My son and I have this problem. A little background. We tightened the power steering belt too tight and I think and all the fluid drained out of the front seal and fried the PS pump. Me bad!!!! Argh. My fault. A thousand lashes with a tire iron.

Ok. So I replaced the pump with a rebuilt from AutoZorch and tried to get as much of the fluid out as possible. New fluid, and fired her up with a little less pressure on the belt. Seems to work well sort of, but noticed that it has no power steering power below certain RPM's. Maybe 2000 or so, I haven't actually measured. Is it the pump, which is under warranty? I can get another rebuilt to try fairly easily. Or is it the steering gear and did we do something to fry it. The power original PS pump was bone dry for 10 miles or so and was literally smoking when my son and his chick discovered the problem. I had him fill the pump and bring her home from the mall. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I'm inclined to try another pump first and go from there. Thanks....

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Sweet Emotion

Maybe there is air in system and needs to be bleed out.
You do this by running engine and slowly turn steering
wheel all way left then back right, several times.

Thanks. I have done this but not for very long. I will try more.

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Sweet Emotion

Could be a tooky pump... is the belt tight enough, now? As I remember, it's pretty damn hard to get that belt tight enough to cause problems, but maybe I'm thinking of the setup on V8's...

D/W

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If it ain't broke, fix it!

Was the pulley on the new pump the same size as the pulley on the old pump.

Good question. I used the same pulley from the old using a pulley puller. Hmm gots me wondering about the rpms.

HMMM

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Sweet Emotion

Were there different pumps and pulleys through these years? It's a 74 Plymouth Scam 225 with AC. I took what they gave me at the parts store based on the info I gave them about the car. I suppose it's possible I got a pump with a different RPM rating.

Thanks.

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Sweet Emotion

My guess would be a typical sh*tty Autobone re-manned pump with sloppy internal parts and internal leaks galore. I even had one where the pressure relief valve fell out and wound up inside the bottom of the reservoir once- ZERO steering assist when that happens!

ANY mopar-type PS pump from ANY year/model car should be pretty much interchangeable with any other (functionally, not bolt-in wise) because the steering gears are all essentially the same. I've swapped off the old-style Federal pumps with more modern Saginaw pumps that have substantially less flow per rotation of the shaft with no problems(*), but if the pump has any internal leakage you'll notice the loss of pressure most at idle.


(*) I did that swap because Federal pumps are getting hard to find, and they tend to leak a lot worse than Saginaws because of the way the reservoir attaches to the pump body. It required pump mounting brackets from a car with the same engine that originally had a Saginaw pump.

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Ok thanks. Well I guess I can put another Sone pump in but it seems like a crap shoot. But since I already bought this one it's under warranty. They aren's too tough to swap. But if it happens again not sure what to do. Thanks.

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Sweet Emotion

Replaced the pump and now I have another problem. When driving the car around town the steering feels unstable, sort of grainy. Almost like the car will take off to the left or right but not quite. Feels stiffer straight ahead but has more power as I start to turn which feels a little squirrely to me. Seems to have even less road feel than before and also doesn't easily return to center as you come out of a turn. Wierd. Any suggestions?

Thanks.

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Sweet Emotion

The only time I encountered the symptoms you describe (boosting away from center), the Oring in the adjustable top part of the PS steering box had failed; I put on a new one, adjusted it, and things have been fine since. Good luck.

Sounds like air in the system or a sticky control shuttle valve in the top of the steering gearbox (the part where the hoses attach). If you're sure you got all the air out, then my guess is that some debris from one of the bad pumps got in there and is playing havoc with the shuttle valve. Its not a big deal to pull the valve apart and clean it. Nothing you can't do if you have a service manual and are patient.

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Yea I looked at the service manual and it has a few o-rings which I would need to replace. I think I could take it apart and clean her up. I'll give it a shot this weekend. That's what it feels like. It just feels reluctant to transition properly when the wheel is straight ahead and I try to turn one way or the other. Then it seems to overcome the reluctance and more power is applied. Makes for a tense ride. Is there a kit available to rebuild or reseal that valve?

Thanks

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Sweet Emotion