lotusing

Merry Christmas everyone! Well I had some time today to finish with replacing alternator and rebuild power steering pump. All I had to do was put it all together. Everything went together nice which I never expect. I filled the P/S reservoir with ATF. I finished and rechecked all the connections and all looked good. It fired up fine and runs well, I then begin to bleed the power steering pump by turning the steering wheel back and forth and nothing. No power steering at all and I am not even getting a moaning sound from the pump. I check the reservoir and it is still full. Some bubbles are coming out but only a couple. I rechecked the belt and made sure I have it running according to the diagram and the pump is turning smoothly. What am I missing?

steve2006

Did you rebuild the PS pump yourself? If yes did you use a genuine Toyota kit and fit all the parts correctly?

lotusing

Thanks Steve for your help. I bought it rebuilt. Could it be that they screwed it up? If I turn the shaft, shouldn't it have some friction to it since it is circulating oil. This one turns freely with no friction at all. If i take off the high pressure hose would I feel suction at the pump while turning the shaft?

lotusing

Well I finally got it off and checked all my connections and everything looks good. Can it be that the pump is bad? What is that leaks the most on the pump? Is it the o ring from the high pressure side hose? I can get one and replace it?

oldskewel

iTrader: (1)

You probably would not feel suction at the pump. (from rebuilding my '91) It's a displacement pump with about a dozen vanes that slide out due to centrifugal force as the pump spins. If the pump does not spin fast enough, the vanes will not slide out all the way and it won't work. So basically, it works when spinning steadily, but might not work with a quick test spin, and won't do much of anything to air.

It seems odd that they could rebuild a pump so badly that it would not work at all. Almost impossible.

You should see a whirlpool in the reservoir when it's working. If you're just seeing bubbles, something is wrong.

lotusing

Thanks for the info oldskewel, I looked for that whirlpool affect in the reservoir but only saw a couple of bubbles. I wonder if I could swap some of the gaskets on this so called rebuilt one that is worthless and use the old one which worked fine just leaked. Are there any that you think that I can take off of this one and put in mine?
Thanks

oldskewel

iTrader: (1)

I think the only gasket you can get without really taking the pump apart is the one between the reservoir and the pump. I would NOT recommend taking the rebuilt pump apart. Can you return it? Perhaps there is a control valve or something in there that is stuck. Maybe you could find the rebuild instructions somewhere and just remove the valves (do not take apart the body) and check them for free-play, etc. If the fluid never gets to the impeller (the heart of the pump), and it's filled with air, it could probably spin for a long time like that without pumping any fluid.

From rebuilding the pump in my '91, I'll say that it was straightforward, but took the right tools and was one of the more challenging things I've done on a car (and I've rebuilt engines and other stuff like that). Not too hard, but not forgiving if you make a mistake.

lotusing

Yea, something is not making the fluid flow like it is suppose to. I looked at the rebuild thread several times and don't know if I should do it. Yes the pump is returnable and I am going to give it back but this car has been down for some time and i need it running asap.

lotusing

I decided to just replace the o-ring at the high pressure hose and put the original pump back on and it works fine. I cannot believe I got a bad pump. I will now keep an eye on it for leaks and hope there are none. If there are I will get a pump locally and do it quick before it destroys another alternator. Thanks for all the help.