I'm having trouble with the power steering/power brakes system in my truck. On that job with the dead maple last week I had to do a 12 point turn or so to get in the gate and the same thing getting out of the gate. When I was going home the power brake failed at a stop light, so I pulled over and all I could think was that maybe it was low on oil. All I had on the truck was a quart of ATF so I put that in and it didn't make any difference. I have been having trouble off and on since. Now when ever you make a turn and use the brakes with the engine idling neither the brakes or the steering function normally. You can stop the truck normally but if you try a panic stop the pedal resists you and it doesn't stop much harder than a easy stop.
I tried tightening the belts to the pump, tonight I checked the by-pass on the pump for a broken spring and it looks OK except it was kind of dirty. The system is a stand alone gear pump with a resevoir in the engine compartment. The oil goes from the pump to the power steering unit on the steering column and then to the brake booster then back to the power steering unit, then to the resevoir. I find it odd that the pump would go out all of a sudden like that, it would be something that was gradual; however, I can't rule that out. Another scenario is that some seal blew in the power steering unit and is letting some of the oil slip by without doing anything. The suction hose to the pump is a little kinked and my cousin said it didn't do anything when I reved the motor up; however, I'm going to try and remedy that tomorrow morning, probably with a longer hose just to make sure I don't skip a possible easy fix. Any ideas?
I tried tightening the belts to the pump, tonight I checked the by-pass on the pump for a broken spring and it looks OK except it was kind of dirty. The system is a stand alone gear pump with a resevoir in the engine compartment. The oil goes from the pump to the power steering unit on the steering column and then to the brake booster then back to the power steering unit, then to the resevoir. I find it odd that the pump would go out all of a sudden like that, it would be something that was gradual; however, I can't rule that out. Another scenario is that some seal blew in the power steering unit and is letting some of the oil slip by without doing anything. The suction hose to the pump is a little kinked and my cousin said it didn't do anything when I reved the motor up; however, I'm going to try and remedy that tomorrow morning, probably with a longer hose just to make sure I don't skip a possible easy fix. Any ideas?
