Hope this is the right sub-forum...

Just need confirmation on this, and I know how lame this might sound, but I'm no mechanic (thus why I visit here frequently!)

RE: '00 F150 Lariat 4x4

What's the name of the unit that the steering shaft is attached which also connects to the cross-link of the suspension on the bottom? THAT is the steering box, correct? It's mounted with three bolt through the left frame. The Power Steering Pump would be the belt driven device in the belt path?

I have fluid leaking from the top of what I'm calling the steering box. Are there any special consideration for removal and replacement of this?

Thanks.

 

well im not really sure wat your asking but ive never seen a p/s box go bad in your body style truck, and i dont think they make a rebuild kit from ford for it, i would check your p/s lines that go into the box i bet the seals or washers on the line went bad. just double check the lines going to the box!

 

Hehe... us non-mechanic types I guess deserve that. LOL


What I was trying to figure out was what the unit was called. At first I had thought my P/S pump had gone bad: increased steering effort, shuddering...and whining. The whining is something we've been experiencing for a while, but it wasn't easy to pinpoint...you know how sound travels through a vehicle and it would come and go.

So, when I crawled under the truck, expecting to see fluid coming from the pump I realized that the pump and what I now know as the steering box were separate units...and if I was needing to replace something I needed to know what I was talking about.

So that's interesting what you say about the steering box though... that then don't (usually) fail. The hoses do look tired, as they would on a 10 year old truck with 260,000 km on it.

I like your thinking...go for the expendable items first...the hoses. I have some time tomorrow to crawl around under there, I'll see what I can find.

It would be nice if it was just a couple hoses, but I can imagine they're going to be pretty seized and a b _ _ _ _ to get at.

Thanks

 

lol ok now this comment that u mentioned "At first I had thought my P/S pump had gone bad: increased steering effort, shuddering...and whining." does sound like a p/s pump going bad or low on fluid lol. U may have 2 seperate problems here. p/s pump and leaking p/s box. but i would check those lines on the p/s box im pretty sure there is a white teflon type sealing washer on them that goes bad (fence the leak) let us know what u find and maybe we can fix it!

 

Oh she's low on fluid all right. On the up side, I doubt I'll have any mice in the garage. Will see what I can see tomorrow...

 

Got out to the garage today and discovered it's not the steering box that's leaking. Turns out that it's one of the hoses from the reservoir. It actually looks like I could take a piece of longer rubber hose, cut off the rusted metal piece and re-clamp it.

The hose that's leaking is the hose that connects to the back of the reservoir (closest to the firewall)... is that a high or low pressure line?

 

ah yes as i suspected a leaky hose, i would imagine thats the low side or the return line but not 100% sure, idk if replacing it with "another longer piece of hose" and reclamping it would work, only because of the pressure in the hose mite make it swell up and leak again! probably best to replace it with ford oem part i cant see it being that expensive

 

I hear ya about the hose swelling under pressure, but looking at how it's (the rubber piece) fastened to the metal piece, what I can make out through the rust isn't much more than one of those Famous Ford hose clamps, so I can't see the pressure being that high. The reservoir end is only fastened with another one of the clamps too.

If it gets me to the point of being able to drive it to my usual service guy, then I call that a win - at least for me. Removing the other end of the hose - the metal end that attaches to the steering box seems much too involved, considering all the disassembly it appears I'd have to do to get at the bolt.

OH, and it's ATF in the Power Steering system, correct?