POWER STEERING / POWER BREAK LOSS help me

[diggla]

Driving a '02 7.3L f-350 ......Well i was driving to work the other day, about 2 hours into the drive I slowed down to take a off ramp and wow did i almost cause a sceen. I instantly had (Zero power steering) talk about a heavy truck to turn manually, also i totally (lost all of my power breaks), lucky it is a 6 speed so i could get it slowed down without having to put all of my stregnth into pressing the breaks , got to a stop and checked under the hood i found something had blown fluid on the drivers side by the firewall, could not find source, P/S and break fluid is showing full. I was in the middle of nowhere so i had no choice but to continue on, I found when the engine is in high rpm's i regain a little P/S and break power.. is this my P/S pump or hydro boost or something more serious.,., im pretty green to ford so any help will be appreciated>>>

 

[diggla]

HELP pop under hood lost power steering and power breaks. works at high rpms

2002 f-350 7.3L PSTD 6 spd While driving down the highway i heard a single 'pop' sound come from the engine compartment.. didnt think anything of it// when i went to slow down i had no power steering and my breaks were almost useless, i put all of my stregnth onto them to get the thing stopped .. luckily i had a 6 spd... when the rpm's are high it gives me a little power steering and a little breaking , is this my powersteering pump ,hydro boost or anything else . can you give me info on the how the power steering and breaking system works??????/

 

[jharvey]

Vacuum pump more than likely.



On second thought do the '02 have the hydroboost system?? May want to look at that.

 

[bartman]

I would check for broken/burst power steering hoses. Could also be the pump/pulley.

 

[bartman]

P/S hose could be your source.

 

[roosterdiesel]

I would suspect the hydroboost. But it doesn't make sense that the fluid levels are fine.

My hydroboost started leaking back at 75k miles and was replaced. But I never lost PS or brake assist.

 

[FastColts]

I recall when the vacuum pump was going out on my '97 PSD that I had virtually no brakes at idle and had to rev the motor (6 speed) to get enough vacuum for the brakes to work. New vacuum pump solved the problem. I know it is a different setup from the later model vacuum pump but the same principle. Pop? I'd look for fluid under the hood, broken hoses first.

 

[JLDickmon]

probably burst a hose..

 

[diggla]

dont know how but it works again

Well i drove around for about 3 days without power steering or power breaks. when i went out to the truck this morning it all magically worked again. There were no signes of fluid leaking no hoses cracked . I suspect the fluid that was sprayed everyewhere came from the power steering fluid cap,it seems a little loose. Any idea what could have caused this and if its going to happen again? My best guess was a air lock caused by over pressuring the p/s pump and releasing fluid out of the cap which in turn let air in ? weird problem to happen , never seen it myself. hope its fine...
oh and now the pump seems to have a little louder whine than before.



2002 f350 7.3 powerstroke turbo diesel.

 

[diggla]

mystery fixed itself

Well i went out to drive this morning and my steering and breaks worked fine. there was fluid sprayed under the hood between the air box and the firewall,which the only place i can see it could have come from is the cap on the power steering it still seems a bit loose,is there supposed to be a rubber seal with that cap? Not sure if the booster has a overpressure bleed valve or not?, My assumption is that i over pressured the system and it released that pressure inturn letting in some air and getting a lock... any ideas of what happend and how to prevent or fix it?


2002 f350 XL superduty 7.3L powerstroke turbo diesel.< stock , extended cab, long box 4x4manual lock.