Power steering pump/Rack

[LSDee]

Hi,

I'm looking for some feedback. Over the past few months I noticed the power steering dropping out intermittently- mostly when pulling into parking spots. Lately it became a little more frequent, and you could hear the power steering pump whine. So, I take it to the garage to have the power steering pump replaced.

They replaced the power steering pump the first time, and said it had a leak around the inlet valve. They ordered another new pump and put it in. They said sorry for the trouble, let us know if it leaks again.

A week and half later it started leaking. I had the car towed to the shop. They checked it out and said I needed a new power steering rack. Apparently my rack is bad, causing pressure spikes and blowing out the seals in the pump lines.

Can power steering racks fail this way and take out power steering pumps?
Before I had the pump replaced, the steering seemed fine. Nice and tight, no slop or play. The only thing was the intermittent power steering dropping out for a few seconds at slow speed turning into parking lot and parking spots.

Thanks for any feedback!

'06 v8
76k

 

[joegr]

It seems very unlikely, but not impossible.
What brand of pump are they using?

 

[LSDee]

I don't know, I did not think to ask.

*Edited this post, changes below*

Should I insist an OEM/remanufactured OEM pump be used?

The service advisor stated the high pressure line seal was went bad, and they have no way to test the rack until they put on a pump.
The pump is under warranty, and will be replaced for free, but he said it would keep going bad unless the rack was replaced.

Could something be going bad with the variable assist module/solenoid?

 

[BrianDye]

Subscribing to this thread to see if I can learn anything lol.

The project LS I picked up supposedly has had two new racks installed, and I currently have a monster leak.

 

[joegr]

...Could something be going bad with the variable assist module/solenoid?

Nothing that could cause high pressure at the pump.

 

[LSDee]

So, the the only high pressure comes from the steering rack, correct?
If the steering rack is bad, and sends high pressure back to the pump, it can blow out the high pressure seal, correct?
Is there any way the shop could have checked the steering back? Or is it a given (provided the seal was good and installed correctly) that blowing out the seal means the rack is bad?

Thanks again.

 

[joegr]

The pump creates the pressure, not the rack. The rack can pass the fluid from the pump back up to the reservoir, or it can restrict it when it is providing power assist.

Take the nozzle off your garden hose then turn the faucet on about 1/8th the way. Water flows out at relatively low pressure. (You can easily squeeze the hose.) Now block the end of the hose. Pressure builds and the hose becomes hard to squeeze. You didn't make the high pressure when you blocked the hose, the high pressure is coming from the water supply to the faucet. You just blocked the flow so that the pressure could build up in the hose.
The power steering pump is the water supply in this case, and the rack is you blocking the flow.
(The pump can be damaged if you turn the wheel all the way to one of the locks and hold it there for several seconds, maybe a minute or two. This is no fault of the rack or the pump, but the user.)

 

[LSDee]

How can a rack make a power steering pump fail (other than holding it against a lock)?
I'm trying to get an idea of how the system works so I can understand the failure point
and make sure the shop is correctly diagnosing the root cause.

 

[joegr]

The rack would have to have a blockage and/or bad valves for it to be to blame. If so, I would think that it would make the steering very bad and it should be clear there is a problem before it could cause pump failure.