driveway while turning the wheel slightly left and then right a couple of times. Shut it off again let the fluid settle fill it again crank it up and turned its lock to lock slowly stopped and check again this time it was slightly over full. I left it like that and haven't had a problem since. Either way you have to get the air out. Just my two cents, Mike.

NJTman

That is the procedure that most rebuilders recommend.

oilcan64

thanks guys, its workn good now. there was air in it