Possible Power Steering Overpressure

[Homewrecker]

It's been brutally cold up here (Toronto) lately with the temp around -20 degrees C without the wind which is -4F for you guys to the south .

When I start the vehicle in the morning the power steering pump makes a groaning sound for a few minutes before it warms up then all is fine.

Today the wife called from the mall parking lot to say she couldn't move the steering wheel. I drove it home and managed to man handle the steering wheel.
Upon closer inspection I found that the return hard pipe that is factory crimped to the rubber portion got blown off near the steering rack and emptied the reservoir contents. I also found the rubber hose
that connects to the cooler almost off - this is with a clamp installed!

I've never seen anything like this before. Could the return system actually end up in an overpressure condition?

I replaced the PS cooler this past summer and installed a new pump as well. Should I be looking at replacing the pump again?

I was also wondering if this could be caused by the Rack. I believe it's original and has about 215,000 Miles on it.


Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[AWD V8]

Not uncommon for an old hose (215,000) to blow. Given the cold temp, the fluid would be very thick, and the pressure relief likely could not drain off enough to preserve teh old hose.

I'm sure it was just an old hose and all that;s needed is a new one.

 

[Homewrecker]

Not uncommon for an old hose (215,000) to blow. Given the cold temp, the fluid would be very thick, and the pressure relief likely could not drain off enough to preserve teh old hose.

I'm sure it was just an old hose and all that;s needed is a new one.

Forgot to mention that the hoses were replaced 2 years ago. They're still in good shape. I cut off the crimped portion of the rubber and re-attached it to the hard line with a clamp. It fixed the leak but I'm afraidd the next cold snap will cause this again.

 

[Sparky]

What brand were the replacement lines? Does the cooler have ribs/barbs for the hose to hang on to or are the pipes just smooth?

Could just be poorly made stuff.

There shouldn't be a lot of pressure in those lines however. My return line from cooler to pump was so badly rusted that it fell apart on me when I went to replace it, but it hadn't been leaking. I replaced with 3/8" rubber fuel line the whole way (cheap and easy to do, works great).

 

[AtlWrk]

There is a TSB (12-02-32-002A) about power steering issues in extremely cold temperatures. The corrective action is to flush and replace the fluid with "Cold Climate" power steering fluid (with a note that even this may not correct the problem).

The fluid called out in the TSB is Part Number 12345866 (in Canada use 10953484).

Don't know if there is an off-the-shelf equivalent.

 

[Mooseman]

That happened to me last year with the aux tranny cooler line in -30c. I had only one worm gear type clamp on the hose and it may have worked itself loose. It's normal for pressures to be higher until oil/fluids warm up. Replace the spring type clamp with a worm gear type, maybe even two.

For the power steering pump noise, it's commonly called morning sickness and unless it's a brand new pump, most do it in very cold temps. Same for stiffness. Just wait a few minutes for stuff to loosen up before moving.

 

[Homewrecker]

Well it happened again. The truck was parked in my heated garage overnight and I just went up the street to go shopping. When I came back out all the fluid had pissed out again. It wasn't even that cold out this time; around
-11 C.

This time the rubber line blew off the splice repair I did using metal tubing and worm gear clamps. I've doe return hose repairs in the past using the same method and never had this happen.

The lines were replaced 2 years ago and were made by Edelmann. It was even more cold last winter and there were no issues. The only difference this winter is that I replaced the pump.

Could this be a bad pump or could the rack be bypassing too much pressure? I wouldn't think there's a restriction in the oil cooler since everything works ok for a few minutes.

I'm really starting to lose my patience with this thing.

 

[AtlWrk]

You could temporarily bypass the cooler (especially since it's so cold anyway) just to rule it out. You may be getting a few minutes out of it while the lines are slowly working their way loose. Personally, I prefer fuel line style clamps over the worm gear clamps. Doesn't address the root cause but could buy you a little more time while you troubleshoot. Who replaced the lines--you or a shop? Is there a chance they installed an inline filter that may now be clogged?

 

[Sparky]

If the cooler is somehow the culprit (not sure how) you may be able to just ignore it entirely. My truck hasn't had a functional power steering cooler since the previous owner bypassed it at least a year or two before I got the truck when it rusted out and leaked.

I did recently replace the power steering pump this past summer, but my truck had nearly 200k by then and I've seen pumps go bad before then, so I can't really blame the failure on the lack of a cooler.

 

[Homewrecker]

You could temporarily bypass the cooler (especially since it's so cold anyway) just to rule it out. You may be getting a few minutes out of it while the lines are slowly working their way loose. Personally, I prefer fuel line style clamps over the worm gear clamps. Doesn't address the root cause but could buy you a little more time while you troubleshoot. Who replaced the lines--you or a shop? Is there a chance they installed an inline filter that may now be clogged?

I had a shop install the lines. I don't believe they installed any sort of filter. The new pump I installed this summer is an A-1 Cardone unit that states "with inline filter available" on the product description online at RockAuto I couldn't find any more info on this filter.

After giving it some more thought there could possibly be a restriction or blockage somewhere. Since the line wants to come off the inlet side of the cooler and the repair is before that point just up from the rack the restriction would have to be either the cooler itself, or the the return line to the pump from the cooler. I'll bypass the cooler and see what happens. I'll just use some steel brake line to temporarily join the 2 halves of the return circuit. I'll run some low pressure compressed air through the return lines and cooler first to see if there is anything blocking the flow.

If that doesn't yield any results then I guess it might either be the pump or possibly the rack.

 

[Homewrecker]

I disconnected the cooler and blew air through it and the return line and there seems to be no blockage. I bypassed the cooler anyway for the time being. I resecured the previous splice repair using fuel injection clamps this time. Took the truck for a half hour drive and all seems to be
ok for now. There might be a little seepage at the splice repair or it could be residual fluid. Hard to say at this point. I parked it outside for an overnight cold soak and I'll see what happens to tomorrow.

 

[coolasice]

I disconnected the cooler and blew air through it and the return line and there seems to be no blockage. I bypassed the cooler anyway for the time being. I resecured the previous splice repair using fuel injection clamps this time. Took the truck for a half hour drive and all seems to be
ok for now. There might be a little seepage at the splice repair or it could be residual fluid. Hard to say at this point. I parked it outside for an overnight cold soak and I'll see what happens to tomorrow.

When my grand Prix blew the PS return line (rusted out under a plastic protective cover), it took 3 fuel line clamps to keep it from popping off because I could not get a flare tool into the area to bubble flare the end. Sold the car after... (Had to drop engine carriage to change the line)

 

[Mooseman]

It"s very normal that pressure will increase when oil is cold. The colder it is, the thicker it will be. I've seen brand new tranny fluid pour out like honey in -30c.

Just give it a chance to loosen up before moving the steering or the truck.

 

[Sparky]

My old PS pump was making a racket when it was -20 outside last winter, and even touching the wheel made it scream like a stuck pig. It took several minutes before it was even tolerable when turning the wheel.

That sucked.

Haven't had that cold yet this year (and hopefully we won't!) but so far my current pump has been much better behaved noise-wise.

 

[Homewrecker]

What I don't get is that it never happened up until now. The lines went through 2 brutal winters with with no issue. Maybe the new pump installed this past summer is causing the issue since it's probably
putting out more pressure than the tired old pump that was on there since the vehicle was new.

 

[Homewrecker]

Well, the saga continues. After having the truck sit outside all day I went to start it this evening and right away the splice repair blows off accompanied by the pump cold weather groaning sound.

I reconnected everything once again but double clamped it this time with fuel injection clamps. Went to start the truck and this time there was no sound from the pump and it didnt take the fluid I added. The
wheel is diffuclt to turn as well. Looks like the pump crapped itself.

Going to order another one. I'll try an AC-Delco reman instead of an A1 Cardone since I'm pretty much "done' with them.

 

[Mooseman]

That's what I found with Cardone pumps and have sworn them off. It was noisy out of the box. Got an ACDelco reman and it has been fine until recently where it has started making noise again. I just live with it for now.

When getting a pump, make sure it's the right one. There seems to be a difference between the regular and EXT trucks. The EXT are non-variable according to RockAuto.

 

[Homewrecker]

Yeah, I know about the 2 different pumps. They are only 1 digit off in the P/N. I wonder what the difference is. The last one I ordered was for the EXT so it is the correct part.

Unfortunately the AC-Delco unit won't be here until the 26th which is not an option. I guess I'll have to go with another Cardone unit since that's all that seems to be readily available .

I'm also going to trhy this cold weather fluid that mentioned in one of the other posts. Hopefully that'll help as well.

 

[Homewrecker]

I finally got the new pump installed and flushed the system. I'm running the AC Delco Cold Climate fluid so we'll see what happens in the coming days.

The A1 Cardone Pump is a piece of garbage though. It whines like I've got a blower under the hood. I replaced the pump last summer because of the noise and here I am agian with the
same danm noise from a reman pump right out of the box!. Me second Cardone Pump in less than a year.

I'll leave it on for now but I'm going to get an AC Delco unit and leave it on the shelf till this once craps the bed.

 

[Mooseman]

My exact experience too with Cardone. My ACDelco replacement is also starting to make noise after 2 years but I think it's because it ran low on fluid when I had a leak.

 

[Eric04]

I spent 10+ years working for an auto parts distributor and A-1/Cardone was a major supplier for us and was a good quality offering. That said, this was 15 years ago and even then a couple of their employees confided in me that they felt things were starting to slip from a quality standpoint. Seems they were right.

 

[Homewrecker]

Well it looks like the final fix was to replace the pump. As soon as the AC Delco unit gets here I'm taking this Cardone crap off and returning it. I also forgot to mention that the 'new' pump came with one of the bolt hole mounts broken off.

Since I needed the vehicle right away and couldn't wait for another one I installed the pump using the 2 remaining bolt holes which is sufficient to hold it in place.

 

[rocketsound]

Mine seperated the return line in the same place, near the rack. It was a new line in August, had a crimp style clamp on it. I replaced the crimped clamp with a fuel injection clamp, and replaced the pump, no more issues. It was about -10 F when it blew off.

 

[Homewrecker]

Just thought I'd post another update.

About 3 weeks ago it got to -40C with the wind. Went out to start the truck and the line blew off again - even with the cold climate power steering fluid.

I replaced the pump with an AC Delco unit and filled the reservoir with ATF this time.

It's been brutally cold since then and everything has held together. Not sure if it's the pump or the ATF fluid that finally resolved the problem this time.

I have a feeling that it's the ATF that did the trick since that is what was in the system before I changed the pump and lines last summer and refilled the system with actual PS fluid.