Switched out a y block for a bettet y block this past week.I had great power steering before the swap.Now I have none. Same pump ,same power cpp box. Big change on the ps I did make to clear the headers I had to go to a 90 degree fitting on both pressure and return hoses, see pic attached.Could that be the difference. Fluid level is good .belt is tight...No belt squel jusy no power steering. I know I could switch pumps for one thay had a turned return line tube. Just wondering if that could of made the difference?
Hoses were not switched ....that was my first thought... just a br*** 90 on the return and a standard pressure 90 on the supply
It doesn't look like you would have a restriction in the line with those fittings but you might check the orifices on the actual hydraulic fitting. It could be that for some reason it has a very small p***ageway because it was designed for an application that needed the restriction but had the right ends on it. I've never seen the internals of a pump stick because the pump sat dry for a long time but anything is possible. The other thing may be air trapped in the system that isn't getting worked out. Have you jacked it up with the tires off the floor/ground and worked the steering wheel back and forth lock to lock a number of times? When I was doing a lot of work on power steering units that became standard procedure after I had trouble getting the air out of a couple of them that I worked on.
Take off your return line and run it into a container or something . Let a buddy start it for just a few seconds,,,,,see how much fluid comes out . Then work from there . Tommy
Did you take the adapter fitting out of the pump body, and then put it back in? Did you take the pump apart at all?
Never touched the adapter fitting, just screwed the 90 degree elbow to the adapter fitting.....did not take the pump apart at all.
Have you check to see if fluid is even pumping? I bet you have a... PLUGGED ORIFACE just wanted to say that
Pulley diameter on the pump is only one half the ratio between crank and pulley...what about the crank pulley diameter? I really doubt that is your problem, but wanted to point out there is more than pump pulley isn’t the only factor. Ray
^This. With the nose up, engine off, reservoir full and cap off, crank the steering lock to lock about a dozen times. Recheck fill, top off if need. Do it again. If the fluid has not dropped and it is not aerated, you should be good to go. Trick I was shown years ago with Saginaw pumps, if the pump still doesn't appear to be priming, loosen belt and rotate the pump backwards a few times. There will be a slight change in resistance, and if you try to rotate it forward the pump will have m***ive resistance from now being primed. It still makes no sense to me today, but it works. And I've rebuilt a few canned hams.
The relief valve could also be forced open due to a blockage. The power steering outlet screws into the relief valve on some pumps [Aisin etc] They are easy to dismantle and clean. Your new fittings could also be blocking it. Have you tried putting the old fittings back into the pump. If you switched to 90 deg using AN fittings check for "flap" in the hoses
I'm going to check the pressure elbow first as I never did check the inside diameter to see if and how much if any it is smaller diameter than my first adapter at the pump that I had on before the swap.....I wish I could take the hose off and hook it up the old, straight way, but I can not with the headers on . That is why I switched.
^ ^ ^ ^ THIS ^ ^ ^ ^ Another thing that may work is to just rev the engine a couple of times. I replaced the pump on my LT-1 Buick Roadmaster and had the same issue. Wound it up to about 5K a couple of times and the pump primed itself. Maybe try the rev trick first, easier than jacking the car up and cranking the wheels back and forth, but that should also work. !!!!! Make sure you come back and tell us what the issue and fix was !!!!!
I have not seen it a bunch but I have seen air in the system and sometimes it does not self bleed. You can usually get it our by rolling the wheel lock to lock a few times. Just to add to the mud in these waters.
Well, this isn’t probably going to help you, any, but it was an experience I had on my OT 79 Ford pick up, years ago. My power steering fluid looked bad so I pulled the return line off and drained the pump. Jacked up the truck and turned the wheels back and forth to push the fluid out of the steering box. Hooked the return line back up and filled it with fluid. I only had power steering in one direction! Turned the wheels back and forth , with the engine running a bunch of times, no power one way! It was working perfect before I drained it, just looked cruddy! I had to drive it that way and did for a week or so. It was tuff to turn that four wheel drive truck with huge tires with out power one way! One day I went out, got in my truck and it had power both ways!! It healed itself! Just my experiences! Bones
Shouldn't of lost any check ball as the adapter fitting (first fitting screwed into the pump) was never taken off
Air in the system? try jacking up the front end and turning the wheels pressurizing the system some times helps push fluid through A rad pressure tester or old reservoir cap you can push an air blower through and apply light pressure to the system The fitting you installed should not of had you loose pressure that bad the relief spring and ball should be behind your high pressure discharge outlet Is it still getting squeezed the right amount?
Well I figured it out and it was air in the system. Couldn't believe it as I had virtually no air when installing, the then new pump ,on my old engine. So I jacked up the front end ,cap off pump,engine not running and turned lock to lock several times, lots if bubbles first time...did if again and very few bubbles a third time , bubbles gone ,power steering returns. Thanks to all that replied.
I had the same experience last summer on the same year and model truck. It also took about a week for it to finally de-aerate the fluid. Glad you got it going, @ahshoe.
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