Here it is guys I have been loosing my brakes for a few days (if i need to stop from a high speed , they feel like the are slipping) and my PS was locking up for a brief second when I first started the truck, until Last night


anyways I was pulling into a job site, hard left at low speed and I completely lost PS actually felt like the steering wheel was locked, still have the brakes but they feel choppy and seem to stick unless I stick my foot under the brake pedal and pull up, (NICE)

any how I am up in the air on whether it is the PS pump or the Vacuum pump (sp) and I am not looking to throw both at the truck as money is a problem for a few weeks, for me,

I di a search for several hours last night until I couldn't see anymore, and plan on trying to remove all the old fluid out and put in synthetic maybe I'll get lucky but i am not usually the type to get a break

any help would be appreciated, BTW the steering is so bad the truck is unusable I have had the truck shut off when I ran out of fuel while turning real fast and the steering was hard but this is WAY worse

also the hydraulic lines to the Brakes seem to get really hot like you can;t touch them for longer than a couple of seconds. if that helps

 

There is a thread on this or another site about cleaning the filter screen in the power steering pump, have to pull the pressure line off then the assembly it screws into. A friend of mine did this and it worked for him.

Floyd

 

Well I just got back to my truck after being away for a week and have the same problem DodgeRamdiese01 is describing. My power steering and brakes were out when I first started the truck. I drove it around the parking lot taking the steering all the way from left to right and it returned although there was a new "growling" noise... I still have vacuum pressure running the vents etc so I figured it was the power steering pump going. I put a new power steering pump in this morning and had the same experience. The steering and brakes come and go.
I took the old pump apart as blackimpala described and didn't see any screen in mine. There is the fitting the pressure line screws into and then a spring loaded slide valve but no filters. All the ports were clean in the slide valve as well.
Any other ideas?

 

After a bit more research it sounds like the gear drive in the vacuum pump can either crack or come "unpressed" and prevent power transfer to the power steering pump. This could explain my intermittent operation, sudden onset and growling noise. The guys at fixnrams.com were a big help.

 

Got a new front half for the vacuum pump from fixnrams.com and problem solved. Good customer service as well.

 

well I am thinking my vaccuum pump is also the culprit I have had my truck at a friends Repair shop because I dont wanna start putting parts (IE money) on this with out a better idea of whats wrong, How much was a vaccum pump BTW i am not thing its cheap, also I went to the dealer for a power steering pump and they quoted me over 500 $ I almost ****** my pant with laughter. because NAPA said 97$ and aut zone 54$ auto zones both have lifetime waranties, I know the cheaper ones are remanns but for that price difference I dont care, HMMM let me see 500$ to guess if its the problem or not

Also as it sits now the Hydro. lines get extremely hot to the point I cant touch them within 5 min. of starting the truck, and just leaving it idle. does this lead you believe it is a PS pump? I took off the Hydo line comming ut of the Hydro boost unit and fluid came out when started, at a decent force. still making me wonder if its the pump or not, i also dont see a screen

 

Any suggestions?

 

talk to the guy at www.fixinrams.com. He knows his stuff about this. He was very helpful when I had a similar problem.

 

I had a problem with my brakes, pedal would stick to the floor sometimes and brakes felt wierd. My steering was also so easy to steer like the box was useing all of the boost it could. My lines got very hot fast, i actually had one melt when the truck was idleing in winter. I put in a new brake booster and a new ps pump, then a another new pump when the line blew. All my troubles started when i bought and installed a new PS box from a local parts store. they warrantyed the box twice, then gave me attitude about it not being the box. So i replaced all the stuff i describe earlyer. Then i bought a box from dodge and had the same issuse, so i disasembled the box and found that theres a torsion bar type spring on the input side of the box that controlls how much hydro boost the box uses to assist steering. I found that spring was twisted baddly. So i called dodge and told them my findings and they had no problem warantying the box. Finally i got a good box but the ps pump i have from the afftermarket doesn't have the power it should. Needless to say i'm kinda ****** at the guy from the aftermarket parts store for not warantying my box when i knew it was the problem. They cost me quite a bit of money. I lost the cost of one core and one steering box and had to buy other parts to prove there part was junk. For once the dealer was way better to deal with.

 

that sounds like a nightmare looks like I am gonna start with the vaccum pump and PS pump and probably a new steering box anyways because mine was getting a little sloppy anyways