PS Pump issues

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Bludacious

Apprentice
Jan 2, 2018
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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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Ribbedroof

Comic Book Super Hero
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Jan 4, 2009
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No warranty on the reman pump?
 

Bludacious

Apprentice
Jan 2, 2018
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No warranty on the reman pump?
There is, but why would I put my neck out on another dud pump? Going to try and just get my money back instead, but since this is my daily driver I also still need another one to swap in in the mean time.
 

Bludacious

Apprentice
Jan 2, 2018
77
11
8
Still have the old pump? If so, transfer the pressure valve out of the old into the new. It unscrews out of the back- 1"(?) hex
Nope, reman one had a core charge so I stupidly forked it over. The actual pump wasn't even really that bad, it was just the shaft seals that wore out. D'oh! But wouldn't a mismatched valve have caused issues from day 1 instead of spontaneously after a couple weeks? During the time it did what it was suppos'ta it worked beautifully at any speed...
 

fleming442

Captain Tenneal
Dec 26, 2013
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Nope, reman one had a core charge so I stupidly forked it over. The actual pump wasn't even really that bad, it was just the shaft seals that wore out. D'oh! But wouldn't a mismatched valve have caused issues from day 1 instead of spontaneously after a couple weeks? During the time it did what it was suppos'ta it worked beautifully at any speed...
Hard to say. A coworker just had a run of bad reman pumps in his Suburban with a similar situation (low assist at low rpm and eventually snapping the input shafts). He got an OEM from a u-pull-it and says it's been fine since. I learned that lesson on my Silverado after pressure changes with pumps; luckily, I had my old to grab the valve. The tolerances are probably off in the remans, and that could cause the piston in the valve to stick.
 

Bludacious

Apprentice
Jan 2, 2018
77
11
8
Hard to say. A coworker just had a run of bad reman pumps in his Suburban with a similar situation (low assist at low rpm and eventually snapping the input shafts). He got an OEM from a u-pull-it and says it's been fine since. I learned that lesson on my Silverado after pressure changes with pumps; luckily, I had my old to grab the valve. The tolerances are probably off in the remans, and that could cause the piston in the valve to stick.
Did your coworker use the whole junkyard pump, or did he just swap over the pressure valve?
 

Ribbedroof

Comic Book Super Hero
Supporting Member
Jan 4, 2009
4,865
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Wellston, OK
There is, but why would I put my neck out on another dud pump? Going to try and just get my money back instead, but since this is my daily driver I also still need another one to swap in in the mean time.

I suspect that almost everyone buys remans from the same outfit (usually Cardone). Buying from another retailer may be no different than trying the warranty out.

I'd be happy if I could find a reservoir that didn't have caved-in sides without buying a reman pump. Apparently the hacks that have been servicing G bodies think a big prybay is easier than properly loosening the appropriate fasteners. Buddy has probably a dozen pumps pulled off of cars he's parted, not a virgin reservoir in the lot.
 

Bludacious

Apprentice
Jan 2, 2018
77
11
8
So turns out the reason the first one failed is that it was missing the entire pressure spring assembly that sits just behind the sending connection on the back of the pump. Second one is a BBB and seems to be doing okay but takes a bit more effort to turn the wheel from dead center now. I used synthetic Dexron compatible ATF since I heard it stays thin in the cold, but think I may flush and go to Delco cold weather fluid and see if it makes any difference. The ATF still works much better in the cold than the generic steering fluid I filled both the original and first reman with before now. No problems with dented reservoirs on either, though I did accidentally smoosh the second one a little bit trying to get a good leverage point to tension the belt when I slipped off the edge of the bracket.
 
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