spacemanspif

iTrader: (5)

Greetings all,

First and foremost.... MY CAR STARTED LAST WEEK!!! after a year of working on it we were finally able to turn it over and she ran.

Unfortunately after a little bit of idle time the power steering pump started to sound REALLY bad. The fluid smells burnt and to move the car around the driveway we found that turning the steering wheel left, turns the car right....Yes you read that rights, left is right.

Last time I checked there was only 1 way to connect power steering lines but the fact that turning the wheel left turns the car right leads me to think that the lines are on backward.

Can someone post up pics of their truck accessories in a G-body with how they ran the lines?

Just thinking about this now, but I changed out the "internals" of the PS pump. There is the nut on the back of the pump that you can take out and there is a spring and another part in there, I used parts off a G-body in the junk yard because I read that I needed to do this to make sure the pressures are right for the steering box. Does anyone know the right way to put these in? I used the same order as they came out of the truck pump but don't remember if they were situated in the same way in the G-body. Could this cause my problem?

Any other suggestions are welcome and appreciated.

TIA,

Mike

Elcolq4

I ran into the same problem, but i went the ps delete route. A local mechanic in my town said that it may be an issue that the pump was supplying a rack and pinion setup rather than the old style. Now, if you found a truck with the old style steering on it, then youll be in luck. You may be able to change out internals, but if you dont have a puller good luck lol i pulled mine off without a puller, bad things happen.

the_merv

iTrader: (88)

The LS1 Lines threaded into stock Steering Box on my MCSS..there is only one way they will go on, the threads are different for each..so I dont see how you could have them on backwards..that's just my thought on that tho.

spacemanspif

iTrader: (5)

Both my stock lines and ones that came with my engine were shot so I swapped out the fitting on the back of the truck pump with one off a G-body pump so that I knew the stock Monte lines would at least properly thread into both the box and pump. Took some doing but got the lines in eventually. I thought the same thing, Merv, but if the car is turning opposite the steering wheel I can't think of anything other than backwards lines that might cause such a problem.

I have a manual box on the way as a backup plan lol

Anyone else ever run into these problems and find a way to fix it that involved keeping the power steering??

the_merv

iTrader: (88)

I've never taken a box apart..so my question is that is it possible for one to go opposite..?

Rikoshay

Ok, I understand what you are saying but it doesn't seem to make sense. I believe you, but in my mind I can't see how this would occur.

If you are in the car without the engine running, does the steering go left/right correctly with the steering wheel?

It's all basically mechanical with hydraulic fluid "assisting" the movement of the mechanical parts.

the_merv

iTrader: (88)

^^^Same thing I was thinking. You have the Pitman Arm on backwards?

Rikoshay

The company I work for recently bought up another company that does PS pumps, racks etc. I sent this to their techline guys and should get an answer tomorrow.

These guys can shed some light on it.

the_merv

iTrader: (88)

I bet this is the answer...

You got the internals of a Pump to where the Pitman Arm is mounted in the opposite direction of the one that you have..that's what I meant by you have it on backwards..

Basically if it was supposed to point forwards, you got the internals out of one that faces toward the rear.

G-Body

iTrader: (4)

The "internals" of the power steering pump are the same no matter what way the pitman arm bolts on. The pump couldn`t care less about the steering box, its just a hydraulic pump that supplies pressure. The spring and valve in it has nothing to do with direction only maximum pressure.

the_merv

iTrader: (88)

K so then he has the wrong box..lol..

G-Body

iTrader: (4)

I think he kept the same box that was in the car and just did a LS1 swap.

G-Body

iTrader: (4)

Might be a dumb question, but if you shut the car off and turn the steering wheel does the box move the wheels in the correct direction?

PlatnumStatuz

iTrader: (6)

If they are backwards the pump will make noise. On my box it made the steering wheel whip left till it slammed onto the lock as soon as started

the_merv

iTrader: (88)

If they are backwards the back wheels would turn..

spacemanspif

iTrader: (5)

Thanks for all of the replies guys. G-Body is correct, I have the factory Monte SS steering box connected to a 2004 Tahoe pump with the internal pressure thing swapped out. The pump is making one hell of a noise with the engine running. I want to make sure I have everything right on the outside before I blow money on a new power steering pump that I might not actually need.

When the engine is off and we are just pushing the car around the wheels turn properly (just like they have for the past year with no power steering pump hooked to it) it's only when the engine is running that it goes backwards.

74novacustom

Id say Sell the car its possessed.

G-Body

iTrader: (4)

I attached a couple pics. The first 2 are of my stock 85 monte SS power steering routing.

The 3rd is the best shot I could get of my LSx el camino with the truck power steering pump (With G-Body pressure valve swapped in the back) connected to the G-Body box.

spacemanspif

iTrader: (5)

Thanks for the pics G-body. Unfortunately I did not have a chance to work on the car this weekend so I was not able to compare what I have. Will have to wait until next weekend and by then I will have a manual box in case it stumps us for good.

LS1MCSS

iTrader: (18)

Why swap out the pressure valve?