Is my steering pump on the way out?

[Tikka7mm08]

At idle there is no power steering assistance. I have just under 33" tyres on but still expect some assistance.

No problem when on road driving but at walking speed my office worker arms are struggling to turn the wheel.

Looked at the ACE and PS containers and the ACE is pumping away but the PS is doing nothing. Doesn't seem to be losing fluid but there is a lot of fluid on the left side of the engine up near the pump.

Questions:
Is it a repair I can do or best put into the shop?
Should I drain the fluid, see if fliter blocked, refill clean fluid?
Should I just buy a new PS pump? They seem cheaper sourced from overseas.
Do you really have to use Land Rover ACE/PS fluid or is Dexcron III OK?

Cheers
Bob

[AK83]

pump replacement is relatively easy to do and IIRC I think you're on a v8?
A lot of stuff needs to come off the engine to release the pump from out of there, so it's just time consuming, not hard.

If you are in neutral and rev the engine a small amount, say to just over 1K rpm, does the assistance come back? If so, then definitely the pump is shot.
Leaks are common in older versions, but once rebuilt it won't leak. But watch for hose leaking too(which can be a red herring if not understood).

Best way is to dump all fluid, as best as you can. Raise front and release the hoses from the box, and place into a container(from the pump and from the reservoir).
Turn stg wheel lock to lock(remember wheels in the air), so you don't need to have engine running and most if not all fluid will come out of the box.
Fluid will pour out of the reservoir and pump too, so have containers to catch it all.
The main hoses to and from the box are usually all good(don't perish) .. but if you need to replace the pipes off the box(no need too, if they don't leak) you should replace the o rings on them.
Hose I'd recommend to replace tho is the reservoir to pump hose(the clamp on one) .. which usually softens/hardens up at the clamp end and can leak. If this is renewed you shouldn't have any hose leaks(which is common).
The pumps do fail. Mine have.
If it's currently struggling, then it will eventually start making graunching noises as you turn too, as it wears out more and more.
New pump will make it feel like a new car!

Avoid the Chinesey types(the $100 types) they will fail. No idea when, maybe a month, maybe a year .. but will fail.

A good quality pump can set you back a small fortune for what is a relative small item.
But what you can do: buy a cheapo chinesium pump($100) and fit it temporarily. Take old genuine pump to an auto trans shop, and ask for a quote on how much to repair. Mine cost me $150. Add a couple of litres of power steering fluid, and total cost under $300.
New ZF pump could cost over $400. .. so doing the extra work can save you a small amount, and I figured that having to lose all fluid again and refill wasn't such a bad thing as it flushed any residual old stuff out again.

I did this twice on my Discos.
On the D2 v8, I had a parts car, so no need for the cheapo Chinesium purchase. Pulled the spares pump got it rebuilt, installed into the V8 .... and then proceeded to kill the V8 [biggrin]
On my Tdi, I went the cheapo Chinesium route. I think it lasted 40K klms and then did as you described .. basically loss of power assistance. I expected as much, and put off the rebuild of the leaky original pump as long as possible(ie. I totally forgot about it)
So when the Chinesium pump died, I wasn't ready for it, but the pump rebuild only took a day or two .. so no problemo. The other issue was that where the v8 pump cost only $150 rebuilt, the tdi pump cost near on $350!(I saw the issue too tho, the pump is harder to separate than the V8 one).

Dex III is fine.

ps. I'm pretty sure that the PS side of the reservoir will pump fluid around when you turn the stg wheel.. less so(or very little) when you're not turning the wheel.

pps. the TD5 and v8 pumps are different, so make sure you get the correct one for yours.

[Tikka7mm08]

Thanks for the comprehensive reply Arthur. Can get a Britpart landed for $320...could then refurb the factory one. Yes a V8. I tried wiggling the wheels but I'll lift the front and try again with the revs up. The pipe replacement is a bit scary! I think it manual said drain through steering box screw...Will have to check that...may be was for flushing.

[AK83]

I just replaced the stg box on the bros TD5, and undoing the pipes at the far end of the box got 99% of the fluid out. Of course a small amount will always remain in the box, but you aren't replacing the box, just the pump.

So lifted at the front, and then with pipes connected at the box and the far ends in a bucket to collect fluid, just turned the wheel lock to lock for a few mins which seemed to pump the majority of the fluid out it.
The messiest section was the reservoir to pump hose(when I did the v8's stg pump).

A less messy way to do it would be to siphon out the reservoir tho.

Will you do it alone? I had bro to do his stg box, so he turned the stg wheel till I noted that not much fluid coming out the pipes.

[Tikka7mm08]

Got the missus to help but the fee will be high.

So is the truck running when turning the steering wheel to activate the pump?

I've got a vacuum brake bleed and can use it to drain the reservoir first.

[AK83]

....

So is the truck running when turning the steering wheel to activate the pump?

...

don't need too.
You can't turn the wheels(by the road wheels) but with front wheels up, at the steering wheel, it's easy as.

yeah, if you can use any way to withdraw any fluid in the res first, it won't splash all over the place when you remove the res to pump hose.
I used a large storage container to capture as much of it before it hot the ground, but it goes all over the chassis/engine/pipes/hoses/etc.

I got a siphon pump thingy some time back to do similar jobs in the future, but with the bros TD5, it already had the burst trans hose problem, with trans fluid rust proofing the entire LHS of the vehicle anyhow... so another litre of trans fluid didn't matter.. I just got it all in the storage container not on the concrete.

One thing I wouldn't be keen on is running the engine trying to get steering fluid out. Even tho you would be replacing the pump anyhow, what you don't want it a dry pump self destructing itself potentially sending metal particles into the filter or box itself.

[Tikka7mm08]

Yep that is what I was thinking of if running dry.

I'll give it a flush and see if that improves it.