Power Steering Crisis

[capleton456]

I own a 99 sport ohv engine and I do not know what to make of this problem. This morning I woke up and drove the explorer about 50 miles and then lent it to my sister. She called and said that it had died on her and it would not start. When I went to where she had broken down, I saw that the check gauge light was on and the battery light was on and the truck would not start. I popped the hood and everything seemed normal except the power steering fluid reservoir was overflowing. It is usually down at the bottom of the tube at the max line, but it had come up the tube and had spilled some of the fluid through the cap. The truck finally started up and the check gauge and battery lights disappeared and we were able to get the truck home. Except for the fluid rising up the tube, some power steering loss and some engine shuddering it ran fine but I am not touching it again until I can find out what is going on. Has anyone ever had this problem before or know something about it?

 

[dynamite196]

Seems like your PS pump is toast, if it's seized then that would explain the engine shuddering as well

 

[capleton456]

 

[gijoecam]

If the PS pump siezed, the engine would easily drive the belt right through it, eventually throwing the belt, but you would know it. A bad PS pump is not going to cause the engine to stop running. Besides, if it had failed, the power steering would still not be working. PS pumps don't come and go, they either work or they don't.

As for my best guess, the reservoir will often blow the cap if the engine is not running and you rapidly turn the wheel one way or the other. Every Ford I've had with the exception of my F-150s have been prone to it. No idea why. If it's a one-time occurrence, it's nothign to worry about. If it happens again, we can start looking some more.

As for the stalling and refusal to start, I have no clue. Again, a one-time occurrence is nothing to be concerned with, and darn near impossible to diagnose.

-Joe

 

[capleton456]

I went out and bought a new steering pump just in case. When I went out there in the afternoon, there was a nice puddle of oil underneath the car that was not engine, transmission, etc. The power steering oil is still at the top of the neck where you put in the fluid and it is not going back down. I will start the engine again tomorrow and let you know what happened.

 

[gijoecam]

That's odd.... and you said it started off near the bottom of the neck?

The puddle would be the PS fluid, which in just about every Ford in the last 50 years was transmission fluid. If the cap was off and it sloshed around, it could certainly be the PS fluid, but if the power steering is working, why would you replace the pump? That's a waste of time IMHO.

-Joe

 

[capleton456]

Yeah, I tested it this morning and the driving was fine. The shuddering my sister reported was not caused by the engine but when you turned the steering wheel to go around a corner it was like turning a pepper grinder. It still turns easily, so I am getting power, it just turns like sand go into the steering wheel and it vibrates through the truck. I took it to my mechanic but forgot that he took Thanksgiving weekend off so I will bring it in on Monday. So the symptoms are; fluid rushing though the filler tube and out of the (locked) cap and grinding vibration when you turn the steering wheel.

 

[Heavymentill]

Turning the steering wheel without the engine running will cause the power steerin pump to overflow and possibly damage seals. I had this problem when my flywheel / flexplate busted and I had to get it towed. When I got it home the resivour was over flowing. After I got it running it the steering wasn't quite right. The steering problem eventially stopped on its own and I haven't had any problems since.

 

[capleton456]

Ok. I'll drive it around for a while and see what happens.

 

[capleton456]

You were right. The grinding is starting to go away and the real problem is starting to emerge. The truck shudders and hesitates when accelerating from a stop, so it looks like I probably need a tuneup or some (expensive) sensors.