So Recently my factory steering pump started having 'morning sickness' and squealing when hot. Took it off, bought an O'reilly house brand reman pump, reinstalled. All was good until today I go to head into work and bam, 0 power assist unless I rev the engine above 1600-ish RPM. When I went into town this morning it was a little bit stiff but once it warmed up it worked fine. Checked fluid level on my way in and it was where it should be, no wet spots indicating a leak and no visible obstructions to the steering gear. I have 2 questions before I order another pump from a more reputable brand. First, when I changed the pump I used the generic 'OEM Spec steering fluid' they sell which seems to basically just be hypoid / gear oil. Is this what caused my current pump to fail? I know the factory ran Dextron in the pumps but I didn't think universal fluid would have a serious impact. Second, what brand of pump do you guys recommend for a completely stock application? I plan to order either Delco or whatever the fan favorite is on RockAuto, but curious to see what members here have to say. For reference this pump has less than 1000 miles on it since I installed, all belts have been replaced (and re-tensioned after the break-in stretching), and I bled the system per factory spec by turning lock to lock about 40-50 times with a helper babysitting the reservoir. The steering box never gave me any trouble before I changed the pump originally either.
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