Power Steering Woes

I've just gotten my '96 back together after a couple years if downtime and am having trouble with the P/S. During the build, I ended up installing a reman steering box. When I first got it started up, I had my stock pump on there. Everything seemed fine in the driveway for a few minutes, but then when I took it out for a spin, there was no power steering. I decided 2 years on the garage floor had taken its toll on the pump, so I replaced it with a reman from Autozone. This one lasted about 3 trips around the block. At first, the P/S felt great, just like it should, then it would get hard(lose P/S), but then regain it. A short while later, like 10 minutes, there is no P/S at all again. I don't want to just keep throwing parts at it. Any ideas?

Did you bleed the system thoroughly?

put the front axle on jackstands, start it up and cycle the steering a bunch of times with the cap off. Sounds like you've got air in it still.

Jacking up the front and saw the wheel back and forth with the cap undone but still on top is what you want to do. If you start the motor the pump will air rate the fluid and you wont get the air out.

I bled both my stock pump and the reman replacement thoroughly, with the front axle jacked up and turning it lock to lock a couple dozen times. I did this with the engine running just as I always have.
After seeing/expecting the "did you bleed it properly?" responses, I watched some YouTube videos, and although there's nothing magic about this process, I decided to give it one more go. I bought ANOTHER reman pump yesterday and swapped it out. Jacked the front axle up and without the engine running, turned the wheel lock to lock a couple dozen times. Then I started it, and cycled it a couple dozen more times. Then I lowered it back to ground and cycled it more. I took if for a spin around the block, and the EXACT same mode of failure has occured. All three of these pumps have made it for about 5 minutes, executing a few turns while driving, and then it feels as if the system has hydrolocked. All power steering is lost, and the fluid appears to not be cycling in the reservoir. Its hard to say, but there may even be more resistance to turning than if there was no P/S system at all. Additionally, while replacing the two pumps, when I remove the high pressure line from the pump, a fountain of fluid squirts out- as if the flow of fluid was blocked and pressure has built up.

I realize that there are only two components to this system, the pump and box, and all signs seem to be pointing toward the box now. I intend to swap the box out this afternoon, but I'd like to hear if others have experienced this. This has been extremely frustrating and time consuming. The last thing I want to do is swap out the box right now- I just put this thing together.

when i did mine, I had to: cycle it with the engine off,
then with the engine on.
shut the engine off and drink a few beers
cycle it again with the engine on
wait, top off fluid

take it for a spin.


are you running a cooler? if so, are the ports oriented correctly?

No offense, but I'm past the point of suspecting that this thing is not bled properly. The pumps work perfectly for those precious 5 minutes. I do not have a cooler installed.

Accidental post

Take that pump back to Auto Zone, get your money back then got one from a more reputable company.

The problem was the steering box; I swapped it out and everything is as it should be. I didn't try to diagnose what had gone wrong with the other one, but when I took it back to O'reilly's, the manager kinda cringed and said that they had stopped carrying the Cardone brand entirely and have switched to BBB Industries, known as " triple B".
This leads me to respond to the "more reputable company" comment made above. Unless the poster was talking about PSC, I found yesterday that all parts stores are created pretty much equally and are only slightly differentiated by the staff at any particular location. O'reilly's did not have another box in stock, and I wanted one that day, so I called around to find another "triple b" box. Autozone, Baxters, Napa, Knecht's and Pep Boys all carry the Cardone boxes, simply relabeled, and same is true of the pump. So, the moral of the story is don't let TV commercials trick you into thinking any one of these stores has any leg up on the others. I' d give a slight nod to Napa because they stock better tools and supplies, but they are fewer and farther from me and their prices are always higher- for the same Cardone part.