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91 Explorer - severe leak after replacing ps pump

91xNightmare

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City, State
Phx az
Year, Model & Trim Level
1991 explorer 2wd
First thread ever so bare with me...

I recently replaced the ps pump due to the old one seizing on the freeway, causing my belt to break causing a whole list of problems.

anyways, I took care of everything including new belt, new pulley/pump and a few other minor things.
I thought everything was good to go but after driving to and from work (2 miles). i notice that my (tightened) power steering pump cap had fallen off while driving and was gone and my ps fluid was completely gone.
So I then try to locate the leak (cap was also replaced btw:( ) and find that pump and hoses seem to be fine. further investigation, in find is coming from what appears to be the gear box?

Im just self taught so i;m not totally sure but i'm pretty positive its the gear box? its under the pump pretty much and its attached to the steering wheel shaft i think?

I jusr want to make sure before i go out and buy the part and replace something thats not broken.

could it be something else??
why did the cap fall off while driving ? It was on there properly im 100% sure.

thanks in advanced y'all
 



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The only time I've seen a cap come off is from turning the steering wheel with the vehicle off. When you do that you are pushing fluid back into the reservoir and can pop the cap right off.

As for the leak, well, the box under the steering pump that has the pitman arm on the bottom is the steering box.

I'd clean all that off with brake cleaner and then start the vehicle and turn the wheel back and forth while holding the brakes. That will put a load on the system and if something is going to leak you should be able to find it. You want to find it before things get so covered in fluid that you can't find the source.

~Mark
 






That's what I thought as well with the cap, but I never turned the wheel while the truck was off. So it's weird..

Thank you so much for the reply brother, I will clean the **** outta the surrounding area and see if I can pin point it better and let you know what I come up with

-Dom
 






Are you using Power Steering fluid still? My PS box leaked bad and I could never find the source. I switched over to Ford Type F trans fluid and in addition to the pump being happier there are no more leaks. Give it a shot, these systems are a lot happier with Type F. Just a pain getting the fluid changed over.
 






You can get oring kits to rebuild the gear box.
Does it steer okay otherwise? Hopefully you don't have a blockage in the system.
You should really install new lines (they rot on the inside) as well as an inline filter.
 






Are you using Power Steering fluid still? My PS box leaked bad and I could never find the source. I switched over to Ford Type F trans fluid and in addition to the pump being happier there are no more leaks. Give it a shot, these systems are a lot happier with Type F. Just a pain getting the fluid changed over.

Good thought, I forgot to mention the fluid....

While I haven't run Type F, I've been running Mobile 1 Synthetic ATF on our Ford power steering pumps for many years now. When I put in the new pump in the explorer back in the late 1990's I started the Mobile 1 ATF and the pump on the truck was never noisy and was still working when I switched to the Saginaw setup I'm running now. I'd guess that pump as in there for upwards of 200k miles.

The only vehicle that ever gets real power steering fluid is the Honda as it needs some special Honda formula.

~Mark
 






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