power steering noise

Charles Smith

Charles Smith

smitty1371
Joined
Sep 28, 2017
Location
ellerbe nc
Just put an intake exhaust gasket on a 98 tj with the 4.0. Took the power steering pump off and laid it to the side didn't crack open any lines. When I get it back together it's got this noise and the power steering barely works. Sounds like a grinding noise not the normal whine. I've jacked it up and cut the wheel side to side no noise till I hit the stops. Checked the fluid level it's perfect also there's no aeration in the fluid. I moved the wheel while touching the pump and I can't feel the noise in the pump I feel it in the pressure line when I turn the wheel. Am I missing something obvious? did a line collapse internally? hope y'all can help me.
 
Sounds to me like a kink in a hose or you've got a cavitation problem in the pump. Hydraulic pumps do make a god-awful noise when they've got an air pocket in them. Jack the front axle off the ground without the engine running, and work the steering side to side to make sure you've got the air out of your steering box. Start it up, and work it back and forth about a dozen or so more times. Hopefully that should solve your problem.

When you set the pump off to the side, did you make sure not to bend any hard sections of line? Even putting a kink in the rubber portion can have the hose be collapsed, even after straightening it back out.
 
ok I didn't try jacking it up and running it back and forth not running I'll try that. As for the pump I just unbolted it and let it rest against the fender as you probably know there's not very far it could go. I've given the lines a once over I'll check again for a kink. Should i squeeze the lines a little to maybe undo an internal kink?
 
If you don't see any evidence on the outside of the hose of a kink, chances are it didn't collapse. A kinked hydraulic hose will remain somewhat flattened or oval-shaped where it was kinked because of the wire winding in the hose. If you don't see that, I wouldn't worry about it.
 
Charles Smith said:
ok we'll hopefully it's an air bubble I'll try some stuff tomorrow and let you know what I find thanks for the help
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Not sure if it's the same part number or not, but I have the pump, lines, reservoir, and steering box off my green jeep if you need it. It was a 4 cylinder.
 
Any time you put tension on the power steering lines on a vehicle that old (moving the pump around, etc), you have a risk of slightly moving a fitting or seal and introducing a little bit of air into the system. Just bleed it and see what happens. You may have a banjo that now needs a new seal or something like that though. Anything with an o-ring is now a suspect though, because they've long since reached the age where they aren't compliant anymore after being moved even a hair.
 
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ok so I've jacked it up cut the wheels back and forth a bunch of times I've checked for loose fittings and leaks there are none fluid level is good is there any thing I'm missing before I take the lines off and check for blockages
 
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