Today the power steering pump on my 1998 5.9 blew up. The steering had been getting a little heavy when parking, but I hadn't noticed any other symptoms until today. The fluid level was fine when I checked it.

Then, today on the interstate I noticed the steering was very heavy. Yep, no power assist at all. Fluid level still ok when I stopped to check again.

40 miles from home, I had to keep going. Suddenly I got a warning chime and a message saying "check gauges". My temp gauge was spiking, so I pulled over.

The serpentine belt was off because the PS pulley came off the pump. I found the pulley on the parking lot 15 feet behind the Jeep with the center ripped out.

I got a new pump, but I'm a little concerned about installing it b/c it's obvious there are little flecks of metal throughout the pump fluid. Something inside the pump had obviously been disintegrating for some time.

So I wonder if the steering rack has already been irreversibly damaged? Can I get all the metal out just by aggressive flushing? Or am I destined to lose the steering rack soon too, because you can't get all that metal out, and it's just a matter of time before the rack expires also?

What's the prudent thing to do about the rest of the PS system? Any tips on how to flush it?

Incidentally, the back side of the pulley looked like it had a metallic paint-like finish due to the tiny bits of metal adhering to it with the pump fluid that blew out the front of the pump when the pulley tore off. I suspect the pump froze or bound up, kicking the serpentine belt off.

Thomas

 

Well, you don't have a steering rack. It's a gearbox at the end of the steering column. If it were mine, I'd replace the steering gear also. But that's me.

 

Yes, thanks for orienting me to the right part and terminology. That's what I was concerned about. It's fairly obvious to me that little bits of metal distributed throughout the system would not be a good thing. And when I got the new pump in my hands I realized that if I didn't get all that metal out of there it would destroy the new pump in fairly short order. I also realized that it would be next to impossible to get all of that metal out of places with tiny little passages and lots of little nooks and crannies. It was very powderized.

So I have a new steering box on order, and I'll install it with a new filter. Gotta keep it on the road.

 

I'm glad you thought about a filter. I added a clear fuel filter in the return hose on my Chevy truck when the same thing happened.

Don't forget to flush the hoses.