Replaced PS Pump....still no good..HELP?

Hi all,

So, replaced my ailing PS pump yesterday on my 89 XJ Limited. I used a reman. pump from AutoZone, which I'm sure was not the best pump to use but before blaming the reman pump, I could use some suggestions!

The old pump was sounding like a supercharger, I could feel the poor thing struggling, and sounded god awful. It would gurgle and whine and make a general racket. Topping off the frothy fluid would help out, but it would continutally spurt out the top hole. With it topped off, steering effort was normal, but the pump was still noisy.

I replaced the pump last night, and flushed it out as best as I could. I stupidly didn't buy enough fluid, so I had to save enough fluid to fill it back up. (parts stores were already closed, had to go to work in the AM). As a result, the fluid was not *as* clear as I would have liked it to have been before buttoning everything back up, but it was definitely better.

Then, I cranked the wheel back and forth again and again to purge out air, dropped it back down and did the same thing again to be safe, continually checking fluid levels. Backed 'er out, took 'er for a spin.

5 minutes into the drive around my area, I thought I heard a faint "whurring" like the reservoir was getting low, so I quickly got back home, checked, and sure enough, it was low. And frothy. Starbucks would be proud of how frothy it was. When it gets hot, it will shoot the fluid out of the top again. I've rigged up a temporary ghetto catch can just to contain the mess. Now, even with the reservoir topped off, steering effort at low speeds is terrible. But I get NO more noise from the pump.

Any ideas on what I should do? I was thinking about replacing the return hose and checking/replacing the o-rings on the hard lines, along with a more complete flush/fill/burp. What causes the bubbly mess? What causes it to shoot out of the top? My feeling is that I've got some crap stuck in the line somewhere, and more serious purging should help out? Perhaps the bubbly mess is from more air trapped in the system?

I've got a camping trip this coming weekend, and don't have time to tear into it again. Is it safe to just keep topping it off? I'm not going to be doing any offroading. Again, the pump sounds nice and quiet right now.

Any advice would be most appreciated.

Thanks,

Alan

What kind of tire is the box trying to turn?

Since you recycled it, what fluid are you using?

It could just be another bad pump from the get-go. I had to go through 2 PS pumps from Napa before I got a good one. The first replacement behaved much like yours. Real stiff turning from a dead stop. Made parallel parking near impossible. But once you got going, it seemed to be fine.

The second behaved better, except the leak between between the reservoir and the pump body. The third one seems to work fine...

Yucca-Man said:

What kind of tire is the box trying to turn?

Since you recycled it, what fluid are you using?

Click to expand...

Not really sure I understand your question, as I didn't "recycle" the fluid, I just didn't have enough to do as complete of a flush as I would have preferred. The oil that spurts out of the top gets dumped into the "old fluid" container in my garage.

I just was/am using cheap power steering fluid from AutoZone. Not sure what brand (probably house band)..I jsut grabbed the cheapest stuff since my primary goal was to flush it out.

Sittin' on stock sized tires.....just my DD.

I'm hoping its not the pump, as it was a huge PITA to replace. Wouldn't a bum pump make lots of noise like my old pump did? Can I still drive around (and go camping, about 1.5 hours each way) like this?

Thanks!

Sounds to me like theres an air pocket in there somewhere.....

Been there done that. I ended up having to park it on the driveway so the front end was at an incline. and crank those wheels back and forth . and eventually it all worked out......
So try parking at various angles to work the air bubble out...

If that dont work, yeah you probably got a Bunk Pump!.....

just a personal note. i went through 6 power steering pumps, from that outfit. one they brought out had'nt even been rebuilt yet, it was still dirty from the last donor. my opinion, auto zone is good for two things, windshield washer fluid, and the air freshner. thats it.

I special ordered their "complete rebuild kit" for $30.99...

Did the "Steering pump mod"

I'm turning 35's without a complaint...

Make sure your serpentine belt isn't on too tight...

It was causing mine to whine a little after I reinstalled the pump...

Swapping it in or out only took me about a half hour?

Mine's an '88 tho...

:dunno:

thanks for all the feedback guys.

wow, 1/2 hour? i guess i'm super slow. took me about 2 hours to get it done, mostly because i had to fight through some ridiculous grease and grime to get to the fasteners, fought with the pulley for a while (yeah, i used the puller and installer), replaced the belt, and kinda cleaned things up as i dove deeper in. if i have to replace the pump again, i think i can cut that number in half or less fairly easily. the flushing part also took me a while since i was workin' solo, so cranking the wheel, running to top it off, back and forth, got old pretty fast.

i'm headed back to autozone to get some of their el cheapo PS fluid again, and will enlist the help of the wifey to crank the wheel. i'm hoping its just air in the system.

if that won't do it, i'll suck it up and pull the POS reman pump and have at it again.

I hate to break it to you, but I have been there and done that for 4 years. Auto Zone and NAPA, and probably most others, use A1 Cardone pumps. They are terrible in XJ form. My brother had one put on his blazer and it was fine, but I went through about 5 pumps and 4 gears before I finally ordered a pump from quadratec, and after arm wrestling at parking speeds for so long, it steered like a Cadillac. Yes, it was expensive at $160, but I recommend it. And fluid makes a huge difference. At least buy the most expensive Auto Zone sells, if not dealer fluid.

Jackhill442 said:

I hate to break it to you, but I have been there and done that for 4 years. Auto Zone and NAPA, and probably most others, use A1 Cardone pumps. They are terrible in XJ form. My brother had one put on his blazer and it was fine, but I went through about 5 pumps and 4 gears before I finally ordered a pump from quadratec, and after arm wrestling at parking speeds for so long, it steered like a Cadillac. Yes, it was expensive at $160, but I recommend it. And fluid makes a huge difference. At least buy the most expensive Auto Zone sells, if not dealer fluid.

Click to expand...

Foam in any Hydraulic pump is caused by Air entering the pump or even a small amount of water in the oil. Drain the old stuff out and add new fluid, the "SLOWLY" turn the wheels lock to lock untill there is no more air in the system. Once the fluid starts to foam it just get worse as air gets back into the system. And get brand name fluid, better fluid has better anti-foam additives.

AutoZOO pumps are eiither ATASCO or FENCO neither of which are any good. Napa and Advance sale carbone pumps which are a step up but still :-(