Urgent - Power steering leak and pump noise

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I would need urgent opinion from you! Please forgive my unprofessional terms and English, but it is my second language
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We were left with '85 Nissan Prairie of a friend. We used it a few times, it drove well, but then one day,a belt was hanging from the car. Took it off, it was a fully snapped belt. It didn't look overused, but it was fully torn, as it turned out later, even a 2-3 cm part missing from it. From about this time, the steering didn't work, since we reparked the car and did not use it anymore. We didn't dare, since we didn't know the belt was for the steering (its an intermediary belt, not the direct one going to the pump.) Then, my husband refilled the motor oil, and the cooling liquid (all way below mark) and by chance he poured quite a lot of cooling liquid in the reservoir of the steering fluid, which means that was also quite empty. I looked it up on net, so I decided to flush the steering system through, which I actually did within a few days. It worked out, had it flushed until liquid coming out was all clear. It stayed so until the belt arrived and the mechanic put it back on. Now, with the belt on, the steering didn't work, they turned the wheel a few times back and forth, now it works, but makes a really ugly sound (the pump) when in turning. I thought there would be air in the system. They opened the reservoir, filled more fluid in while motor was running and said that it's not air, because when you turn off the motor, the fluid level does not rise and sink. Now the fluid is pink milk shake, but not only when the motor is running, but also when it, I thought, should have settled and cleared out. Important, that the mechanic said the pump is over, and that the belt will snap again max within a month. And he thought it must have snapped at the beginning because the pump didn't work right. (But earlier, there was not such a big sound, or if there was, it must have been really shortly before the belt snapped) After arriving home, I saw that somewhere around the spot where the stick of the steering wheel arrives to the axe (I don't know the names, it is the horizontal thing below the steering wheel at the bottom of the car.) the fluid it leaking quite strongly when the motor (and now the pump) is on. This I haven't noticed when we were changing the fluid without the pump running. Additional info: owner says, the steering was leaking a bit before, because he constantly had to refill, which he evidently did not do so often though.

Questions:
Why is the fluid now milkshakey?
Did we ruin the system with the cooling liquid based on the following?
Is it sure that the pump has to be changed or can the pump make the noise because it still has air, or because it's constantly loosing fluid, or because belt is not put on right?
Can it be that the pump went wrong because the fluid level was constantly low, then because not working evenly or properly this broke the belt?

In general, I am trying to figure, if the pump really needs to be changed, which I would be happy to do, if yes, but I do not know if with the strong leak now, it is worth without fixing that. What could be the problem at the leak? Should I flush the system again? Irrespective of all this, it would also be good to know if the whole issue is all our fault (just for my conscience). What do you think?
Thanks in advance!
 
Originally Posted By: Meli

Questions:
Why is the fluid now milkshakey?
Did we ruin the system with the cooling liquid based on the following?
Is it sure that the pump has to be changed or can the pump make the noise because it still has air, or because it's constantly loosing fluid, or because belt is not put on right?
Can it be that the pump went wrong because the fluid level was constantly low, then because not working evenly or properly this broke the belt?

In general, I am trying to figure, if the pump really needs to be changed, which I would be happy to do, if yes, but I do not know if with the strong leak now, it is worth without fixing that. What could be the problem at the leak? Should I flush the system again? Irrespective of all this, it would also be good to know if the whole issue is all our fault (just for my conscience). What do you think?
Thanks in advance!


1) The fluid is still milkshaky because there is likely still coolant in the power steering system. You can try flushing again until it stops. I know you said it ran clear but there is still contamination.

2) Ruin - This is a high possibility yes.

3) The pump may still be noisy from the contamination but I suspect damage.

4) It also sounds like your steering rack has a leak. I suspect this is why your system was low on fluid in the first place.

I would replace the pump and the rack but that may exceed the value of the car depending on part prices in France. You will have to decide if it is worth it.

Bonne chance.
 
Thanks a lot! Even a new pump exceeds the value of the car, but I will check second hand. As to the 'steering rack':
Does anybody know by chance how a steering rack is called in French (being in France is difficult for non-French speakers
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?
And is it normal for a belt to tear fully? Why does it do that???
 
Maybe belt was old and hardened, and eventually gave up.

Steering rack would be "crémaillère de direction" in french, according to Google Translate.
 
I'd be surprised that the pump was ruined by the coolant. Perhaps damaged due to being ran low, but they are pretty resilient- it would have to be ran out of fluid for a fair bit or drastically overheated. If it doesn't look like the pump itself was leaking, then maybe take a look at the hoses and steering gear. Given the age, it could be either.

The contamination or air will make the noise- take the return line off of the reservoir and place the end in a separate container, then plug the fitting on the reservoir. Start the engine and let the pump push the fluid into the reservoir. Keep refilling as needed and cycle the steering wheel from lock to lock to move the bad fluid out.

As for why the belt broke to begin with... Were there cracks on the inside where it rides down inside the pulley?
 
Thanks a lot for all of you!
Yes, I will definitely do the flushing again to see if the noise is better. Actually, now that I got out the old belt,I see that at one point the inside of the belt has completely come off (meaning the groves and teeth together) from the outside on 20 cms, and probably that's what happened also to the part where it fully broken, although there is no outside part left even.
 
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