The PS pump quit on Sunday, it was a monster to drive home but it is in the driveway. The battery, air cleaner and IC hose are all out now and the pump is accessible from the top and bottom. The problem is getting the high pressure hose fitting disconnected... it is pretty rusty. I bought a set of SAE and metric crowfoot wrenches and danged if neither set has the size needed for the HP hose fitting nut. It must be an 18mm as that is the only size I don't have.

There is no way to remove the pulley from the pump while in the truck without removing the cooling fan stator shroud and I really don't want to get into removing the radiator and cooling fan while working on a gravel driveway--unless there just is no other way to git-r-dun.

I suppose one option is to disconnect the high pressure hose at the hydro-boost end, remove the return side hose, remove the three bolts that mount the pump and try to snake the pump out with the high pressure hose still attached at the pump, then use a pulley puller and try to remove the high pressure hose from the pump with a regular 18 mm wrench.

Does anyone have a suggestion or recommendation on how to get that HP hose off, otherwise?

Meanwhile, I'll head off in search of an 18 mm crowfoot wrench and see what can be done. The 3/4 in wrench is too big, too sloppy to wrestle with a rusty nut.

Thanks for your consideration,
Bob

 

It is an 18mm. There is no real easy way to remove the pump. I usually remove the hose and line, rather than pulling the fan and stator and removing the pulley with the pump on the engine.

 

Thanks for confirming that the nut is in fact 18 mm. I guess I'll order another set of crowfoot wrenches that includes an 18mm and wear some leather gloves. Northern Tools has a cheap set and I am not in a big hurry so mail order might have to do.

I use to go through Jackson, somewhat regularly, and always looked forward to stopping at Barnhill's. From Jackson, the rest of the way across TN headed East is a pretty trip.

 

Well, I bought another set of crowfoot wrenches that includes the 18mm but could not break the nut loose with a 3/8 ratchet, can't get enough force on it. The next strategy will be to try and find a short section of pipe and try to improvise on a cheater bar. Since you can only hit one flat (like F Major for the music folks) I might need to tune the length of the ratchet handle to get it just right.

At this point, it would have been cheaper to just cut the high pressure hose off and buy a new one. Let the core charge folks take care of getting the nut loose!

 

Yeah, it usually takes a good bit of leverage to break those loose.

 

Spray it with some penetrating oil. Heat it up wit ha heat gun if you have one
and then spray it again.

I was going to say that you may get a better grip on the nut with a flair
nut crows foot. Just be careful wit ha standard crow foot that you don't
strip the flats on the nut.

Sean

 

Got-r-dun! Wish I had read your idea first, though, it had not occurred to me that there was such a thing as spray-on penetrating oil. It probably would have helped.

The local hardware store had some pipe remnants, I showed one of the guys my wrench, told him what I wanted to do and a few minutes later I was out the door with a slightly imprecise, variable length adjustable poor-man's breaker bar for $1.70.

'Breaker-breaker-ratchet-wrench, come-on!'

Once the nut was broken loose it was ready to be worked but the space available is so tiny that you are lucky to get on flat at a time. There may be enough space to work a flare-fit crowfoot tool with better results. In the meanwhile, I will grind down one side of the 18mm wrench to make the reinstall just a wee bit less hateful.

A local service station...the only service station did not look real enthusiastic about doing the job and said it would be at least $320 for labor. He is probably right, too. Ah well, I'll finish up in the morning when there is enough light to see what's what.

The reman pumps are running about $53 to $57 in the NE corner of Massachusetts. I may replace the pulley, given the abuse it has suffered at my amateur procedure... rather than have to go through this task again because of my own recklessness.

 

Just don't fill it up and drive off and think the brakes will work first try. Air is not you
friend in the case. Make sure that you work the air out of the system and also pump
the brakes a few times. Then check fluid level and top off as needed. Then repeat till
your not having to top off.

One easy trick is if you have access to a vacuum bleed tool. Put the system under a
vacuum after you top it off and you should see air bubble up. Do that a few cycles and
that should remove a lot if not all the air in the system.

You might want to add one of the microfine magnet filters to the return line.

Sean

 

Hey, hey....whats this about the BRAKES not working right after changing out the PS pump? Are you saying the are connected some how?

 

The connection between the PS and the brakes is that the PS pump provides the hydraulic power source to assist the power brakes. There is a hydroboost on the brake master cylinder since their is no vacuum source available to assist with braking.

I don't think I could even stop the truck without the hydroboost being operational. Steering without the pump is very difficult. Supposedly, there is enough reserve pressure in the hydroboost to facilitate three assisted uses of the brakes after a failure of the PS pump.

So, in this particular design, the PS hydraulic pump is analogous to the vacuum pump that had been the source of power assist in the earlier diesel models, certainly it was on my '97 7.3L F250.

 

I think what I'll do is get a pair of jack stands, lift the front wheels off the ground and cycle the steering to get any air and old fluid cycled out of the system and backfill it with Mercon V or maybe a synthetic ATF. Not sure where to find the inline filter setup but it sounds like a good plan insert one on the return side--at least it will be easier to access plumbing.

Haven't decided on whether to replace the HP hose, or not. The system was no leaking before the pump failed.

The only advance notice that something was wrong was a pulsing in the brake pedal and when steering at low speed, as in backing into a parking space. When it failed there was an audible whining or whirling sound.

There is also no evidence of fluid heating or even movement of fluid in the PS reservoir. The ATF was not low, either.

From gleaning across various posts, it sounds like the OEM pumps don't do well after installing a lift kit. My '05 F250 CC Amarillo rig has a 4" lift and big tires. It is possible that the combination has contributed to the problem.

The truck only has 37K miles on it.