Hope someone can help me here. I rebuilt my power steering pump and have been trying to get the air out. I have been turning the steering wheel left to right lock positions for 4 days and no luck keep seeing bubbles this being done with the engine off. I have verified there are no air leaks. I double checked the high pressure valve was put back in correctly. I can hear the fluid rushing in and out, which I could not hear before the rebuild. I have noticed that the fluid level goes down a bit when the wheels are turned to the left but comes back up when I turn them to the right. The pump worked before the rebuild it had a leak at the shaft seal. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

Have you started the engine at all? You need to run the pump to get all the air out of the system. Simply turning the wheel back and forth lock to lock with the engine off won't do it. I normally fill and rotate the pump by hand to move fluid through the system. Then start the engine and turn it lock to lock again to get the remaining air out.

 

Thanks, I'll try it with the engine running.

 

OK I've tried turning the steering wheel from lock to lock for about an hour with the engine running still nothing, it seems as if the pump is not working at all. May need to get new one.

 

Is it making any kind of noise when you turn lock to lock? Dumb question, but is the belt installed for the pump?

 

There is a serpentine belt on this, and I have checked that the belt is on correctly. I took the belt off and ckecked to make sure the shaft had not broke and just the pulley was turning. There is no noise at all which I found strange, going to try to do a soap test to see if there is an air leak somewhere even though everything is tight.

 

If there was a leak somewhere in the system, you would be more apt to see leaking power steering fluid. So when you run the engine for a while, does the fluid level show correct for when it's hot? Too much or too little fluid can cause the pump to cavitate and the fluid to foam. Check the system on level ground and make sure the level shows correct for "cold" before you start the engine. Start the car and drive it around the block until the engine temp comes up to normal. Stop and check the fluid level again and check for air bubbles. Sometimes you have to put the car through its paces to rid the system of air.

 

yeah drive the car around like the person above me said..your probably good