Steering gear dumps all fluid

[Minivek]

Hi there and thanks in advance for any help. My sector shaft seals completely gave out a couple of hours ago and I need to know how long can a power steering pump go without oil and NOT burn out. Any suggestion is welcomed cuz I have to decide tomorrow morning if I'll bring it home adding fluid every couple of kilometers or have it towed which is reeeealy expensive here. I have about 6-8 miles to get back home but they want 130$ cuz its the weekend. Thanks a lot

 

[DeRocha]

Running the engine without any PS fluid will wear out the Power Steering pump in no time... When the PS hose on my Mustang busted I drove it home (didn't know any better).. After that my ps pump whined so badly I replaced it within a week. Moral of the story the Bearings in the PS pump need to be bathed in PS fluid or they will quickly wear and cause a bad whine so I wouldn't run the engine or drive it until the leak is fixed.

 

[Creager]

I drove for about a month with the ps pump completely dry, it made some pretty interesting noises then finally just stopped making any noise. Then one day it randomly start whinning louder and louder until finially my truck stalled out and smoke started billowing out of the pump. I couldnt turn the engine over, the pump seized the whole belt-train. But the gear was fine, i'm still using the factory gear two pumps later.

 

[thewishkah]

I am having a similar issue but its leaking like a steady flow out of the pitman arm seal(even after a bottle of lucas) on the bottom of the gear box. I had the PS pump cut out on me last night, (maybe a fail safe?) but I needed both arms to steer around corners. I added PS fluid and it came back on again. I need to find a place with the seal and do it , or the truck is going to be sitting around a while till I can afford a new box.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Check this thread: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=163742

 

[Josh]

I had this problem and had to drive it back home but only about 2 miles. You can buy a kit to replace the sector shaft seals but I tried 4 times and the longest it lasted was about a week. So I said F-it and got another gearbox from the junkyard. Its been about 5 months now and no problems. New boxes are about 150, the JY box cost about 40 bucks. I just picked the one that looked to be in the best shape. So far so good. And FYI for those that don't know the pitman arm shaft is the sector shaft. Advance, Napa and Auto Zone sell the kits.