U-Joints, PS pump, or rack?

[OneLever]

Click and Clack agree with your diagnosis.

 

[Joe Dirt]

They say nothing about tasting the fluid though. What the hell- should I not have done that?

 

[sean99]

It smelled a little burnt, then thought "oh what the hell- let's see what we've got..."

Beware!! Drinking that much power steeering fluid will loosen your o-ring and give you **** leakage!

 

[Joe Dirt]

Sean- you're right. Wait... I have a picture...










NOT!

 

[CDW6212R]

LOL, great Joe. I hope that does it, you want the debris out but it can be colored some. I prefer clear for obvious reasons. Keep an eye on it to see if the fluid stays the way you have it, and to look for changes with the PS pump.

My 99 has a new Ford pump that after 10k miles began to make some noise(squeal) and had some front to back play. I found my alternator(new aftermarket) pulley was out a hair(1/6" or so). I R&R'd it and ground the backside to line it up better. After that and cleaning the PS fluid it calmed down, though it still has the extra play. They are sensitive but can survive quite a bit.

FYI, Mercon is no longer made, the replacement approved by Ford is Mercon V. There are no Mercon II-IV fluids, Mercon V is the next step. ATF is trans fluid, forget the old ATF crap designation, that was a specific fluid type and is obsolete now and has been for 20 years or more. Today ATF simply means trans fluid. If you see that on a bottle, it's short for trans fluid, or it's an abuse of the old term. Just like Mercon I, it is obsolete and not approved for manufacture by anyone. Regards,

 

[Joe Dirt]

You know, that's what I thought- becasue I haven't seen Mercon for years. The book said not to confuse the two, so I err'd on safe. I put in the Lucas today, it was noticeably thicker, but after the pump making some noise for the first 3 seconds when it said "what the ###### is this crap?!?!" it settled down and runs fine.

The only shudder I feel now once in a while is the rear end on tight turns, and I know that fluid needs to be changed yet, since I'm going to Amsoil in just about everything anyway in the spring.

BTW- this is the leak I saw, that the Lucas hopefully helps with.

 

[gmanpaint]

Yeah, that Lucas is some thick stuff. It made a believer out of me. Hopefully it works for you as well.

 

[Joe Dirt]

At first, I was thinking "no way this is PS fluid..." it was like Cheez Whiz! I did not, however, taste it to see if it had the same creamy, cheesy consistency of Cheez Whiz...

 

[sean99]

Thoughts? Rack going south?

Update??....still have a nice rack??

 

[sean99]

Yeah, maybe more of a Liquid Smoke flavor.

Still running good??


I'll be making some of this later today...

Smokey??

 

[OneLever]

Did the hand vacuum pump help to purge air out of your power steering system?

 

[BrianDye]

Joe- Hows it going with your pump? She holding up well still?

 

[Joe Dirt]

I just tonight vac'd up the PS system. Wanted to let the stop-leak work through the system if there was in fact a leak somewhere, since there was low fluid. But, since I haven't cleaned the engine bay since buying, I think it was lost previous to that, as evidenced by the spray visible in this picture that I took when I was vac'ing...

After vac'ing per the Ford manual purge process, everythign seems to be working well. No more chatter when returning to center. I'll see how it runs on the road, since I got a similar chatter on straight travel sometimes. I think the two were related...

For now, so far so good.

My Plugs came in today from Rock Auto, waiting for my plug wires to show up so I can get the rest of the crap out of the engine. MotorcraftOnly is what I say...

 

[BrianDye]

I think im having a simaler problem kinda sorta but my recent fluid change seemed to help alot, as im not really noticing it now.

As you may have seen (In the thread I posted), I lost my PS cooler, (Well it was cracked on the inlet), so I bypassed it. Lost most/all of my fluid, but since, ive filled up, locked the wheel each way plenty of times and rechecked the fluid multiple times daily, but my steering just feels so much "easier" now.

By easier I mean less firm when turning which I like, but it also means every bump I hit, or groove in the road, yanks the wheel. Could that mean theres still air in there somewhere that hasnt been worked out?

(Now that you mention it, I remember I need to do my plugs and wires too My friend pointed out that my wires are original, and I couldnt say for the plugs, but I wouldnt doubt it)

 

[corkey]

i had a bit of an issue with my power steering making a whining noise, it was annoying, so i dumped in about 1 oz of 10w30,
problem solved, no noise and it turns easier now,

i am not sure i would recommend it, but it worked for me,

 

[BrianDye]

i had a bit of an issue with my power steering making a whining noise, it was annoying, so i dumped in about 1 oz of 10w30,
problem solved, no noise and it turns easier now,

i am not sure i would recommend it, but it worked for me,

Nifty...., thankfully after having to limp it to my buddies house (Only about ~2.5 miles) with a dry PS resivoir, mine is bone quiet.

*Knocks on woodgrain radio bezel*

 

[Joe Dirt]

Way more than likely there is air in the system. The wheel trick only does so much, and only evacuates so much air. You'll have to get a vac pump, I got mine at HF for $29 on sale ($39) and it's the Mityvac pump favored by a lot, and pretty much shown in the Ford manual.

I spent countless half-hours turning the wheel, driving in circles... and couldn't get rid of all of the air. With the pump, within 5 minutes following the manual procedure, the air was gone. I'd pick one up. Not sure if Autozone has one to rent, but I usually buy a tool if I think I'll use it again, and a vac pump is valuable to have.

 

[BrianDye]

Hm, im in the process of what some refer to as "penny pinching", to get my tranny rebuilt.

I checked AutoZone yesterday and they dont rent them, so maybe ill call around tomorrow, I dont really know of any other uses id use the thing for man honestly.

I must say that turning the wheel got ALOT of my air out (I had a HORRIBLE death wobble on the ride home, on top of just realizing I had got the stomach flu, not good)

 

[OneLever]

It can be used to bleed brakes as well.

 

[gmanpaint]

Mityvac for a clutch master cylinder? Hmm, got me thinking now.