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Topic: p/s issue - so i'm an idiot... (Read 1522 times) previous topic - next topic

p/s issue - so i'm an idiot...

ok, boguht a p/s pump seal kit today to replace the pressure line fittign o rings and the reservoir o ring.  got it all back together, filled the res and it had p/s for a split second and now its like manual steering.  i did like the ford shop manual says and raised the front of the car, ran the motor and turned the wheel multiple tiems back and forth.  still no p/s.  any ideas?  will just plain driving it help out?
Mike

p/s issue - so i'm an idiot...

Reply #1
You used ATF right?
1983 Tbird with '03 Split Port V6 motor swap done! Headers, dual exhaust, 500CFM Edelbrock, 3G upgrade, Electric fan. 3.73 Gears and an FRPP Limited Slip. Five lug complete! 5-Speed conversion complete! Standalone Fuel Injection in progress...

p/s issue - so i'm an idiot...

Reply #2
I don't think it has anything to do with the fluid in it.

Its a power steering pump. Something inside it isn't working right. I'd check the lines and make sure there not clogged or something like that.

But where you had it apart, I'd be willing to bet something came off or it was bad from the get go.
Quote from: jcassity
I honestly dont think you could exceed the cost of a new car buy installing new *stock* parts everywhere in your coug our tbird. Its just plain impossible. You could revamp the entire drivetrain/engine/suspenstion and still come out ahead.
Hooligans! 
1988 Crown Vic wagon. 120K California car. Wifes grocery getter. (junked)
1987 Ford Thunderbird LX. 5.0. s.o., sn-95 t-5 and an f-150 clutch. Driven daily and going strong.
1986 cougar.
lilsammywasapunkrocker@yahoo.com

p/s issue - so i'm an idiot...

Reply #3
yes i used atf. pump was good, just a tiny bit of seepage fro mthe o-ring's.  i'm working on eliminating the leaks.  ddint have any problem with my 79 t-bird when i did this.  same pump too.

p/s issue - so i'm an idiot...

Reply #4
this is just crazy.  when driving it today, the p/s would work for about 5 seconds after it was parked, not running) for 5-10 minutes while i ran into the store and also when i dropped my son off at daycare.
so i gethome tonight, pull the pressure line off, pull the fitting off and the control valve cout.  clean the control valve, notice a slight cuff on one side, clean that up with a scotchbrite pad.  looks great.  put it all back together, follow the service manual procedure to the t and its still does the same thing.  so i pull the retuen line, pull the coil wire and just vcrank it over.  pumps fluid just fine out of the return hose.  this pump worked just fine before.  guess i will probly just throw a pump at it tomorrow after work.
Mike

p/s issue - so i'm an idiot...

Reply #5
pull the pump off, get the pully off, break loose the 3 bolts holding pump to bracket and then pull out fitting for pressure line.  looking at it i say to myseld "man, i sure dont see any small holes below the smaller o ring".  then it dawns on me.  "sumbitch, bet they're under the o ring!".  sure enoguh, i put the smaller o ring in the first groove, not the second where its SUPPOSED to go!  lesson learned, DONT BE IN A HURRY!
DOH!
we now have power steering again!
Mike

p/s issue - so i'm an idiot...

Reply #6
Quote from: mcford;299672
pull the pump off, get the pully off, break loose the 3 bolts holding pump to bracket and then pull out fitting for pressure line.  looking at it i say to myseld "man, i sure dont see any small holes below the smaller o ring".  then it dawns on me.  "sumbitch, bet they're under the o ring!".  sure enoguh, i put the smaller o ring in the first groove, not the second where its SUPPOSED to go!  lesson learned, DONT BE IN A HURRY!
DOH!
we now have power steering again!
Mike


LOL! Here's my "oops!" story...

Years ago I owned a 1961 Impala with a 409. The car developed an oil pan gasket leak, which necessitated pulling the engine. While it was out, I figured I would replace the oil pump with a high-performance unit. So far, so good...

So the engine is back in the car, and I am tightening the alternator belt, all I have left to do is reinstall the hood, when I notice the oil pump drive-shaft sitting on the bench...

I called the parts house and ordered a new pan gasket set.

Shiny Side Up!
Bill
"as if 'religion' were something God invented, and not His statement to us of certain quite unalterable facts about His own nature." -C.S. Lewis

p/s issue - so i'm an idiot...

Reply #7
LOL, sometimes we forget something, or overlook it. I put the wrong relay in my fuel pump circuit...caused the dimmer switch to prime the f/p whenever the stalk was pulled...

The correct relay was in my little bowl of dash screws...I apparently grabbed one for the trunk release.

Not as bad as having to pull the engine again though ;) I feel your pain!
'98 Explorer 5.0
'20 Malibu (I know, Chevy, but, 35MPG. Let's go brandon, eh)

p/s issue - so i'm an idiot...

Reply #8
The pumps don't care what's in them, I've run 90W gear lube in early '80s Stangs that had failing racks(one had mostly STP in it)... When I finally repl the racks, all I'd do was flush the heavy stuff and refill with ATF, never a problem...

 

p/s issue - so i'm an idiot...

Reply #9
Quote from: ProTouring442;299739
LOL! Here's my "oops!" story...

Years ago I owned a 1961 Impala with a 409. The car developed an oil pan gasket leak, which necessitated pulling the engine. While it was out, I figured I would replace the oil pump with a high-performance unit. So far, so good...

So the engine is back in the car, and I am tightening the alternator belt, all I have left to do is reinstall the hood, when I notice the oil pump drive-shaft sitting on the bench...

I called the parts house and ordered a new pan gasket set.

Shiny Side Up!
Bill

I rebuilt my girlfriends 700r4 once.  The one I pulled from the car looked like a grenade hit it, so I bought another from a yard and rebuilt that one. 

It took me about a week of meticulously rebuilding the trans.  Had to enlist the help of some friends to get it into the truck. 

Put it into gear and it freewheeled in all forward gears!! WTF :mad:

So I went back to the bench to start cleaning up the mess.  I was cursing the whole time.  When I was about half way through, I saw two 1st gear sun gears sitting on the bench.  Sornafarbish!

Pulled the trans back out, pulled it apart, stuck first gear in (which is in the back of the case btw) and stuffed it back into the truck.  Worked much better with first gear. :wtf:
My car is a gravity hybrid.  The gasoline engine gets me up the hills, and gravity gets me down.