Question : Power Steering Leak from Hell

[Keebler]

I pickup up this 1992 Grand Prix LE for several hundred dollars. One of the reasons it was so cheap is because there's no power steering. I found the resevoir empty and filled it and as soon as I started the engine it peed all over the serpentine belt and made it rain power steering fluid!

After screwing around with it for a while I find that it's the fitting where the high pressure hose leaves the pump. When I first took it apart it didn't seem to have a o-ring on it and it seemed like an easy fix.

Well...
After trying TEN different o-rings from a variety pack at the auto parts store I find that NOTHING will keep this sucker from spitting out the fluid right there at the connector. I've tried big o-rings, little o-rings, fat o-rings and skinny o-rings and NOTHING makes the leak stop. I even bought two o-rings that match the ones in a replacement power steering pump box at the auto parts store so I'm pretty darned sure they're the right size and everything.

What the heck is going on here?

Is there any chance that the pump is messed up in a way that makes it create a zillion PSI so that nothing will hold the pressure?

It's not the variable pressure type of pump because it doesn't have any electrical connections.

I've looked carefully at the end of the hose and the fitting hole for any nicks, dents or scratches and everything looks perfectly fine.

[pocket-rocket]

Maybe there is a crack in the pump housing by the hose fitting. Man, I'm sorry but the comment of "as I started the engine it peed all over the serpentine belt and made it rain power steering fluid!" made me lol. Not at your situation of course, but your choice of words was really good.

[Keebler]

Well, I've looked everything over carefully and I can't find any good reason why this connection should be so willing to leak. The fluid streams out and drools right down along the high pressure hose. It's not from the pump or the housing or anywhere else.

I've decided that the only reasonable explanation is that the pump itself is broken in a way that prevents it from regulating the pressure to any reasonable level and the whimpy little o-ring seal is the first to give up from high pressure.

I ordered a used pump from a salvage yard and I should have it installed by the end of the week. I'll report back my findings for everyone else's benefit.

[Keebler]

The latest is that I replaced the power steering pump with one from a salvage yard and the leak is still exactly the same. The whole problem confuses the heck out of me.

The next step, I suppose, is to replace the power steering hose itself and that's going to be a huge pain in the butt.