After I got done putting my wheels and tires on my truck, I cranked it up to back it out, and when I turned the wheel, the tires were skipping on the concrete, and even on the gravel. I poped the hood, and found the steering pump cap was loose (only hanging in place by one latch thing), which allowed fluid to spit out. Im assuming its the steering pump that is wineing at idle and when you rev it. I was talking to my dad about it and he said I might have got air in it when the cap was loose and shot fluid out. I took it out for a drive, and it skiped when the tires were moving........towards the end when I got back home (about a 2 mile drive), the skipping seemed to have calmed down some, but there was a kinda loud wine.......im guessing its because there might be air in the steering system? If this is the case, im assuming the wineing will stop after the steering is worked a good bit? I checked the fluid level, and it is still up there pretty close to the top (maybe 1/2" from the top).

 

I dont know what you mean by "skipped" but as long as there is fluid in there you should be fine, i dont know how air would get sucked in and cause a problem...


Rocky

 

you can feel it in the steering wheel, and when you turned the wheel and watched the tire, you could see it kinda jerk or hop a little (not turn smoothly).

 

Well, I just went out and spun the steering wheel from the left to right, lock to lock many times, and the steering is smooth again, it just has a wine. I thecked the fluid level, and it was lower than what it was before I was having trouble, so I added some more. There was also alot of bubbles, so there was air in the pump.

 

Ford truck PS pumps are pretty good at blowing the caps off and spewing fluid all over the place. And they always seem to whine for some reason as well. Im not sure exactly why though. Just check it often and keep an eye on the fluid level to make sure you dont have a leak.

 

sounds like my truck when I had a bad rack, just for precaution check the boots and see if they are leaking any fluid or anything.

 

The sudden increase in whine is most likely caused by aerated PS fluid. To avoid getting air in the system, do not force the steering to move with the engine off.

 

Oh yeah......like when doing a brake job. If you need to turn the steering components to get at the nuts better, start the truck and turn them with the steering wheel. This is usually when the PS level drops below that section in the resevoir where it's angled........air gets trapped right there. If you've seen it, you'll know what I'm talking about.

Nothing like blowing power steering fluid all over the engine bay.

That play you felt in the wheel was air in the PS lines. Usually after a brake job or something of that nature, I'll go to an empty parking lot and do figure 8's from almost lock to lock. This gets rid of the air in the PS lines. I also like to seat the brakes to. Going forward a bit and braking, and repeat a few times. Then I'll drive for 10 minutes or so to cool the brakes after the brake tests.

I was scared the first time I noticed that too, but my dad told me about the lock to lock figure 8 tip.

 

well that was definatly a mistake I made. I turned the wheel all the way to the left a few minutes before I cranked the truck up. Everything is back to normal now, i guess the fluid got settled down. There is no more wine.

 

Did you turn it all the way to the left so you could get that picture in your avatar? LOL

 

Mine whines all the time but I think its cause of the 35's lol. Unless somone else knows what it could be

 

Actually, I turned the wheel like that to get a front shot of the tire, and was just taking pics, and thought that would be a good shot to get the wheel and ranger emblem.