Fluid coming from under front end. Here we go again...

So im at school, just finished BOMBING a managerial accounting test...I'm getting in my jeep and I notice fluid on the ground under the front end. I swipe my finger in it and give it a sniff.....Power Steering fluid.....I replaced the pressure side hose about 6 months ago and its still clean. I have an engine skid so I couldnt get my head under there to see where its coming from. May end up being the box itself...Cross your fingers....im headed out to the garage to pull the skid and have a look-see. :smsoap:

maybe the low pressure hose to the PS pump? i just did that the other day. good time to clean it all out again.

well shit.....apparently i dipped my finger into what was left of the PS fluid on the skid plate from when the hose went. It turns out the fluid thats leaking is coolant. I traced it to the top of the lower rad. hose where it meets the water pump. I just got done pulling that hose (my dear lord what a PITA) I cant see any cracks or anything that looks bad wrong with the hose to allow it to spew so much liquid. Any ideas??

Bad water pump. Oh and if you got that Pink stuff get rid of it.

10-4. Whats the easiest way to get at the pump? Im having one hell of a time reaching it from up top....and the engine skid has 3 rounded off bolts so i cant get it off either. Is it easier to pull the electric fan assy and go in from up top??

also...do i need to prime the block with coolant after i put the WP on? or do you just fill the Rad up? I've never messed with the cooling system before.

Pull the Electric fan and the Radiator, with a 97 just fill it when your done with 50-50 distilled water and antifreeze

god what a nightmare. Does the front fascia have to come off too? what about the pulley on the WP?

Remove electric fan, remove mechanical fan, remove fan shroud, remove water pump studs, remove fan belt, loosen power steering pump bracket including the one that is underneath and goes to the block, remove water pump. Clean surfaces fully with a razor blade, take new water pump gasket, apply indian head gasket cement to one side and glue it to the pump [line the holes up so you have it right side up], allow to dry while you are flushing the rest of the block out thru the big hole the water pump covered.
Once it's all clean and dry, get ALL the water out of the block, I used like 4 towels, if you get that gasket wet it won't seal correctly. Put a thin coat of Indian head on the other side of the gasket and reinstall the water pump.
DONT CHEAT ON THAT POWER STEERING PUMP BRACKET, you can get the pump off with it just a tad loose but you wont get the new pump and gasket on intact, you have to move it enough to get the pump STRAIGHT IN or you will be doing it again after you button it up the first time and it leaks...
Torque the bolts to the correct ft/lbs, do it like a wheel, cross side to side, top to bottom, repeat. Too much tight and they break, not enough and they leak. It's also a good time to put anti-seize on the bolts and such too that you took apart..

olivedrabcj7 said:

god what a nightmare. Does the front fascia have to come off too? what about the pulley on the WP?

Click to expand...

Do like Rich says but the rad easy lifts out.

Well i got it in. My knuckles hurt. I got everything done except refilling with 50/50. Ill have to wait tomorrow. I did it with both fans in place, but removed the mech. fan shroud. The hardest part was getting the PS pump bracket off.Those bolts come out and into the back of the pulley so i was using a combo wrench (1/2") and doing 1/4 turns on each bolt until they were out. I put the indian head cement on both sides of the gasket and got it straight in and lined up without too much wiggling to line up the holes. I REALLY hope i did this right.....I'm NOT looking forward to tearing back into that thing. :badpc:

ok so after filling it with 50/50 I start it up and see lots of power steering fluid pouring out from under the jeep. Upon further inspection, the return line was 2/3 broken off right at the steering box end of the metal line. So i remove that, then im undoing the reservoir end of the rubber hose and manage to snap off the plastic nipple. The shit storm continues...:gonnablow:

Im now improvising a fix for the plastic nipple. There is about half of it left on the reservoir so i wedged a spark plug boot over it and used a hose clamp. I think it will be fine since its not the pressure side.

Ah, the joys of owning a Jeep. Wait until the the tranny kicks it. ( you want HOW much to fix it? [ stupid TOYOTA based POS auto. {yeah, yeah-toyota reliablity,etc, etc... still costs WAY to much to rebuild when it does crap}]).

ok. more problems. It seriously never ends. I cant find this metal line ANYWHERE. None of the parts houses have it. All their computers are telling them is a rubber hose and a size. Thats the half i dont need. Does anybody have their old PS return hose by any chance? i just need the metal line side.

Hey, man that metal stub is the same thing on the 1980 and newer GM vehicles. All it is is a metal stub that a rubber hose goes on, and then the hose goes up to the pump res. Just go to the local junkyard and get one from like a big body gm car or a newer model truck.

So, the thread size and stuff is the same where it threads into the gear box also?

Yes, the fitting that you are looking for uses an "o" ring on the bottom of it. Just pull out the piece that screws into your steering box, and you will see what I mean. It is common in the rust belt for this piece to rust/break off, so don't feel too special. Oh, you might want to look at the Astro van series, as I think that they use a longer stub than the cars or trucks.