POWER STEERING ISSUES
 

IM NOT SURE WHERE TO POST MY QUESTION, MAYBE THIS IS IT. I HAVE A 2007 FORD F450, AFTER GETTING IT BACK FROM A NOT SO GOOD SHOP FOR AN ENGINE REPLACEMENT, THE POWER STEERING WAS NOT WORKING RIGHT AT A STAND STILL POSITION OR EVEN WHEN ROLLING SLOW, THE WHOLE HYDRO SYSTEM SEEMS TO BE MALFUNCTIONING, INCLUDING THE BRAKES. NOW THIS IS WHAT IVE DONE SO FAR: REPLACED HYDRO BOOST PUMP, REPLACED GEAR BOX, LAST THING LEFT IS TO REPLACE POWER STEERING PUMP, BUT IT IS GENERATING PLENTY OF PRESSURE, WHATS NEXT? ANYONE PLEASE HELP, THANKS!!

Well I was going to suggest a Hydro Boost system Flush but with all that You have already done that fluid has to be New

The Hydro Boost pump is the Power steering Pump

The Only thing I can think of that would Affect BOTH BRakes and Power Steering would be a Plugged Hydroboost Cooler or a Collapsed/Plugged Hose in the system

Might be worth Taking the Fluid Return Line OFF and see if it has GOOD FLOW when the wheels are turned and brakes Pumped

WHERE IS THE HYDROBOOST COOLER?

Front of the truck towards the Bottom

Its the Smaller cooler you can follow the lines off the Hydroboost pump to the front to find it

I checked but didnt have a Picture

But smallest cooler in the front truck under the radiator

COOLER IS NOT CLOGGED, BUT I DID FIND OUT THAT WHILE HOLDING THE BRAKE AND TURNING THERE IS NO ROTATION, WHATS NEXT????

Me thinks I would have taken it back to them and said, call me when it's fixed

Remember i said "a not so good shop" that was putting it lightly!!!! Took them 3 months to get my truck out to begin with, im not an idiot, of course i woulda took it back, this is a tow truck, i need it on the road now, not in another three months! If you can help, that would be greatley appreciated, thanks

This makes me think that maybe a Steel line may have got SMASHED/Pinched During the engine swap

Or Possibly hooked the Lines up wrong maybe slim chance this one

IDK Thinking outloud here



I might be LOST HERE^^ so Correct me if I am wrong:-X22

So when you Hit/Push the Brakes then try to Turn the Steering wheel (AT the SAME TIME) The Tires wont Turn/Rotate

This is Kinda what made me think about maybe the HydroBoost Lines are hooked wrong IDK

Sorrey about your troubles sounds like its been a Huge Nightmare at this So called shop

I wouldnt take it back to them but I might get it fixed and send them a Bill

If it took 3 months for engine replacement God Only knows whats messed up

Hell Iv Swapped Engines faster than that only working on days off and after work with a 50hr a week Job IIRC I had 3 weeks in the last one but think it was even little faster then that

to the OP, do u have steering wheel controls? like cruise control, or radio controls or a/c controls, or all of the above? if so, i think there is a TSB issued for funky or malfunctioning steering wheel. ford recommends to replace the steering wheel in tat case. i vaguely recall reading about tat somewhere a few months back, but then again, i could be wrong and tat TSB might only apply to king ranch trucks. my 2 cents.

jus curious. plenty of pressure? no offense. maybe when u replaced the power steering pump (hydroboost) there may have been a lotta air in the system. if too much air pressure in the lines, it may cause tat tightness...........yeah, sounds kinky. sorry...i couldnt resist......come to daddy.......ooops, my bad.

Ive checked all the lines, none are pinched, what i meant is that while holding the brake and tring to turn the wheel, there is no rotation in the resorvoir, the second the brakes are released the fluid starts rotating again, i compred the line connections to my 07 f550, and all lines seem to be routed correctly, you guys think it may be the power steering pump not generating enough pressure under load? Thats the last piece left to replace. Thank you all for all the input so far!!!

The hydro boost pump is ur power steering pump. It shares the same reservoir as ur brake pump. Tats why when I do a power steering fluid flush, u use the line there n u pump ur brakes to get the old fluid out. When changing out new parts, ur required to put new fluid back in. While doing tat, u may have gotten too much air in ur lines. Tats why u may be feeling too much pressure. Maybe tats it, or I could be wrong. Tats my theory, tats all.

there have been a few issues with supply do to debris in the ps resivior, i dont know if this will help your issue. check for damaged or kinked lines and the pump. the concern can be from either side.
I have seen a bad spool valve in a gear box cause this as well. I have had more then one bad rebuild on a gear box threw the years aswell.

Not trying to second guess u, cheezit but if the OP has new parts, why would there be debris?

Yes everything is new, hydro boost, gearbox, even the resorvoir, the only thing left to change is ps pump, should i?

there is a screen in the bottom of the resivior that plugs with trash and causes a reduced flow.
my guess is a bad reman gearbox... take it for what its worth im not now nor have i ever been a front end / suspension guy

I bought the gearbox from a local ford dealer, is it possibly defective? They told me at the dealer that it was new, not reman, it cost me $1600, crazy right? I went ahead and replaced it cause it had alot of play. I felt like it was time to replace either way

Have u tried to bleed the hydro boost a little yet? If tat releases pressure, them I may have found the root cause of ur prob, and then all u need to do is do a power steering fluid flush.

How do i bleed the hydro pump, do i just disconnect one of the hoses? Sorry this is my first hydro boost problem!

The Hydro pump will self Bleed air out

All you do is turn the Steering Stop to Stop and Pump the Brakes the Air will come out in the reservoir just cycles the system


Id pull the return line off and see if it has Flow

you can plug/cap return hose and run temp line and let it drain into reservoir basicaly so you could see it


Now Iv never seen anything but makes me wonder if a guy could hook a Pressure gauge up to check condition of the pump

Thanks alot, ill work on it all day tom, hopefully ill have some good news!!!

Good luck sir! Let us know how it goes.

i,m working on a 2007 ford f450 with the same problem,(brakes and power steering issues,i put a new power steering pump on it and cleaned out the cooler and lines,AND ITS FIXED, CHANGE YOUR PUMP!! you do have 2 pumps that work together 1st is the power steering pump that is belt driven,2nd one is mounted on your firewall right behind your master cylinder.hope this helps

the "second one" is not a pump. its a hydroboost unit. it just replaces the vacuum booster that you would find in a car

that is the accumulater