Power Steering Issue?? - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

RichieRichJP · 08-13-2011, 02:49 PM

I've been going cleaning my engine bay and fixing oil leaks over the past 3 months when time allows me to. I've noticed that I keep getting a light amount of oil on my power steering tank but I cannot tell where it is coming from.
during the last 3 month, I've been trying to eliminating some oil leaks. I've recently switched over to a manual ECU and trying to determine if my car has really been burning oil or if I'm losing a lot of oil. I rebuilt the distributor and redid the seals, I just completed the oil cooler an hour ago, and I'm left with this. Oil has been blowing under the car so I had to eliminate a leak at a time to figure out where so much oil is coming from. Now those are done, oil is concentrated around the power steering filler tank and no where else. So...

I've noticed more recently that at a stand still, when I turn, I hear a springy/clunking noise (sounds like my springs). 110% not CV joints. So before I wrapped up my oil cooler fix, I got under the car and had my brother turn the steering wheel both ways and got the results from the videos.
My guess is the lines got air in them and I need to replace some lines and redo the power steering fluid. You can clearly hear gurgling of the fluid when the wheel is turned. When I took off the cap for the filler tank, you can see the fluid push up but not actually bubble.
Suggestions? Similar experiences?
Thanks

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Chris Crash · 08-13-2011, 02:54 PM

Fluid on the PS tank, is it oil? or PS (ATF) fluid? If it's ATF it's probably bubbling out from under the cap, a situation usually caused by air in the system.

Pump making any noises? Air in the system will wreck a pump, so I'd try to drain, refill (maybe with stop leak) and bleed the air out as soon as possible to avoid needing a new pump.

You can wipe down the hoses, and tape paper or rags to them and if they are leaking, you will see where!

RichieRichJP · 08-13-2011, 02:56 PM

wtf, I can't post the videos.

RichieRichJP · 08-13-2011, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Crash

Fluid on the PS tank, is it oil? or PS (ATF) fluid? If it's ATF it's probably bubbling out from under the cap, a situation usually caused by air in the system.

Pump making any noises? Air in the system will wreck a pump, so I'd try to drain, refill (maybe with stop leak) and bleed the air out as soon as possible to avoid needing a new pump.

You can wipe down the hoses, and tape paper or rags to them and if they are leaking, you will see where!

It's definitely the PS fluid. I did accidentally filled it above the max line two weeks ago, but it was still doing that prior.
Pump is not making any noises.
I think I'll have to just drain the system and replace the two hoses coming from the tank.
I have noticed oil on those two hoses for a long while now, it just seems to be getting worse because of the clunking.
To get the existing air out of the system, would it help to take off the cap and keep turning?

Chris Crash · 08-13-2011, 03:06 PM

Ah yes, then it bubbled out. These systems don't like being overfilled at all.

Check this out: http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/t19334.html the second post is very informative. In your situation what I would do is remove as much fluid as possible, replace the hoses, then fill with fresh fluid, and flush as in the second post. This way you're sure everywhere has fresh fluid, and no air bubbles.

RichieRichJP · 08-13-2011, 03:15 PM

lol that was what I had opened in the other window

Thanks!

RichieRichJP · 08-13-2011, 05:11 PM

I went back out and checked in my engine bay and the only fresh oil that I can see from above is what is right out of the tank. It's been two weeks since I power washed the motor.
The only place I can't easily see is the power steering rack and it's caked in oil from the oil cooler/distributor leak.
From what I read from the plethora of PS posts, air in system = very bad.
I think I should in the mean time flush it to get the air out and save myself a pump. This while bide some time for me to find out where it's leaking from.
Apart from a leak, how else would I get a problem like this?

Chris Crash · 08-13-2011, 06:47 PM

Air in the system is bad bad bad news. You can get air in either through a leak or hole in a line, or from letting the reservoir go dry. Usually happens hand in hand with a leak.

RichieRichJP · 08-13-2011, 07:30 PM

Ok, there must be a leak then. The liquid had very very slowly gone at least 1cm below the min line.
I wonder if that was low enough that the at some point, a change in grade on the road allowed some air in the tank to find its way down one of the hoses...?
Some of the campus parking is on some pretty steep hills...

RichieRichJP · 08-14-2011, 03:17 PM

Finished the flush and the problem is still there!
I think it may be something with the Steering rack from the sound of it...

***N/A Camry Sleeper*** · 08-14-2011, 10:01 PM

You should just trash the power steering system altogether - unless you drive a V6 in which case having it non-power assisted would be a bitch to drive at any speed. Honestly, not being facetious here; but if you do have a 5SFE in your car then driving it without power assist is not really all that hard. The most challenging thing is parallel parking - but this dependss on how often you parallel park.

Disconnect the P/S pump belt and drive it around for a day or two. Just a thought...Then if still have the leak or not would eliminate or reinforce your theories

RichieRichJP · 08-14-2011, 10:33 PM

I am doing regular maintenance on this car. It is no longer going to be a performance vehicle. I'd like to get everything close to factory as possible (minus the stuff already on there) and repaired. If in the event I ever plan on selling it, I'd rather not take out the PS because no typical person would want a car w/o PS. I'm also looking into painting the car once I get the garage turned into a paint booth and possibly have my fiancee drive it. So either way, no PS is an option for me.

However, I did eliminate most of the problems and have pinpointed it to the PS motor. I cannot get air out of the system. I washed the lines today and the lines are still dry. My guess is that the O-Ring at the pressure port is drawing in air and letting nothing out because I have zero leaks. When I take off the cap, it bubbles. As the system acts like syringe, after a full turn left - as it pushes air out - I can close the cap and it will stop gurgling for 2 full turns then start over again. I can hear air get drawn in through the cap after that whenever I turn to the right.
Looks like I'll be in for a big fix

***N/A Camry Sleeper*** · 08-14-2011, 10:46 PM

If you're interested I would sell you my used P/S rack (1996 5S model) for next to nothing once I get the manual rack installed and working properly. I won't have any use for it and it still works perfectly without any leaks. I don't have the P/S pump or any of that hardware though

RichieRichJP · 08-14-2011, 11:53 PM

I'll have to tear down the PS stuff when I have a chance. I have school starting on the 22nd and I need a DD to get to and from there.
Once I get my Mr2, hopefully this week, then the Camry will go under the knife.
I'm 100% sure its a leak on the PS pump though.

Thanks

RichieRichJP · 08-21-2011, 12:48 AM

Can anyone help me out with getting the repair manual for this job?
Does anyone know if there are any bolts that are a hard reach?
What components would have to come off to access the PS pump??
It looks like the passenger side wheel and splash guard need to come off but I don't want to assume and waste a lot of time finding out this is a much larger job than it seems.

Thanks