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PS woes after replacement

MickeyS

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Pasadena
High pressure line was spraying fluid out hitting the exhaust. pump had been whining for a while too so i decided to pull that and put in a refreshed one. I have a lares steering rack waiting to go in so i figured i would get it all done in one day... wrong.

Pulled it all and put the new pump and rack in. Cherokee simply will not turn without herculean force. pump defective. okay, i took it back and got another one. The new (reman) one pulls alright; but it's harder to turn left and i can't do it with one finger on undersized street tires like i could my old pump.

Is it the rack or the second pump? I'm debating just returning all components and letting it sit for a while till i figure out what to do.
 
I tightened the belt real good, it's not slipping. i did use the valvoline recommended replacement fluid. do you think these are just stiff from the factory? the old pump and rack were easy as pie to steer. but there was whine and leaks all over.
 
I just went through this.
But before the story, did you flush the system, and bleed it?


We had bought a rebuilt pump from NAPA, new everything else, and after flushing & bleeding the system with two quarts of fluid the rebuilt pump was making awful noise, and just not working right.
OK!
Bad new pump from NAPA.
Take it back to NAPA, and they get me another one off the shelf.
The other one was locked up out of the box.

NAPA, and all the other McParts stores get their rebuilt parts from A1 Cardone.
The Mngr. at NAPA was apologetic to me, but stated that they are having MAJOR problems with ALL their rebuilt parts right now.
I ended up reinstalling my old pump, and just ordered a brand new pump instead.
No more rebuilt parts from the McParts stores, or even ROCKAUTO.COM.

Yeah a new pump is $200+, but dang!
How many times do you want to waste all that fluid.
 
I didn't really "flush". I had installed a new ramn'd gear box at the same time. so just filled it all with fresh fluid.

And yes, the first remanned was cardone! the gear box was lares.

I think there is a slight alignment issue. I'm going to get that sorted first before i go pulling everything entirely. I'm not sure what to think. I might have to order a new pump like you said. any reason a new remanned gear box would be hard to pull? or would it just have slop if it were crummy?
 
reman'd box as well?

i just went through this on my chevy pickup. took 3 reman'd boxes before i got one that wasnt shit. one of them, it was much harder to turn left than right, which is one of your symptoms.
 
i may just bolt up the old box and call it a day. sucks cause i paid a shop to put it in specifically cause it was just heavy for me and i didn't want to strip any of the threads.
 
I actually went through 2 - NAPA PS pumps, until the 3rd one worked. The first 2 acted much like you described.

I replaced the original OEM one at about 70k miles, on my '98.

I'm at 196k miles now, and still going strong, on the same replacement NAPA one mentioned above.

Go figure.
 
Cardone is pure garbage. At this point I'll try and rebuild that stuff myself since I can't do much worse than them.

If you're box is hard to turn only one direction and nothing is binding on the front end then that box is no good.
 
Cardone is pure garbage. At this point I'll try and rebuild that stuff myself since I can't do much worse than them.

If you're box is hard to turn only one direction and nothing is binding on the front end then that box is no good.

X2

If it were both directions, id say pump. But since you have assist in one direction but not the other. Its something in the valving inside the gearbox.
 
I didn't really "flush". I had installed a new ramn'd gear box at the same time. so just filled it all with fresh fluid.

And yes, the first remanned was cardone! the gear box was lares.

I think there is a slight alignment issue. I'm going to get that sorted first before i go pulling everything entirely. I'm not sure what to think. I might have to order a new pump like you said. any reason a new remanned gear box would be hard to pull? or would it just have slop if it were crummy?


Flush the fluid, I run 4 to 6 quarts thru. Rubber hoses can hold on to dirt, metal bits! The plastic reservoirs are horrible to clean, many nooks and crannies that you can access. I use solvent, carb and Berrymanns carb and choke cleaner with a spray on the can, fill her up and slosh about, repeat till clear. Use brushes, bottle brushes to get as much area clean as possible. The reservoir should have a magnet permanently attached inside at the lowest point. you can feel it with a piece if steel from the outside. Anyway after clean with carb cleaner, use a water based cleaner, like Foamy Engine Brite, this works to remove mud and such that the solvents like carb cleaners don't do so well with, rinse many times till clear with hot water, followed by a final round of carb cleaner to remove water. I had to repeat this many times on my reservoir to get it clean, whole can of carb cleaner. Lots of small bottle brushes, paint brushes, small acid brush on and extended length handle, rags used to get it clean.

Also found two of two rebuilt pumps with the attached reservoirs supplied have dirt in them, not big chunks, but black goo, fine black particles, ie rubber from seals, hoses?

And if I got the small bottle brush down on the magnet, which is under a ledge so you cant see it, the brush came up with metal fine whiskers, I suppose that shows the magnets work, it be best to try to mechanically the magnet with a bottle brush bent down around the plastic ledge, as if there is a large build up, the effectiveness will be diminished.



On my Jeep XJ I installed a Magnafine inline filter, and a cooler

https://magnefinefilters.com

Eventually hoses do shed, break up internally.

Anyway scrub the reservoir if used, even if it is a rebuilt one purchased, they probably only do a rinse, not a scrub at rebuild, and the residues need to be scubbed from all interior surfaces, and the magnet brushed. Consider installing a quality filter, Id avoid the tiny ones, or any with plastic housing, get an all metal housing, a failure could leave you stranded.

It's not like you can remove the belt if the pump grinds up, seizes as you can with a multi V Belt system, where water pump and fan are independently driven from AC, and steering, so that failure of AC pump or steering pump is not going to strand you. Serpentine belts are modern and efficient, but there is a huge draw back by having mission critical items like water pump and fan dependent on the condition of the AC pump or power steering pump pullies, bearings, or mounts..

Good Luck!
 
thanks for the tips. yesterday I flushed and cleaned the pump a bunch of times. running quieter for sure, but still not as easy to turn as it was before entire replacement. I'm wondering if I'm being a princess about the steering, but it does seem rougher to the left than to the right although by no means bodybuilder required to steer. it is just a bit heavy. Can hear the pump a little bit turning hard but very minor. pump is remanned Maval/unisteer 97172M, which has good quality from what I can tell and not manufactured in mexico i don't think. Rack is Lares from advanced auto. I think I'll give it the 90 day warranty return window and maybe it will free up a little bit more. if not i think it's time to reinstall the old rack and plan next move.
 
If it were tight in both directions....maybe. but since you're only having issues in one direction, I'm thinking not.
 
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