Well, after 283K miles, my F250 blew its high pressure PS hose early last week. As most of you already know, the hose replacement is not a complicated job at all, but I fought PS Pump Whining for two years on my Excursion after doing that one several years ago. I tried something a bit different this time around, and so far, absolutely NO WHINING at all with the new hose in place. Keep in mind that my PS pump did not whine on EITHER of my vehicles before the hose replacement, but I've simply managed to not get into the same whining problem with my truck that I experienced on the Excursion.

NOTE: I've read that there is a nylon spacer washer used on the Ford OEM hoses which prevents the whining after having air entrained in the system with the hose replacement, and other aftermarket hoses do not have this and that's why they whine so much. I really don't buy into that explanation because the whining comes from inside the pump, and not from the hose.

Anyway, this is what I did...

1. Remove old hose.
2. Install new hose (I did use a Motorcraft hose).
3. Fill PS pump reservoir.
4. Re-install all the goodies necessary to get access to the hose (battery, battery tray, intake filter, and DS intercooler pipe).

All that stuff is normal stuff to do... nothing special or extra.

5. Start the engine and let it run for about 2 minutes.
6. Get in the cab with the engine still running, press the brake pedal, and then turn the steering wheel to the right until I met resistance, and then to the left to the point of resistance, and back and forth about 4 or 5 times. I did not turn the wheel enough to actually turn the tires more than a hair, and with this back and forth, the first "fill" in the reservoir got evacuated out into the hoses and the pump started its typical low fluid level chattering and whining.
7. Shut the engine off.
8. Re-top the PS reservoir to a slight over-full position.
9. Start the engine and begin playing the same game mentioned in Step 6 of alternatingly turning the steering wheel to the right and left until it met with slight resistance, all while my foot was on the brakes.
10. Pull out of the driveway and run up and down the road for a few minutes making slow but full turns to the left and right at low speeds, then return home.
11. Sitting in the driveway, engine still running with my foot on the brakes and the shifter in gear, I started slowly turning the wheel to the left THROUGH a slight bit of resistance and then HOLD the wheel at that resistance point for a few seconds, and the resistance pressure would suddenly release.
12. Push the wheel a little more in the same direction until feeling resistance again, and then also hold it steady in one position until it would "release" the resistance pressure again. I kept doing this slowly until I had made the full left hand turning to the wheel stop, and released the wheel back to center.
13. Repeat Step 12 but in the opposite direction. NOTE... After having completed Step 12, I did not feel the successive releases during Step 13.
14. Took the truck back out for a harder spin around the neighborhood's curvy and hilly roads, and then returned home.

Through Steps 12, 13, and 14, 100% of the whining had completely dissipated and was completely GONE.

15. I tried repeating Steps 12 and 13 again, but there were no "releases" at all in either wheel direction.

16. Turned off the engine and checked the PS fluid level, and it was exactly full!

MY CONCLUSION... the releases I felt in the first run through Step 12 MUST have been air bubbles getting purged through the system, and that must be why I do not have any of the legacy PS pump whining because ALL of the air was purged in Step 12.


Maybe I'm wrong about this... what do YOU guys think?

 

We have a "whiner" in the fam...an '02. Hose was replaced about six months ago. I'll try it and report back

 

Make sure your fluid is topped off first, because if you do still have trapped air, your reservoir level will drop as it gets purged out of the system.

 

Will do....

 

Well, I've heard back from one guy offline that this helped him get the whine out of his pump. His approach was a little different, though... front wheels off the ground and a lot of slow turns back and forth (lock to lock).

 

Full rotations of the steering box to the point of resistance and than bump that point back and forth a few times in both directions is how I've understood to bleed the steering system and something I've always done. So, this makes sense to me.

 

This works for me as well. With the engine off. When you think you have everything bled out, start the truck and let it run for 30 seconds then check the fluid level and look for bubbles. If you have bubbles, give some time for them to settle out and do more of the engine off / back and forth bleeding. Once this seems good, start the truck (front wheels still off the ground) and turn the steering back and forth once or twice, check for bubbles. If all is good then do the off the ground a few more times and then try going around the block if all seems well - no bubbles.

I keep everything very short - no more than one or two minutes - in order to try prevent the fluid from foaming up and to avoid running it with the fluid full of foam.

If you get bubbles/foam the only fix as far as I know is to wait for it to settle out.

 

I finally tried it on the other truck yesterday and the whine is not completely gone but there is a major improvement. I may do a hydro boost flush followed by this procedure and see if that takes care of it completely.

Thanks for the info!

 

F250_ your timing is perfect! I happened to be in the process of changing out the Redhead steering gear box in the EX. Redhead sent me a replacement for the one I purchased during the group buy last August. The gear box started leaking from the adjustment screw on top. I finished it up this evening and used your procedure to purge the system. It works quickly and well. I used Amsoil Synthetic tranny fluid and was surprised how quickly the bubbles dissipated. Kudos sent.

 

Thanks for post. Your procedure worked better and quicker than the procedure that came with the steering gear box.