hey guys, went to tow our a fellow 6.5er today with the big snow storm we got here in saskatchewan, after towing him out i heard something unusual, then lost power steering. still have fluid in the resevoir. i put the truck in the garage for a few hours to let it thaw out, no drips on the floor or nothing. after the incident with the power steering, my brakes quit too. what are some things i can check? i have a 10 hour drive ahead of my christmas day and i need the old girl back up and running. and help would be greatly appreciated!

Sounds like your power steering pump could've commited suicide on you. The power steering pump gives you power steering and power brakes due to the hydro-boost unit instead of the vacuum assist brakes like you'd find on a gasser.

ok. is there any chance it could just be frozen?

I wouldn't think it freezing is possible. just for giggles, did you look for the serpentine belt? If that's rotating while the motor is running, then the clues point to a bad pump.

ok. is there any chance it could just be frozen?

Maybe. Try flushing your power steering system at all?

Find the return lien from the hydro-boost. Put the return line into a drain bucket. Start the truck and pump the pedal. have a 2nd person adding fresh fluid while your draining the old fluid via the pedal pumps.

This worked on a friend 01 Dmax with the hydro-boost. I'd imagine it would work the same on our trucks.

how hard is it to change the power steering pump?

Changing out the pump isn't too hard, you will need to rent a pully puller from the parts store though, most pumps will not come with the bracket as part of the assembly so the pulley will need to be removed, pump taken off bracket and then the new pump installed in opposite order.

unless you have water in the system, it shouldn't freeze.

hmmm... well my dad keeps on saying its just cold and frozen, it was in a field for about 45 mins bombing through the snow to get to the stuck person. i put it in the shop at work over night so i guess we'll see how it is in the morning.

whats the temperature there?

temps are at about -20 celcius right now

I've had the truck bombing in that temp before and no problems....

-40Celsius is the average pour point of power steering fluid...if it's FREEZING at -20celsius, your fluid is shot or water logged.

do a fluid change, and put a full synthetic in(lower pour point) and see if that works....if it doesn't, you likely need a pump

I just picked up a new pump. Going to change it this afternoon. Wish me luck

coincidentally this happened to me today....
i was sitting in park reading something after just leaving a store ... the truck was running it was snowing outside (about 29 degrees F) .
then i hear this cluck/crash/jerk...
i thought at first maybe someone hit me while they were parking... but nope... so i put it in reverse and realize I dont have much braking power and no power steering... I have had cars with no power steering before... but jesus on this heavy truck it is a workout...


anyway...

DOES ANYONE KNOW THE PART NUMBER for this power steering pump?

i just finished changing mine, took about 4 hours, but had to stop for some christmas turkey! all in all, it went pretty good. i found instructions online for to do it, followed it, and it worked perfect. the only thing i would do next time is.... on the back of the pump is a angled support that holds it to the block. i would undo the plate from the block. do not undo the pump from the plate until out of the truck. makes for a much easier time!

if anyone is interested . the cheapest I found was at oreilly's

$49.99 with a limited lifetime warranty. (this was without the resevoir)
then you get $7 back with the core exchange.