Because I don't want to pay $500 to have dealer replace my failing power steering pump, I did it myself today. It turns out to be quite easy, because our power steering pump does not have any pulley to mess with.
The new pump and reservior cost $233 plus tax at dealer, which seems to be a really good price compared with the re-manufactured unit without reservior at Autozone for $200.
Removing the pump assembly is very simple: drain reservior, remove three hoses, remove two screws, then the pump comes off. The higher two hoses are very easy to remove and they don't leak fluid. I made a mess when removing the lower hose (the one that attaches to the reservior) because there are lots of oil left in the reservior. The best way to drain all the oil is to hold a small cup under the tip of the lower hose and slowly pull it out. When the cup filles up, you can stop the flow by re-attaching the hose.
The lower hose is pretty hard to remove. I had to use a flat-head screw driver to prey it loose first.
I can see that some kind of seal is broken inside the pump. I don't know how to fix it though so I throw the old pump away. Now I think about it, I should keep it for spare parts.
Installing the new pump is trivial: tighten two screw, attach three hoses, add fluid, jack up car, have someone turn steering wheel from side to side to drive out air.
Warning: don't fill up the reservior. I did and it over flowed when the wheel is turned all the way.
Also I changed my 4-year old battery today. Stupid me left spare battery and jump cable in the trunk when I removed the old battery. Have to put it back in to get trunk to open. The new battery is shorter, but it has a handle that sticks out quite a bit so that the battery cover no longer fit. My car is running without battery cover now. Would that be a problem?
The new pump and reservior cost $233 plus tax at dealer, which seems to be a really good price compared with the re-manufactured unit without reservior at Autozone for $200.
Removing the pump assembly is very simple: drain reservior, remove three hoses, remove two screws, then the pump comes off. The higher two hoses are very easy to remove and they don't leak fluid. I made a mess when removing the lower hose (the one that attaches to the reservior) because there are lots of oil left in the reservior. The best way to drain all the oil is to hold a small cup under the tip of the lower hose and slowly pull it out. When the cup filles up, you can stop the flow by re-attaching the hose.
The lower hose is pretty hard to remove. I had to use a flat-head screw driver to prey it loose first.
I can see that some kind of seal is broken inside the pump. I don't know how to fix it though so I throw the old pump away. Now I think about it, I should keep it for spare parts.
Installing the new pump is trivial: tighten two screw, attach three hoses, add fluid, jack up car, have someone turn steering wheel from side to side to drive out air.
Warning: don't fill up the reservior. I did and it over flowed when the wheel is turned all the way.
Also I changed my 4-year old battery today. Stupid me left spare battery and jump cable in the trunk when I removed the old battery. Have to put it back in to get trunk to open. The new battery is shorter, but it has a handle that sticks out quite a bit so that the battery cover no longer fit. My car is running without battery cover now. Would that be a problem?
