So basically I took my car into the dealer to get the timing belt and water pump replaced, and about halfway done they call me saying that theres a ****load of stuff broken on my car. They listed off that the Axle boot was cracked (~$350 parts+labor), it needed new plugs and valve seat gaskets (i think) ($91 for parts+labor), and that the power steering pump and oil pan gasket were both leaking. (they wanted $320 to replace the oil pan gasket... hell no!). Oh yea, and it needs a new muffler (figure ill just goto CarX and get one done for $150)
so i told them to fix the axle boot (i dont have the parts to do it myself, and its pretty critical) and the plugs/valve seat gaskets (it was cheap and already there... so why not)... but i decided to tackle the challenge and do the power steering pump and oil pan gasket on my own.

Now the oil pan gasket I can handle, but im a little worried about the power steering pump. Ive been reading some of the threads, and was hearing about them breaking from having air in the ps lines?
Is there anything special I have to do when replacing the pump, or is it pretty much:
clamp the hoses
out with the old
in with the new
reattach the hoses
de-clamp (?) the hoses

Ive read that Im supposed to bleed the power steering lines, but where is the line that i stick in the bucket to bleed with? lol
Ive never bled anything before, and dont really understand how to do that... can u help?
Maybe give some pointers?

EDIT: Should I get a new or refurbished PS pump?

Thanks a lot in advance.

 

The PS pump is a closed system. Consequently trapped air is returned to the reservoir and vented. After initial filling, you will need to add fluid as air is recovered. A few minutes should be adequate to flush the air. It should help to turn the steering lock to lock a few times to excercise the rack and insure all trapped air is flushed. A good time to replace all the old fluid w/ new fluid by disconnecting the return and allowing old fluid to be dumped till new fluid appears. It will happen fast so you will need to fill reservoir as fluid is dumped.

good luck

 

great... as soon as i cough up $200 ill let you know how it went

 

How do I deal with the high pressure fittings? I have no idea how they work, how to get them off, or how to put them back on. Can someone out there explain it to me?

 

Have you looked under the hood? Hose is held in place w/ two bolts. Replace oring seal.

Make sure pump is indeed leaking. If it's leaking from the rear cover, remove 4-bolts and replace oring seal beneath cover.

Shaft seal leak would justify replacement w/ new or used PS pump.

good luck

 

Thanks. That helps a lot. I thought the hose came apart at the fitting. That makes a lot more sense.

Fluid is definitely leaking from the back side of the pump. I think it's also leaking from the shaft, though, because there is power steering fluid slung all over my hood (and it looks oily around the shaft as well).

Thanks for the advice.

 

Look at the pump while the engine is running. I developed a pinhole leak in the high pressure fitting on my 95 Accord. It was still there after we re-brazed the fitting to the hose

 

sounds like the frt ( main pump seal ) is leaking.. you can reseal the pump,, get a p/s pump reseal kit from the dealer and p/s fluid .. cost around 25-30 dollars..

if you decide to go this route, pay close attention to the vanes inside the pump, they can go 1 way or you will have issues ..
a dealer can reseal it for you, parts+ labor should be around 100-150 dollars at the most..