B16A2/EJ9 power steering issue

[terribleoness]

Hi guys,

Relatively urgent one this, got an MOT on Monday. I've been searching through the forum to find something that'll help me with this but I'm not having much luck.

Ive got an B16A2 engine in an EJ9, with an EJ9 steering rack still fitted. The whole power steering system has been pretty much bone dry whilst doing the conversion. Went to fill it up on first startup, got about 400ml of fluid in but its just sat in the reservoir and not bled through. Ive gone through the lock to lock bleeding process with the cap off, and it made no difference, the fluid sat at the same level and didn't bubble up at all. There doesn't seem to be any leaks and I'm guessing because the majority of the PAS is either hardlined or high pressure lines, its pretty difficult to link it all up incorrectly?

All the hose clamps are used items, as well as the hoses/lines. The O ring on the high pressure line where it bolts down onto the pump is good. The steering rack worked absolutely fine when the car was still D-Series. The pump has started to make a bit of a racket now but I'm reasonably certain that its just because it's ran dry of fluid. The majority of the running its done has been with belt off anyway so it hasn't been exposed to a great deal of operation.

Any input would be very much appreciated, as I'm quickly running out of time. I intend to disassemble the majority of the system this evening in attempt to find the issue.

Thanks

 

[King Sir]

This just happened to me it was down to the ps bottle being full of gunk take it off an clean it.

And if its not that its the power steering pump.

Had my head wrecked for ages lol .

 

[MotorMo]

This just happened to me it was down to the ps bottle being full of gunk take it off an clean it.

And if its not that its the power steering pump.

Had my head wrecked for ages lol .

I second that opinion- the fluid reservoir has a screen at the bottom of it, make sure it is clean, or replace it- as its difficult to clean out well.
You can also start the car for 2 seconds then turn it off and see if the fluid went down, got bubbly- some times the system can get air locked if bone dry. If you run the steering pump dry for too long you can damage it. But some times running the car and turning it off a few times does the trick. Once you get it bled you may want to do a 'flush' after a few days of driving to get out any left over gunk that was stuck in the system. With the car running, you should be able to see the fluid in the reservoir moving, letting you know that the pump is working. Good luck let us know.