What makes a P.S. pump not pump?

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340doc

340doc

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About 3 years ago I pulled a leaking Federal pump off my son's Duster and replaced it with one from my stash. I stuck it in a box and put it away. Flash forward to now. The pump on my other son's Dart developed a slow leak. I pulled the other old one down and put new shaft and reservoir seals in. Put it on and the car feels like the P.S. is barely working. What could cause this? It worked before, just leaked. Thanks.

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Every Federal I ever had worked poorly. With the exception of the one from my 71 Monaco 360. But that car was driven like a Grandma. Years later I put that pump on my 68 Cuda, and the first time I asked it to do some work, it's true colors came out.
I took it all apart cleaned it and resealed it. I even tried a faster pulley ratio. Nothing helped. I put an old worn out slanty Saginaw on there, and it's been on there ever since. That was 1999.

Another thing about Federals is they seem to boil the oil right away when they have to work. I ran mine with the warmed up oil level right at the bottom of the filler neck.Then it still puked some out the top after working hard. The cold level was then well below the bottom of the filler. I may be exaggerating on account of I only have experience with two of those pos pumps,lol.
 
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Roadart said:
You may need to bleed the system.
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I always thought the system self bleeds by turning the wheel back and forth, that's all I've ever done. I lifted the front wheels off the ground to turn the steering wheel because I couldn't turn it with them on the ground but that didn't help. I saw a few bubbles in the reservoir but not many. It never made a sound.
 
340doc said:
I always thought the system self bleeds by turning the wheel back and forth, that's all I've ever done. I lifted the front wheels off the ground to turn the steering wheel because I couldn't turn it with them on the ground but that didn't help. I saw a few bubbles in the reservoir but not many. It never made a sound.
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This is correct procedure, but the sound is missing that occurs at full steering locks, so I agree that the relief valve may be stuck open
 
I would take the pump apart, and the shop manual right there in eye ball sight. The pump cam is timed and so are the end plates that cover the rotor and pump vanes, or pump roller rotors, I am thinking a use of a drill bit here to help the aligning them together. One the pump that using vanes, the rounded edges goes outward. The pump that uses rollers makes no difference, but there is a hole used on the back plates that forces the rollers outward to help built pressure to pump.
 
I remember my power wagon giving me grief. Jacked up wheels and cranked it end to end with engine off. Instantly fixed.
 
Fishing68 said:
any update on a fix?
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I took the pump apart and removed the valve and cleaned everything up. The valve was hard to move when pressing it against spring pressure. New O-ring installed and it moves better. I had since resealed the leaking pump and reinstalled it. I feel like the valve was the problem but cant say until I try it again. Thanks for asking.
 
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