OK, guilty as charged. I've never ever flushed the power steering fluid on any vehicle I've ever owned. But the 'new' truck (see sig) definitely needs it because the fluid is BLACK. Amazingly, there's none of the signature Ford whine from the pump, but I'd like to keep it that way.

I've read up on how to do this, and it seems the process is pretty generic.

Step 1 (optional): Siphon out as much of the old stuff from the reservoir as possible.

Step 2: Detach the low pressure return hose from the reservoir and place in a container

Step 3: Jack the vehicle up enough to get the front wheels off the ground

Step 4: Start the vehicle and begin cranking the wheel lock-to-lock. Simultaneously, new fluid should be added to the reservoir (probably good to have two people for this).

Step 5: When new fluid is coming out the hose, turn everything back off and button it all back up. Top off the fluid in the reservoir

Step 6: With the cap still off, start the vehicle back up and continue turning lock to lock. When no air bubbles come through the fluid in the reservoir, it is bled. Top off the fluid and you're done.

Seems simple enough, but I have a few questions:

1) What fluid? I know ATF is preferred and synthetic at that, but Type F or Mercon? Or does it not matter?

2) I don't get how the new fluid added won't just run out the bottom of the now-open reservoir through the nipple for the removed return line. Does it need to be capped somehow, or is there something I'm not understanding?

3) Anyone know the ID of the hose on the return line?

4) About how much fluid will it take to do this job?

Thanks!

Mike

 

anyone? bueller?

 

Type f Or
Any synthetic

Return hose is a hair bigger then 5-16 but smaller then 3/8 I think.


Just drain fluid
Refill
Start and turn lock to lock 4-5 times
Drain fluid
Refill and your complete

You don't need to be 100% **** about it. That will be plenty of a flush.

Buy 3 quarts of fluid. That's plenty

 

Thanks!

Yeah, I'm not sure how you would do this leaving the system open. Perhaps if you take the return line off at the end opposite the pump and clamp it? Taking the hose off at the pump end means any fluid added to the reservoir just comes right out the nipple, which is exactly what I expected.

I ended up taking off the hose at the pump and draining out the reservoir, then putting the hose back and filling up with fresh Type F. I ran it lock to lock about a dozen times with the wheels off the ground, then repeated the whole process until the fluid in the reservoir stopped turning dirty (about 3 cycles). Only ended up using about a quart of fluid. Oh, and it DOES make a mess! The fluid went everywhere, but a large drip pan underneath and a dad who's quick with a 5 gallon bucket kept the mess to a minimum.

The steering feels about the same (which I expected), but the pump went from just a bit noisy to dead quiet. There's only the slightest whine at full lock but that's it. Definitely a worthwhile job.

Mike

 

Awesome. Good to hear.
The ford pump is known to be noisy but with regular flushes and !!! Type F !!! Fluid it is a whole different pump.

 

Well, SOB.

So, when I had it up in the air and was cycling lock to lock, I was getting a really nasty noise at full lock. And this isn't the usual louder whine or belt squeal or anything. It was almost a bark or a squawk. Kinda scary sounding. This was with the reservoir completely full (I NEVER had it anywhere near empty with the engine running). I adjusted the tension on the power steering belt thinking that the belt might be squeaking and let it go.

Long story short, it's making that noise at full lock now with the truck down. It NEVER made this noise before, so it's something I did. Any ideas?

Mike

 

Normally the loud squeal at full lock is the bypass valve.
It is probably louder now because good fluid is "thicker" and more is being bypassed.
If its quiet normally and steers fine then I'd say no worries.

 

So, would using the synthetic fluid have been a better option then? I just used O'Reilly's store brand Type F. It was the only Type F they had.

Mike

 

Type f is the correct fluid.
Synthetic may be quieter but why are you cranking the wheel full lock and then still applying pressure to try and turn it more.
I say it's fine but I can't hear it from where I live.

 

Well, that's kinda like going to the doctor and saying 'It hurts when I do this' and his reponse is to say 'Then don't do it'. Yeah, it keeps the symptoms from coming back, but doesn't really solve the problem.

I'll try to get a quick vid of it this weekend and post it up if I can.

Mike

 

Good analagy.
But
It's a "normal" noise.
What's not normal, is when you're at full lock, to keep cranking it like you're trying to turn more. All it's doing is building max pressure and bypassing the fluid.
It's louder because the new fluid hasn't lost any viscosity or hasent broken down yet and it's just louder going through the bypass.
My van with the saganaw pump is super loud. But that's because it has so much more pressure/volume then the crappy ford pump.

It's normal. Kinda like the "supercharger whine" that half the ps pumps ford made.

 

Aha! Got it! The belt was slipping. It became pretty obvious when I started noticing a belt squeal when I goosed it at idle when the engine was cold (for troubleshooting purposes only, of course). You could also feel the pump bucking through the wheel when turning it at a dead stop. A little more persuasion on the pump while tightening the belt and it's all good now.

Morale of the story? I need to man the hell up! Been working on fragile stuff so much lately that I'm being a bit too timid on this beast. Oh well, guess it's better than breaking stuff.

Mike