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Power Steering Not Working and Sounding Like a Ford

Discussion in '1st Gen. Tacomas (1995-2004)' started by steve o 77, Jan 11, 2010.

  1. Jan 11, 2010 at 6:25 PM
    #1
    steve o 77

    steve o 77 [OP] braaap

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    In a corn field, OH
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    My brothers friend has a 2001 tacoma 4x4 v6 trd off road with 145,000 miles and this morning this problem came up. He said that it made a loud whining noise and was very difficult to turn the wheel. This literally happened overnight and was perfect yesterday. I went over today and had a listen and it sounds exactly like my old '83 bronco (and all other older ford vehicles) when he tries to turn it and it feels like it has no power steering. When he does not try and turn it, it makes a faint whining sound. The belt is not slipping and the fluid is at the right level. I tried searching but no one has had the sound and not working at the same time:confused:. Does anyone have any idea what could be wrong? Im thinking the pump went out but im really not sure.
    Thanks for the help!
     
  2. Jan 11, 2010 at 10:43 PM
    #2
    Gr8WhiteTaco

    Gr8WhiteTaco bishes love my haircut

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    Mine mad the whining noise, but i just added more ATF to to power steering pump
     
  3. Jan 12, 2010 at 5:25 AM
    #3
    SunDevilTacoma

    SunDevilTacoma Well-Known Member

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    Any leaking showing up on/around the pump or on the ground?
     
  4. Jan 12, 2010 at 5:40 AM
    #4
    98tacoma27

    98tacoma27 is going full "SANDWICH" Moderator

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    Some stuff. Not a lot, just some.
    Sounds like a bad pump.
     
  5. Jan 12, 2010 at 6:25 AM
    #5
    Afwrestler1986

    Afwrestler1986 Well-Known Member

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    When mine went up on my 2000 it was loud as hell and it was not working enough to say so. Make sure to flush all of the fluid out of there after you change the pump.
     
  6. Jan 12, 2010 at 6:51 AM
    #6
    Kuneff

    Kuneff Carpe Diem

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    Whats the easiest was to flush the old fluid out? mine is nasty, and its the only old fluid left in the truck. I would really like to change it.
     
  7. Jan 12, 2010 at 6:59 AM
    #7
    blackxpress

    blackxpress Well-Known Member

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    Assuming the fluid level is good, changing it is not going to fix this problem. If it has plenty of fluid in it and it's doing this the pump has gone bad. The fact that the problem appeared suddenly is another indicator. That pump's fried.
     
  8. Jan 12, 2010 at 7:03 AM
    #8
    Afwrestler1986

    Afwrestler1986 Well-Known Member

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    Remove the return line and empty it into a bucket while you are pouring fresh cheap junk into the res. and someone is turning the wheel to just before the stops. Just DO NOT let it start to get empty.
     
  9. Jan 12, 2010 at 7:11 AM
    #9
    Afwrestler1986

    Afwrestler1986 Well-Known Member

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    This is not entirely true. Although I do not argue that the pump's life span has been reduced, if the fluid is bad, old, out of spec, it can cause the pump to make awful noise. By replacing the fluid, in some cases, it will correct the problem. But as i said, the life span of the pump has been substantially reduced. In my opinion changing the fluid and flushing the system should be attempted before a total pump replacement. They are not cheap and can be a PITA to do.
     
  10. Jan 12, 2010 at 9:24 AM
    #10
    steve o 77

    steve o 77 [OP] braaap

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  11. Jan 12, 2010 at 7:39 PM
    #11
    saltbranch

    saltbranch Well-Known Member

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    Mine did something similar about 6-8 weeks ago. I checked the fluid, it was dirty/ bad looking and I have never changed it. My fix has worked but its only a bandaid. I took one of those cheap bulb pumps, removed all the fluid I could from resivour and refilled it with the Lucas P/S pump additive. So far its working good.
     

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