At idle, especially on cold mornings, my power steering kinda pulses and doesn't seem to offer a whole lot of assist. As the truck warms up, it gets better. I don't see any leaks, and the fluid indicates full. The fluid looks VERY dark on the dipstick - almost black.

Does this mean my power steering pump is going?
Fluid degraded too much - flush and fill?
Is there a way to flush/fill that minimizes the bleeding issues?

Thanks!

 

Toyota FSM and owner's manuals recommend ATF w/ dextron for use in the power steering system, not power steering fluid.

None of the fluids on your vehicle should be very dark, i.e. dirty and black.

Flushing the system is as easy as removing a couple hoses and draining the fluid. Bleeding the system involves filling the reservoir back up and cranking the vehicle and turning the wheels lock to lock while the front axle is on jack stands. Really quite simple.

Keep us posted w/ updates as to what the problem turns out to be.

 

The pulsing has gotten a lot worse, and the steering effort is notceably increasing. Anyone have a writeup on replacing the power steering pump with a remanne unit? I started pulling the old one off - Toyota's sickest joke yet - what a PITA.

I understand when I get it off, that I have to take the reservoir and other parts off the old pump and put it on the new - anyone done this lately?

 

I did this a few weeks ago. Hardest part is getting the thing out for sure. Oh wait, maybe it's getting the thing back in?

I seem to remember it was wise to loosen the pulley bolt while pump is in vehicle... more leverage, as you will reuse the pulley as well. I also had to reuse old resevoir.

Bleeding is just like waskillywabbit says. I had to do many lock to lock turns on jack stands to get all the bubbles out though.

I will say, it did make a huge improvement in steering pressure. I thought worth the job.

 

Don't you have to take the pulley off to get the attachment bolt out? I've got the nut off the pulley, but can't get the pulley off - I'll borrow a puller tomorrow.

 

TC, yes you have to get the pulley off before you can get that last 14mm bolt near the block out. Otherwise you could get the pump off, put it in a vise, and pry pulley off

Bad news buddy..... I don't think a power steering puller will work on your pulley to remove it. I have a '94 pickup V6, and there is no ridge for the PS puller to grab onto around the center (nut) of the pulley. Check yours out to be sure. I went to kragen for the puller hoping it would work (my pulley was rusted on), but it wouldn't work.

Anyway mine was so rusted on that I had to use a 2 arm gear puller which ended up bending the edges of the pulley slightly. I probably could have reused the pulley, but bought a new one from Napa $28 as I was told a wobbly pulley will just wear out the seal in the PS pump quickly (causing a leak).

If you have any questions on the replacement PM me, I ending up having to take on and off the pump like 4 times before I got a remanufactured one from Kragen that worked well. My reservoir also was leaking which was a nightmare to diagnosis (as everyone said the reservoir never goes out because its not under pressure).

Here is a link on rebuilding your stock one if you choose to. ARound $40 for Toyota brand rebuild kit.
http://members.cox.net/stacewilliams/ps-pump.htm
see ya

 

And the Oscar for Most Frustrating PITA That Really Shouldn't Be That Bad goes to....



Replacing the Power Steering Pump on the Toyota 3VZE!!!!

Haynes book sucks. One of these days I'm going to learn to look it up in the FSM.

Instructions that came with the pump were even worse.

If anyone has the displeaure of having to do this in the future, here's a few hints:
- You should REALLY consider pulling th radiator. Seriously.
- You need an inspection mirror. Only way you can see to line up the holes to get it back in.
- Channelocks or big vice grips allow you to grab the back side of the pulley to get enough leverage to undo the nut. The hold the belt method din't work for me.
- use a big (30mm) open end wrench over the shaft on the back of the pulley to gently pry the pulley off. After you get it out a bit, you can go to a smaller wrench. A gear puller might work, but there's not a whole lot of room there

 

What is the capacity of the power steering system?

I think I have a leak - cuz I've put a quart of ATF in over the past couple days (including the initial fill) ...Can't imagine bleeding it down would drop it that much.

Unfortunately, it's just me, so it's hard to turn the wheel and look for leaks at the same time!

 

I know my system took a lot more fluid then seemed possible. I would think a leak would show up after vehicle use. Maybe under the resevoir cap might be hard to spot.

Could you turn the wheel to full stop, secure it that way, and then check under the hood? Might put the most strain/ highest pressure on the system so you could find a mystery leak if any are there.

Then again, I have a lot of dumb ideas.

 

How much seemed possible? LOL (Did you end up adding more than a quart?)

I went home over lunch and checked it out, it was hard to tell if it was old fluid dripping off or a leak. I cleaned it up to eliminate any old drips and see what we can see after work. It was back low again by the time I got back to work.

 

"more than possible" is kinda vague I suppose.

Anyway, I just meant that at first glance the smallish resevoir didn't seem like it would hardly hold anything. Forgot to take into account the longish lines and steering gear.

Does seem odd you've had to add so much fluid though. Hopefully the leak will make itself evident. More hopefully it will be an easy fix.

Better yet, it's just the air getting sorted out and you wont have to do a thing but drive it.

 

Nope - nothing easy, it was a leak. The fitting on the bottom that the two vacuum lines attach to. When I installed the fitting on the bench, I thought it was tight enough that the bolt had bottomed out. When I found the leak, I figured what the hell, try to tighten it up - sure enough, a good 1/2 turn and no more leak! Now I've got to clean all that ATF out of the engine compartment...