power steering questions
 

i bought a 97 eclb 5-speed 4x4. It had been sitting for about a month because it was hung in 5th gear. I noticed when i pushed it onto the trailer that the power steering and brakes weren't working very well, but it looked like it had a leak so i figured it was just low on fluid. I fixed the transmission, checked all the fluids, and found the ps pump was nearly full but the fluid was dirty, the leak was from vacuum pump oil inlet line, which i tightened and think i have fixed.I drove the truck around a little and the ps and hydroboost still didn't seem to be working and whenever i killed it the ps fluid would push back out the fill cap. i decided the pump was bad so i replaced it and blew all i could out of the lines. The new pump did the same thing. i flushed the system out twice and it seemed to get better each time, but still not right. I asked a couple of guys and they both thought that it might just still be full of air.I jacked it up this evening and worked the tires back and forth while the engine wasn't running. I did this for about 30 min. and it still had bubbles coming out, but seemed like mostly when i turned the wheels to the left. Anybody ever had anything like this or have any ideas?

Did it get better after the 30 minutes of cranking lock to lock?

only slightly. i forgot to add that the hydroboost system whines whenever you apply the brakes. It sounds and feels like anti-locks when you mash them real hard. kind of whining and hard to push.

could it just be air? how long should it take to get all of it out?

Mine took forever to work all of the air out after changing the power steering pump. I did the lock to lock steering on jack stands and all that, but it took a few weeks of driving for it to be right.

thanks for the reply. I haven't driven it much yet, still waiting for the guy to get me the title. hopefully mine will work itself out also.

I'm sure it will. I had a shop do mine and took it back to have them bleed it and it still took forever to work out. The bad part was that sometimes when going into a left turn when slowing down the steering would get very heavy, almost locked. But it's all good now.

Sounds like you have air in system ... make sure the res is full before starting and have someone monitoring while your cranking with wheels off the ground ... helps take the load off the pump and moves fluid more freely ... dont hold it to one side or the other too long ... causes the fluid to heat up rapidly ... not good .. :td: