Power steering BLOWN... please help...

I have no idea what caused it.It made a grinding kind of noise when I was pulling out of my driveway...pulled out,went to make another turn and POP!!!That was it,no more power steering.They just said the rack was GONE.

It could be the hoses had to much pressure on them, your not suppoused to cut down hoses, your suppoused to repalce them.

My guess is the hoses had to much pressure build up and it surged and it blew up, it had to release the pressure somehow, it did it by blowing up.

What exactly "blew up" if it was your pump, good luck on replacing it yourself, you cant do it unless you have something to support the engine. You have to take off the sepertine belt by releaseing the tensioner, which first you have to take off an engine mount, that is why the engine needs to be supported on a block that weights a few hundreds pounds.

As for cost it isnt looking good, if it is the pump you will have to have them remove the sepentine belt and most likely need a new one because that one will ahve fluid all over it so it junk that will cost $85, - $7.00 if you dont have A/C. Then the pump will cost whatever it does, plus the time to install it, and you will need fluid.

Originally posted by HITMANinMI:
which first you have to take off an engine mount, that is why the engine needs to be supported on a block that weights a few hundreds pounds.

Or you can just get a floor jack and a piece of wood...to support the engine, that worked fine when I replaced my timing belt/water pump. I don't know what engine he has but, the pump is fairly easy to remove.

But yet I don't think it would be the pump to blow a seal on the rack..stumped me man, sorry

Originally posted by HITMANinMI:
It could be the hoses had to much pressure on them, your not suppoused to cut down hoses, your suppoused to repalce them.

My guess is the hoses had to much pressure build up and it surged and it blew up, it had to release the pressure somehow, it did it by blowing up.

What exactly "blew up" if it was your pump, good luck on replacing it yourself, you cant do it unless you have something to support the engine. You have to take off the sepertine belt by releaseing the tensioner, which first you have to take off an engine mount, that is why the engine needs to be supported on a block that weights a few hundreds pounds.

As for cost it isnt looking good, if it is the pump you will have to have them remove the sepentine belt and most likely need a new one because that one will ahve fluid all over it so it junk that will cost $85, - $7.00 if you dont have A/C. Then the pump will cost whatever it does, plus the time to install it, and you will need fluid.

Seeing that he said he "trimmed" the hoses, I don't think they were too short, thus causing any problems. I've visited and replaced both the steering rack and the pump on my Taurus. Granted, they are different vehicles, but I was trying to understand what led up to this failure. If the grinding noise was indeed in the pump, and not the rack itself, then something in the pump caused excessive pressure build up. This pressure build up is most likely what led to the rack housing seal to blow. I would attempt to replace the rack and pump myself, but that is me.
Sorry this isn't more specific to your original question.

Edit: End quote relocated.

It is not likely that the hoses or the pump had anything to do with the rack failure.

The main culpret was probably winter road salt. If the rack gets salt onto the part of the rack that passes through the seals, that part corrodes and gets rough, both making it harder for the seal to seal and also tearing up the seal. You are not the first this has happened to.

You will need to have the rack replaced.

I agree...it has nothing to do with the pump or the lines.When my rack went for sh*t it made the same noises and happened the same way.Both the pump and hoses were fine.Just the rack..

Originally posted by Big Jim:
It is not likely that the hoses or the pump had anything to do with the rack failure.

The main culpret was probably winter road salt. If the rack gets salt onto the part of the rack that passes through the seals, that part corrodes and gets rough, both making it harder for the seal to seal and also tearing up the seal. You are not the first this has happened to.

You will need to have the rack replaced.

Jim, just a data point; the rack is what passes thru the seal. This rack is protected by the bellows as is the inner tie rod end. Unless there was a break in the bellows/boot, nothing would contaminate the rack. The rack is supported by bronze bushings on each end of the rack housing. I still wonder how a failure as described could have resulted. Leaking rack housing seals are one thing, a "blow out" as described makes me wonder further. Bill

Okay, let me state this again since it was unclear... I have a 98' 2.5L MTX. The problem 'looked' like my power steering was leaking from the bottom of the resivwar. The grinding noise is just air in the sytem going through the pump... the noise that power steering makes when it is low. I pulled the plastic jug and noticed that the big line that goes into the pump directly was somewhat loose and chewed up a bit from the clamp. I checked length and saw no problem with trimming 1" off of the end of it to give the resivwar a fresh piece of hose to seal on... not a big deal and no, I didn't cause ANY problems by doing this.

After doing this, it no longer was leaking from there but when I turned the wheel it blew the seal inside of the insulater boot on the passengers side of the rack. This tells me that the power steering jug was leaking because of excessive preasure in the system and that is why the seal blew out on the rack, something is more than likely clogged. I honestly don't think it has anything to do with the rack itself or the pump. I could be wrong of course, but it seems like the reason it was leaking initially is the same exact reason that the seal blew out... something somewhere is causing excessive preasure in the system (a clog)... so the underlining problem isn't a leak or a blown out seal, that was just what happened because of the initial problem.

I towed the car to a shop last night so that they could have it first thing this morning. I will find out later what the culprit is, but I am hoping that it isn't a big deal. The pump isn't shot at all, not leaking at all, it's fine... like I said, I never ran it dry, I kept a bottle of fluid in the car for the day that it kept going low, so the pump is fine, there is no fluid on my belt and there is nothing coming from any of the lines or anything... all from the rack. The initial over-pressure was making it leak out of the bottle, but since I fixed that sealing issue, the pressure had to go somewhere, and did so through the seal on the rack.

Regardless of the situation, I know that it was mentioned that the rack ends can't leak... I can assure you that they can! They didn't really leak once it popped, it just simply dumped every last ounce of fluid out of the system in less than 10 seconds, so whatever went "pop" sure dumped a lot of fluid in a short ammount of time. We'll have to see what the shop says.

>The initial over-pressure was making it leak out of the >bottle, but since I fixed that sealing issue, the pressure >had to go somewhere, and did so through the seal on the >rack.

The above was exactly my point of reference.
Thanks for the very clear and concise explanation (again).
I'm standing by.... Bill

That is what I was getting at contour r us, that I agree with you completely.

I just got off of the phone with the shop, he said, "Wow your rack is leaking! I can't beleive how much it is leaking, from the sounds of it when I pulled the car in the bay, you didn't have any left, but when I put it up on the lift, it just kept pouring out.. I don't ever think I have seen one leak this bad."

He went on to tell me that regardless of what the initial problem was (which very well could have been the rack to begin with as he said), the rack is completely blown and needs to be replaced. He said, "infact, I can't even begin to look at any other problems till I replace this thing due to it's condition."

So far, the tab is about $500. GREAT! Oh man. Anyway, he said that once they get the new rack in there and everything, he will be able to start testing other steering components. He said that he doesn't think that there is anything wrong with the pump at least it didn't seem like it at all, and especially since it wasn't run dry (except to get it on the tow truck and get it in the bay). He said that maybe one of the hoses is clogged, but he doubts it... either way it will have to be determined after it is replaced.

Well, sounds like you are getting at the bottom of this. Hard to imagine that something plugged up one of the hoses.
I too understood your agreement with me, I do appreciate your mature responses. Sorry to hear about the $$$ involved. My Taurus rack was $280 (parts). What a bear to install. Never again!! Bill

Originally posted by contour_r_us:
Hard to imagine that something plugged up one of the hoses.

That is why your suppoused to have the fluid flushed every 40,000 miles, Ford does it for $79.95.

Originally posted by HITMANinMI:

Originally posted by contour_r_us:
Hard to imagine that something plugged up one of the hoses.

That is why your suppoused to have the fluid flushed every 40,000 miles, Ford does it for $79.95.

So the 10k mile interval I used was TOO FREQUENT, hence plugged lines? BTW - I had installed an aftermarket cooler just for the PS. All the flushing was done as per the SHO web site at 20 kmile intervals. I still needed to replace the rack at 98k miles. Seems the Taurus rack does not have
bronze bushings at the rack housing ends for the rack to ride on. Instead a steel rack rides on an aluminum alloy housing directly. Hence the frequent change intervals.

Yeah, the tab ended up being $590.10 total with tax. Nice huh? So once they replaced the rack itself, everything seems to be real good. The power steering pump is suprisingly quiet too (usualy they are noisy for a while till the air gets worked out), it is a little bit louder than usual, but only a very small bit.

I am having a problem though. It is kinda strange, but there is a little bit of play in the wheel. It seems like the linkage is a bit loose or something (which really pisses me off). I took it back up to the shop this morning and although kind of a minor problem, they seemed to respect how annoying it is and they did notice that there is play in the wheel and I told them that it is getting worse too. They are looking at it for me, how annoying. Anyway, that is the update... I guess it was the rack all of this time from the start. What a wierd problem to have. I have never known a car to have a bad steering rack before.

This is a problem that is common to ALL Power Rack and Pinion steering automobiles.
FORD, GM, Chrysler, European and Asian vehicles as well.

The problem is that our US Service Centers and Dealerships can change
our MOTOR OIL frequently but never change or service anything else,
other than the winshield washer fluid.
They all think the same thing.
The oils in these 'other' systems are good for the life of the car,
which is not true.
Even the BLOOD that courses through our very own veins and arteries is replaced every 28 days.

The oil in your power steering can absorb moisture, just like brake fluid does.
This moisture settles inbetween the seals and bearings inside your power steering rack & pinion.
Since the body of the Rack & Pinion is made of ALUMINUM, moisture causes the aluminum to PITT over time.
This pitting causes the seals and internal bearings to wear and fail prematurely.
When the seals have failed, they begin to lose pressure and leak power steering oil.

There are two ways to check for this...

First, when the rack has begun to show signs of damage, your
power steering hydraulic system will begin to make noises.
When this happens, you will need to check your oil level very frequently.
When the oil level begins to drop, this is a sign of an internal leak.

Cutting a small hole in the boots on either end of the rack will allow
the oil to run out that has leaked through your Rack and Pinion.
This is a sign of impending failure.

Waiting until the boot POPS is a sure sign of a poorly maintained vehicle.

Just because you service your engine's needs, doesn't mean the rest of the vehicle can be ignored.

I completely agree with you about the above stated. You are surely correct that just about every fluid in a car needs to be changed periodicaly.

As far as your statement:

Originally posted by RoadRunner:
Waiting until the boot POPS is a sure sign of a poorly maintained vehicle.

Just because you service your engine's needs, doesn't mean the rest of the vehicle can be ignored.

I tend to disagree. First off, NOWHERE have I ever seen a rack fail like this before personally, nor have I heard about it (till searching on this site), only pumps or lines, not the rack. What happened on my car is NOT a sign of a "poorly maintained vehicle" because this is about the only area that I haven't maintained becuase of the stated above... I've never even heard of this. Also, for your knowledge, the boots didn't "POP" because they were slowly filled with power steering fluid... they popped because the seal blew out behind them. I don't think cutting a hole no matter what size in a dust boot is a good idea in any situation. You can remove it to look, you don't want to cut a hole in it! This has not been an ongoing problem... I checked the fluid level less than a week ago when I changed the oil on the car, so it did happen all of a sudden.

So RoadRunner, just because my power steering rack failed does not mean that the rest of my vehicle was ignored or poorly maintained for that matter, especially since I checked the fluid less than a week before any problem occured, thank you. Everybody lives and learns, the only fluid on my car that isn't changed on a regular interval now will be. Who knows weather it failed due to age or possibly some sort of flaw or defect, or if it was due to the fluid changing... we'll never know, but I can assure you that I know of more than one car that is still running strong with over 200k on it with the SAME rack/pump/lines and fluid, so don't tell me that my car is poorly maintained... I'm SURE I am not the only one that hasn't changed the fluid on this site... and I can guarantee you that some of those same people have more than double my milage.

An update to the rest of you, the loose steering wheel feel was because the 2 screws on the steering shaft that tighten the column together with the rack weren't tight enough. The mechanic said that they were definitely tight, but he said that he really cranked on them and the problem went away, which it did. My car is now all set.

WA2FAST, I have to agree with you 100% in your previous observations/posts. I have owned rack & pinion steering vehicles for over 30 years now. I still own my 1968 Jag XJ6. It has R&R steering, power assist. It is one of the FEW things that has not required replacement. This Jag has over 200k miles on it. Then there is my VW GTI, just went over 225k miles (daily driver), no PS problems here. Yes, the above vehicles, as well as the Taurus that I recently sold (replaced by my Contour)have all had fluid changes (all fluids) that border on overkill as to frequency. Only the Taurus "let me down". I might point out that the Taurus also had the two screws you mentioned loose. I tightened these to the point of fear of snapping them. It did remove the "looseness" that I was experiencing, immediately have I replaced the R&P.
Anyway, I am thankful that you didn't lay out more $$ than you did. Once again, thanks for the completeness and forthrightness in your feedback. remember, everyones mileage my vary, regardless of our unique experiences. I still can't explain why the Taurus R&P destroyed itself as prematurely as it did, in spite of frequent fluid changes and a PS cooler to boot!!! Take care - Bill

I've had a rack explode on me... twice. Sure, it was a Pontiac Grand Prix, but the same thing happened: drove fine for a while-albeit with some stiffness-then poured away. The culprit: the P/S pressure switch. Four years, 60K miles and my two brothers later, the rack is doing just fine. I'd have to say the switch is the bandit here. I have stiff steering in my car, although the pump doesn't groan, except on occasion (then it's more like a grunt).

Hold onto those repair bills and parts invoices, folks. Sounds like we have a potential recall item on our hands. Probably should contact Ford, too, although I'm SURE they'd want to hear from us again (oh, no, not ANOTHER Contour problem!).

Funny you should say that... my pressure switch was shiny new when I bought the car at 53k. Now I have 83k and this happened. When I first popped the hood open when looking at the car, the shiny new P/S pressure switch stuck out like a sore thumb even though the whole engine was beautifully detailed... funny that you mention that it could have been bad since mine was so noticibly new when I bought it. Not to sound like an idiot, but what exactly does that switch do? You can hear it "click" when any pressure is applied to the wheel in either direction, so I know that it is switching... at least now. Is there any way to check for it? I really don't want this to happen again that's for sure, $600 was a bit much for something stupid like this if you ask me.

Originally posted by WA2FAST:
Not to sound like an idiot, but what exactly does that switch do? You can hear it "click" when any pressure is applied to the wheel in either direction, so I know that it is switching... at least now. Is there any way to check for it?

When you turn your steering wheel and the power steering oil pressure rises and clicks the switch,
your Engine IDLE should rise to compensate for the Power Steering Pump.
If this doesn't then the switch is not working properly.
The switch tells the computer when the PS pressure rises, to raise the idle speed.

Okay, so bassicaly what you are saying is that the power steering pressure switch doesn't have anything to do with the rack failing... it really can't. All it sounds like is that it prevents the engine from stalling at idle. Is that right?

If the Power Steering Pressure switch were to crack and leak Power Steering oil,
a low oil situation could lead to premature failure of the power steering pump.

Gotchya, well that's definitely not what happened here... and from the sounds of it, not what April was getting at either, but who knows. Either way, my car has been great ever since I've gotten the rack taken care of. I keep a close eye on the level to make sure I am not low and/or leaking from somewhere else, but so far everything seems just fine.