Well, after 6 months of putting fluid in every day, the power steering pump has failed. These trucks are deadly without power steering.

I picked one up today at NAPA and plan on doing the swap soon. While I'm at it, I want to fix the steering wheel as it is turned about 90* to the left when I'm rolling straight down the road. Anyone have any ideas on how to fix this ? The steering has always been pretty tight and responsive, just ****-eyed.

I've never replaced a power steering pump before, any ideas on what to look out for ? What to replace or do while I'm in there ? Any help is appreciated.

 

its not hard its a bolt in and out swap just be carfull not to cross thread any thing

 

1: Be carefull swaping pulley, PO bent mine, had to swap a different 1. Autozone has puller on loan-a-tool.
2: return line fitting is plastic, Don't break it, unless you got the pump with housing, not that much more. But still don't want it stuck in hose.
3: It will take a little bit of turning lock to lock to bleed system. Mine did not bleed complete until after driving. Keep eye on fluid level intially.

90* off center, 1 of 2 things.
1: Some one replaced steering box, and it did not index the same. I had that problem until I replaced again with rebuilt.
2: Improper alignment job. It should be centered when done, but not all shops do it right.
You can fix either by adjusting tie rod adjusting sleeves. Mark them before you turn anything and make sure you turn 1 in and the other out exactly the same amount. This will keep your Toe set so you don't wear tires excessively, assuming it was right to start with.

 

Thanks ! I will proceed slowly because I can't afford a screw up. Any good degreaser ideas, it's a mess in here.

 

Also when pulling pump. Pull 2 bolts that hold PS pump, loosen the bolts holding bracket to water pump and AC compressor. You will be able to pull pump out the side without having to remove bracket completly. If you have AC, the bottom bolt in the AC bracket pinches the PS pump bracket. the next lowest bolt you will probably have to loosen just to get room.

 

I went to the car wash to degrease mine. Had to go through fenderwell for much of it. Stopped on the way home from work. Took a couple of tries to get most. It will work best with pressure. I have a pressure washer but did not want that mess running down the driveway.

 

Thanks Rolape2 ! I'll probably start this on friday. How many quarts to top her off again ?

 

carb cleaner works wonders at rinsing that gunk off there, especially when used with a brush or a rag. but when using it, its advised to catch the drips for environmental reasons - and that fact that i don't want to lay in it next time.
i would suggest replacing the hoses at the same time, as you know they're old, and it gives you peace of mind.
as for how much fluid it holds, most CARS take about 1 quart, so i would say the truck shouldn't take more than 2 or so.
also, it might be good to flush out the steering box, as the failed pump may have dumped some metal flakes in there that may damage it.
as for aligning the steering wheel, in my van, the only adjustment is to remove the wheel and install it at the desired rotation, though i believe this isn't the case in the f-trucks, adjusting the tie rods as described is probably your best bet

 

Definitely need to flush out the box as it probably has metal shavings inside.

Best way to do this is not connect the return line and let it go into a drain bucket. With the tires off the ground and engine off, turn the steering box back and forth a bunch of times. Keep new fluid in the reservoir. This will also help purge the air out of the lines. Keep doing it until the fluid is coming out clean.

 

If you have an F-350, check your drag link, its the first "tie rod" that comes off the pitman arm and connects to the tie rod that goes between the two knuckles. I hit a stump hard last spring offroading and it bent the tie rod. The steering seemed normal except the wheel was about 90° off. I was able to straighten it out most of the way on my shop press so its only a few degrees off now (probably should replace it one of these days).

I'm not sure if something similar would work on an F-250 as the linkage is different, but its something to look at.

Also, was the pump leaking this whole time and thats why you kept adding fluid? Because if you don't fix the leak, you'll end up wasting more money on fluid and ruin the new pump.

 

it sounds to me like the pump was the source of his leak, but he'll have to verify that.

38chev, i like the sound of your flushing technique, but i would think you'd need to plug the return port on the pump for this to be useful... i'm sure you remember that, but a first-timer may not.
you know, i learn new tricks like this all the time around here

 

Definitely appreciating all the tips. Yes, I'm a first timer. It's a 1988 F350. All of the rods, arms, and bushing looks right and tight, but I will inspect it a little closer once I get in there.


The pumps been leaking this whole time. One day it just quit. It worked pretty good as long as I put a half cup or so in the resevoir. The new pump came with a resevoir so I can rule that out. I think I will pick up some new lines too. The gear is foreign to me and I'm not really sure how to inspect it. I'm assuming it is self contained and I won't need to get into it other than hooking up the lines ? I will lift the front end and rotate the wheels back and forth to flush it.

Wish me luck, I'll need it. Thanks again !

 

yeah, unless the steering gear was leaking, just flush it and it'll be fine. shouldn't need anything else for it. its really not too hard of a job to replace, i've done a couple of them on gassers.

 

I believe the steering wheel splines are keyed. Even if they are not and you pull the wheel and re-index it will mess up your turn signal self canceling. May not seem like a big deal. I did it once on a jeep, turn signal would cancel just thinking about turn 1 way, would not normally cancel the other way.
I did not think about it being an F350 4x4 it should have a solid front axle. You should be able to adjust the drag link without affecting the toe. Can't recall how much fluid it took, I think I needed 3 quarts, but I have a cooler that runs across front of cross member. Don't know if all the trucks have that.

Oh and forgot if cleaning engine at the car wash let engine cool some first. and of course don't get water in the breather.

 

All these diesel engines have PS cooler lines....