• Welcome to the new NAXJA Forum! If your password does not work, please use "Forgot your password?" link on the log-in page. Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] if we can provide any assistance.

Power steering pump is going out ... What to buy?

Big Bear

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Utah
I was just wondering if anyone knows of any good power steering pumps out on the market. I already have an AGR steering box installed. But I am kind of leery of their high flow PS pump. I have seen alot of bad pumps come from AGR. And I am not sure if they are even worth the money. I was told by a friend of a friend that you can modify a stock pump in to a high flow pump simply by drilling out the orfis on the out going side of the pump. Has anyone done this? And if so how didi it work? I will be trying to get this done over the upcoming weekend. Any thoughts or ideas would be great.

Thanx, Mike :pirate1:
 
search for redneck ram. seriously. Im not really familiar with theri products , but they give info on the mod you describe.
 
Lucas said:
search for redneck ram. seriously. Im not really familiar with theri products , but they give info on the mod you describe.

yup, www.westtexasoffroad.com in the tech section. I have heard tons of good things about this mod, search PBB to see what I mean. If it were me, I would go get a stock pump from the junkyard off a late 90s XJ and do the mod on that site.
 
i say this from experience....I almost never bag on vendors, but AGR is junk.

there's nothing wrong with the stock pump, or even a napa rebuild.

I run the oem pump with a HUGE hydro steer ram, and the little things puts out impressive performance.

if you must go aftermarket for whatever reasons, forget agr
 
Beezil said:
there's nothing wrong with the stock pump, or even a napa rebuild.

Be carefull of the rebuilt pumps. My dad went through 5 rebuilt pumps from NAPA in 7 months on his Impalla SS. They are not as well put together as a new unit and can fail at an early stage due to bad bearings and such on the inside. The shaft that the pully rides on came loose on 2 of them and almost took out the radiator. May be its just the type of pump for his car?

AARON
 
Thanx Beez,
I have kind of formed the opinion as you about AGR. After woking at 4 Wheel Parts for six months. We had alot of bad pumps from AGR right out of the box. I haven't experienced any problems out of my AGR steering box in the 2 years I've had it. So mabey I got lucky for once. But I realy don't want to push my luck.
 
Yes and thank you. If I buy an after market pump it will come from the dealer. I get a shop discount with my local jeep dealership which sometimes helps out quite a bit.
 
It will be a good idea to get and install an inline filter in the return line...when the old pump begins to fail it sheds metal particles into the system..the only defense in a stock system is a magnet inside the pump...a lot of new pumps fail because of this debris...been there, have the t-shirt..
 
Hey - I did the mod to my oem pump as described at WestTexasOffroad & it worked great! Only problem is you must run a cooler with this mod! Mine was driving like a Caddy - one finger, almost 'twitchy' smooth after doing this mod but it cooked the fluid until I installed a cooler. 12 year old pumps don't like the extra work from this mod without the cooler! A F250 cooler will mount perfectly behind the lower radiator panel and Crown Victoria police cars have a combo tranny / steering cooler that is dimensionally the same. Details on my site - check the tech page, it's there somewhere...
http://home.earthlink.net/~jeepcherokee/index.html

Now all I gotta do is swap in another pump - the modded parts will swap right over.
 
Last edited:
I would just take the pump and the box and send them to LEE MFR.

Have Tommy do some mods on both of them, IT will cost you about the same in the long run, but you will get more pressure and keep the stock box
 
Mike, give Carl and Von a call at Rocklogic. They have a sweet hydro assist ram setup for yota's and they are working on a ram assist setup for the XJ platform, plus know alot about porting boxes and such. Plus, they are SLC local and good, fair guys to boot......tell em I sent ya.
http://www.rocklogic4x4.com/
 
Well, I just cruised to Autozone and picked up a rebuilt unit. I never gave too much consideration to the longevity of the part until reading this, but it's got ~3k miles and no issues so far. I appeared to be of decent quality and for the price ($89) it wasn't bad. Also, my lady paid for it so I cannot complain too much. Not to mention this happened the DAY BEFORE we were going to drive to Seattle from California, so I was in a jam. :)

I'll keep my fingers crossed I guess. The brand is ATSCO btw...and a lifetime warranty, although does me no good if I have to replace every 5k miles. :(
 
lunghd said:
Hey - I did the mod to my oem pump as described at WestTexasOffroad & it worked great! Only problem is you must run a cooler with this mod! Mine was driving like a Caddy - one finger, almost 'twitchy' smooth after doing this mod but it cooked the fluid until I installed a cooler. 12 year old pumps don't like the extra work from this mod without the cooler! A F250 cooler will mount perfectly behind the lower radiator panel and Crown Victoria police cars have a combo tranny / steering cooler that is dimensionally the same. Details on my site - check the tech page, it's there somewhere...
http://home.earthlink.net/~jeepcherokee/index.html

Now all I gotta do is swap in another pump - the modded parts will swap right over.

Im runing the stop pump and stock box with spools...

I was over heating so I got a tranny cooler from auto zone last weekend, it was the Model 401. It was only $20. I dont see it worth spending time in a junk yard to save just afew$$.

I havent tested it yet, but should do the trick.
 
Hey this maybe a stupid question but here goes
what are the tell tail signs that your pump is going south?
I get this noise that sounds like a duck or a groan when I turn to the wheel sharply. It does it if I'm moving or not but not all the time. There isn't any rubbing of tires or anything like that. The PS mount bolts are not going through the frame. Any ideas? is it the pump of the gear itself?
TIA
Fletch
 
Pump is going south when the vehicle is driving at a magnetic heading of 180 degrees. :wave:

Seriously though...it should make a whine when driving, sounds like a bad bearing.
 
Back
Top