2001 LS v8 power steering leak

fabrizio

fabrizio

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Hi!

When I was parking at home I felt the steering wheel heavy and the steering noise came louder,I took a sneak peek for flat tire or obstacle, i saw oil dripping then the belt drive started to squealing, I turn the car off and open the engine bay,all was covered by oil.

After cleaning and refilling the oil reservoir I can't find the leak source.

Turn on the car again,If no steering movement no oil leak,if steering movement leak.

The oil it's dripping on the pulley so it starts to squeal and blows oil everywehere.

The power steering rack is dry,no oil marks.
The pressure switch on the hose near the steering rack was ok.

Power steering pump fittings looks ok.
PS fluid reservoid hoses looks good, no oil marks.

NO PS or electrical connector on back pump(is there 2 pump models?

What could it be ?

The oil pump itself ?

Tomorrow I'll inspect again the hoses and fittings.

oil level
pso reservoir lelev.jpg
Under ps pump (ps pump above ac port)
under pspump.jpg
pulley covered by oil(yellow mark,i took the pic after cleaning.)
oil marks.jpg

pso reservoir lelev.jpg


under pspump.jpg


oil marks.jpg
 
After some research looks that there are 2 types of ps pump , one which have the pressure switch on the back and the other one have the switch on the hose,i have this one.

So maybe the leak is coming from the fitting directly at the pump because the oil spills the pulley immediately .

best regards!
 
It's probably either there or the shaft seal. Since it leaks when there is back pressure from the rack, it's more likely where the high pressure hose attaches to the pump. There's a hard seal there that may have failed.
 
thank you joegr!

very helpful,I'll feedback soon.
 
Hi,
Inspect the pspump again,(I clean all the mess before test,full oil reservoir)

joegr,as you said, maybe the shaft seal. very helpful,thank you!:)

Line hose OK
return hose ok

psp_line_from_reservoir.jpg

Pressure line OK but the fitting was not fully seated,I move the metal hose and i could watch a little wiggle between the metal hose and nut but not a leak.

After turning the car on i Could not see any leak at pressure fittings.

psp_pressure_line_fitting.jpg

The oil leak come from top maybe from the shaft.

psp_pressure_fitting_loose_shaft_leak.jpg

Is there any rebuild kit ? or just buy a new pump ?:confused:​


Any special tool to remove the pump ?

Thank you so much!

psp_line_from_reservoir.jpg


psp_pressure_fitting_loose_shaft_leak.jpg


psp_pressure_line_fitting.jpg
 
fabrizio said:
...Pressure line OK but the fitting was not fully seated,I move the metal house and i could watch a little wiggle between the metal hose and nut but not a leak...
Click to expand...

It's supposed to be a little loose like that.
 
To me it looks slightly mis-threaded along with not aligned. Seems to lean to the right.
 
BigRigLS said:
To me it looks slightly mis-threaded along with not aligned. Seems to lean to the right.
Click to expand...

I couldn't record when it was leaking severely,it was spilling everywhere and my phone was not covered.:p

You can see how the leak is coming from the top ,not by the pressure line.

[video]https://youtu.be/hspgVtquZkg[/video]

Yesyour're right , it's not aligned but saldly it does not leak :( sadly because it could be cheaper and easy to fix.

I'm looking for a rebuild kit(seal kit,shaft seal etc...) :Bang no luck for now.

Is there other car using the same pump?(an explorer?
 
BigRigLS said:
To me it looks slightly mis-threaded along with not aligned. Seems to lean to the right.
Click to expand...

That's just the way they are. (Not just the LS, many(most?) Fords are that way.)
 
Odd looking indeed, prompts me to have a look at mine.
 
Hi, I'm new so I wasn't sure whether to start a new thread or comment on this. I have a 05 Lincoln LS V8, today it started to have stiff steering. I figured it was either or line or power steering pump and it would be leaking all over. Turns out my reservoir is full? I can't see any leaks but I'm getting that annoying sound when I turn the wheel and its hard to move it.

Thanks, any help towards what this is is appreciated.
 
amorgan2017 said:
Hi, I'm new so I wasn't sure whether to start a new thread or comment on this. I have a 05 Lincoln LS V8, today it started to have stiff steering. I figured it was either or line or power steering pump and it would be leaking all over. Turns out my reservoir is full? I can't see any leaks but I'm getting that annoying sound when I turn the wheel and its hard to move it.

Thanks, any help towards what this is is appreciated.
Click to expand...

Hi!

Do you know if the pulley is spinning properly?

Any belt chirp?

Did you get any OBD code ? Check engine light,etc..?

It could be the pump not working properly or something about the rack pinion.

There is also a pressure switch sensor and a Power Steering Control Valve Actuator but i don't know exactly what the pressure switch does.

Check this page and search about Power Steering

http://deneau.info/ls/

best regards!
 
amorgan2017 said:
Hi, I'm new so I wasn't sure whether to start a new thread or comment on this. I have a 05 Lincoln LS V8, today it started to have stiff steering. I figured it was either or line or power steering pump and it would be leaking all over. Turns out my reservoir is full? I can't see any leaks but I'm getting that annoying sound when I turn the wheel and its hard to move it.

Thanks, any help towards what this is is appreciated.
Click to expand...

There are quite a few things it could be, including the variable boost system. However, let's start with what may be the most frequent for that combination of symptoms. Put it up on ramps and get under it on the driver's side. Look for the steering shaft. You'll find the intermediate shaft, which has two u-joints on it. Spray a good lubricant on them, and try the steering. If the sound is gone and the effort is reduced, then you need to replace the intermediate shaft assembly. If that didn't do anything, then back on the ramps again. This time, locate where the intermediate shaft connected to the rack. Where the shaft it attaches to goes into the rack, there is a plastic dust cover that spins with the shaft. Spray some lube up under/in-to that cover. If that resolves it, you can either replace the rack, or spray lubricant there every six months or so.

Still no joy (and still have the noise)... There is an additive that you can add to the ATF in the power steering reservoir. There is a TSB about this somewhere, so your Lincoln dealer should be able to look it up and give you the correct additive.


Steering is very important. You want to figure this out and resolve it, very soon.
 
Yeah, everything is spinning maybe a squeak or something at idle. I have a check engine light but that was before this issue. I'll have to pull it in my dads shop and get the scanner on it some other time. I like the idea about changing the VAPS actuator. I think we have 2 racks from LS's somewhere so I'll have to dig and tear one off. V6 and V8 would be the same I assume?

Thanks for the help
 
Would those things cause that sound though? It sounds like it's dry on fluid and has a winding noise. But the reservoir and full and it has no leaks. I guess I could just replace the actuator and order the pump ahead of time just in case. It's drivable like it is, it's just a problem at take off/ slow speeds. Once you get the car moving power steering doesn't matter
 
amorgan2017 said:
Would those things cause that sound though? It sounds like it's dry on fluid and has a winding noise. But the reservoir and full and it has no leaks. I guess I could just replace the actuator and order the pump ahead of time just in case. It's drivable like it is, it's just a problem at take off/ slow speeds. Once you get the car moving power steering doesn't matter
Click to expand...

I assumed that the noise occurred only while the steering wheel was being turned. If it is happening even when you hold the steering wheel still, then I would look for a small leak on the intake side of the power steering pump letting air in (connection between pump and reservoir). It could also be that the filter at the bottom of the reservoir is clogged. You have only added Mercon V ATF fluid and never "power steering fluid", correct?
 
I'll check it out after work. No I've never added any fluid. It's right at the max mark so I assumed everything was fine. If it helps it wasn't exactly under "normal driving".
 
Ok little update. I got out into the country roads and tested some things. I now can here that when i rev the motor it will wind a little louder with just sitting in park. I'm pretty sure this means the power steering pump is bad because the belt and all. If you guys have any other ideas let me know. I'm going to go ahead and order one up to be safe. Thanks again
 
Your post seems to be missing some words, and that makes it hard to understand for sure what you are saying. It doesn't seem like you have enough evidence to condemn the pump itself yet. (I'm not saying that it definitely isn't the problem.)
 
Ok what I mean is I rev it up and it changes the winding sound I'm getting without touching the wheel. The power steering pump has a pulley which the belt is on, revving higher makes it move faster. Which gives me more noise. To me it makes sense it must be that power steering pump because of that. It's kind of hard to explain I guess but maybe you get what I mean now.
 
Well, there are other things driven by the engine that could make noise that would change with engine speed.
The power steering pump can be perfectly good but will make noise if the fluid is bad or has air bubbles in it.
The power steering pump can be completely functional, but make some noise. (My Ranger has been this way for years.)
And, of course, it could be the power steering pump itself.

I guess you are more of a "throw parts at a problem" sort of person, where I tend to be more of a diagnose the problem then fix it sort of person.
Both approaches do work.
 
Haha, I guess you could say that. Would bad fluid and air bubbles make it hard to turn though? It was fine and after about a minute of being stupid I had my traction light come on and noticed when i went to turn at the end of the mile that the steering was stiff taking off. The traction light went off when I restarted the car.
 
Oh ok and I think I put it to the floor once or twice which shouldn't matter. Then I stopped at a friends and spun it around 2-3 times.
 
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