my pump went and so did the brakes! im not sure if it is my year of truck or not 2002 early style. made in mexico , maybe they got a tube mixed up? hehe

 

i have pulled old fluid out by vacum pump and put lucas in and helped.

 

I added fluid and aired my front tires to proper pressure and it helped alot , i have Amsoil to swap my fluid and have yet to do it

 

My 2000 lost a pump, you'll know if you lose one. Like Fearless said no more power assisted brakes either.... Fun

 

The only thing that makes power steering fluid break down is the additive that prevents shear aeration. Even when it is completely gone, and the power steering fluid foams up, its got pressure, so its not gonna make you feel a difference.

I'd change it just to keep your seals good, but other than that its not a huge deal. If you're losing power, you're losing pressure somewhere. Whether it be from lines, connections, seals (in the box or the pump), etc.

Sounds like you were just low is all.

 

it happens my dad lost his twice on his 99 before he sold it

 

Get that new stuff in there and you'll probably be able to steer with your third leg

There's a sales pitch I haven't tried

 

So are you gonna demonstrate that at the swap meets?

 

That might depend on the show. Might need a little more of the female gender in attendance to get any attention???

 

I'll go one step further and I know everybody here will tell me I'm so full of it that my eyes are brown, and they're right. But regardless it's just a fact that I lost vacuum to my vac pump and I not only lost power steering and brakes but I had to grind my truck into gear cause the clutch wouldn't release all the way.

Decided I would fix one problem at a time and rebuilt the Vac pump and everything worked just fine. I'm here to tell ya I have had this happen twice now and the same thing happened both times with the clutch. I know it can't be but it did.

I'm no expert by any means but I would have to disagree here. Power steering fluid, just like brake fluid is nothin more then fancy Hydraulic fluid and hydraulic fluid breaks down and loses its ability to work. I've had brake pedals go all the way to the floor with nothin there, change the brake fluid and they work great again. I can tell in my tractors when the hydraulic fluid is shot cause the end loaders gets weak. Change the fluid and it's good as new.

It also seems to help just to pull the old out and add new with some fresh new detergent in it to clean some of the gunk out that has gathered. But just different opinions, not to say one is right or wrong cause I sure don't know.