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Power steering was weird for a while

Discussion in 'General Tundra Discussion' started by Spvrtan, Mar 4, 2018.

  1. Mar 4, 2018 at 9:21 PM
    #1
    Spvrtan

    Spvrtan [OP] Amateur fabricator

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    Kris
    San Diego, CA
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    Black '14 CM SR5 w/ SC; 40s on 17s; 5.29s
    So I had something funky happen with my power steering over the weekend while at TDS. I suddenly lost all power steering.

    I was trying out the "waterfall" obstacle. I gave up after a few tries and parked my rig (steering was fine). When we were rolling out of the area I noticed my power steering was done.. no leaks, no crimped hoses, no weird sounds, and nothing loose. We babied the truck to the gas station and parked in the back to look things over more. Still nothing visible. All I tried was spraying some Tri-Flow on the steering column's U-joint but that didn't seem to fix it either. After wasting too much daylight (because we had other things we wanted to hit), I decided to just deal with it and muscle the steering around. We were heading toward Salvation Mountain and Slab City next so we hopped on the highway. After about 10-15 miles of being on the highway, we exited and suddenly the power steering was back.

    I highly doubt lubing the U-joint would've been the easy solution to this. Anyone have any guesses? I don't think the power steering fluid filter was clogged because the reservoir wasn't overflowing. Would the power steering liquid being too hot cause this? It wasn't even a hot day nor were we even on the trails that long when the power steering went out.

    Another guess based on feedback from others is the pump is going out.
     
  2. Mar 4, 2018 at 9:35 PM
    #2
    the_midwesterner

    the_midwesterner New Member

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    None, yet....
    It's totally possible to overheat fluid to its boiling point and have it cavitate. This is why all the jeeps you see rolling around have added ram assist with a higher volume pump with anything over 37" tires. You could also be running into physical rack issues due to the higher stress you are putting on the factory rack.
     
    TheBeast likes this.
  3. Mar 4, 2018 at 10:23 PM
    #3
    Spvrtan

    Spvrtan [OP] Amateur fabricator

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    Kris
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    Hm.. would fresh fluid that's not "broken in" yet lead to it cavitating, too? I just did my routine power steering drain/fill (every 5k) 3 days before heading out to the desert and the truck barely saw any use (since I work from home) in those 3 days. Yea, I figure it was also about time my 40s broke something. I've been on them for almost 20k miles now. I couldn't find anything in regard to an aftermarket pump for our trucks but it wouldn't be hard to upgrade to a larger capacity (aluminum and finned) reservoir.
     
  4. Mar 4, 2018 at 10:31 PM
    #4
    the_midwesterner

    the_midwesterner New Member

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    None, yet....
    What was your process for drain and fill? Seems like a higher possibility of an air pocket being trapped since you mentioned that, which eventually worked itself out. New fluid or old fluid, it doesn't matter the age, but any fluid has its boiling point or cavitation point.
     
    Lindenwood likes this.
  5. Mar 4, 2018 at 10:33 PM
    #5
    Spvrtan

    Spvrtan [OP] Amateur fabricator

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    Kris
    San Diego, CA
    Vehicle:
    Black '14 CM SR5 w/ SC; 40s on 17s; 5.29s
    I use one of those large turkey basters and suck out whatever's in the reservoir, pour fresh fluid in, cycle the steering rack a few times, and repeat until I'm out of fresh fluid.
     

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