Hi all

[tjsxplodr]

Hello! My name is Tammy and I just bought a 91 explorer xlt with alot of miles on the engine I live in Idaho, with my husband and animals.

I have a couple ???'s. first, when the power steering pump starts leaking, is there anyway to prevent it from failing or is it just better to replace it and how hard is the replacement, and second, the a/c isn't working, the guy I bought it from said it leaked out freon within the span of a few days....could this be a bad leak somewhere or a bad compressor?


I am sure I will have more questions that will come up, but I will like it here!

 

[fixxxer]

Hi and welcome Tammy aka machgirl
#1 - If the pump is leaking from the pump housing, it's best to just replace the pump, if it's one of the p/s hoses, it would depend on where it is leaking from, the hose itself or from the fittings. The housing seal that separates the front of the pump assembly (p/s pump) and the rear (resevoir housing) is replaceable, as is the front shaft seal, but it does require special tools to remove the pully and the two halves of the pump assembly and to reassemble it after replacing those seals. You would be better off getting a remanufactured pump or a new one. There are a couple of vendors here on the forum that could hook you up with exactly what you need.
#2 - Has your A/C been converted from R12 refrigerant (Freon) to the new 134A refrigerant? I'm not sure how available R12 still is, as that product has been discontinued for several years. If you have a leak in the A/C system, you need to get that fixed before trying to do anything else to the A/C. It could be leaking from any number of places, including the A/C compressor pump.

 

[tjsxplodr]

No conversion yet on the a/c system. I am going to have it inspected this week to see where the leak is first.

Thanks for the welcome!

 

[Sams01XplrSprt]

welcome aboard tammy

 

[tjsxplodr]

thanks!

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! You could try some Lucas P/S stop leak, and see if it helps. If not, then it's time to replace the pump. They make fluorescent dyes to test for leaks in the A/C system.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Ok, I'll shoot. Explain the screen name- and post pics of the Mach.

...and the PS pump isn't a difficult replacement at all if you need to do it.

Welcome!