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The 'right' way to bleed your power steering.

drewcnit

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So I'm adding an Apex Power Steering Booster and Cooler this weekend, got most of the install finished up, pretty straight forward.
I'm looking forward to finishing it up in the morning, gotta finish mounting the cooler and running the low pressure line back to the pump.
Anyways, as I'm looking at filling/bleeding the power steering after it's fully reconnected, I'm coming across conflicting information on the right/proper way to do so...

So what say you all ?
Do you wheels on the ground? Or wheels in the air?
Engine on? Or Engine off?
Turn the wheel only part of the way driver and passenger? Or lock to lock?
Bonus points for best guesses on how many turns of the wheel, I'm seeing 20-30 should do it, but have seen as high as 60...

Thanks!
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Rusty PW

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Everytime I've worked on PS systems. I done it with the tires off the ground. Makes it easier to turn the steering wheel. Engine off. Full turns left to right. Takes between 20 to 30 turns. Have to keep an eye on the reservoir. When it quits dropping. You are about done.
 

NCJL

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Running, in the air, 2 people (1 to turn, 1 to fill), super slow, lock to lock, 12 turns.
Thatā€™s what I remember with mine. I added a ram too.
Been told ā€œrun the pump dry equals a trip to the dealerā€.
 

ShadowsPapa

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These are electric so may be different, but I have always done it engine on otherwise air can actually be trapped in the pump itself. Wheels in the air to make it easier.
I replaced hoses, pump and reservoir on my last three cars with engine running to operate the pump and would pause periodically to refill the reservoir.
Full turns but don't hold it at the end - hit the stop and reverse direction.
I've never had it take more than a dozen times back and forth - but then each system is a bit different.
Dean's description more closely matches how I've always done it over the decades.
 

Charles 236

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During dealer prep on Gladiators and Wranglers, one of the requirements is to turn the steering wheel lock to lock 25 times (I usually do 30, just in case I miscount one or two cycles.) This is probably to finish bleeding the air from the power steering, and I always do it with the engine running, and check and top off fluid as needed. I also do it with the wheels on the floor, so that the pump and steering box are loaded.
 

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ShadowsPapa

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During dealer prep on Gladiators and Wranglers, one of the requirements is to turn the steering wheel lock to lock 25 times (I usually do 30, just in case I miscount one or two cycles.) This is probably to finish bleeding the air from the power steering, and I always do it with the engine running, and check and top off fluid as needed. I also do it with the wheels on the floor, so that the pump and steering box are loaded.
Well, these are different than the belt-driven systems I'm used to (and why I added "may be different".
I noted that after my 2020 had the steering gear replaced (the second time), after a day or so it was very low on fluid - not really visible in the reservoir. Bet they didn't spend a lot of time bleeding after the thing was opened up like that.
 

Charles 236

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Well, these are different than the belt-driven systems I'm used to (and why I added "may be different".
I noted that after my 2020 had the steering gear replaced (the second time), after a day or so it was very low on fluid - not really visible in the reservoir. Bet they didn't spend a lot of time bleeding after the thing was opened up like that.
They are similar, just using an electric pump instead of a belt driven pump. If you look at the passenger side of the timing cover you will see a small idler pulley. This takes the place of the belt driven pump. It probably would be possible to retrofit a conventional belt driven pump if someone really wanted to, since the steering box is a conventional power recirculating ball unit, but it would cut into the efficiency since it would always be driven.

As for the bleeding with 25 lock to lock cycles, I may be the only one at the dealership that actually takes the effort to do it. The power steering is pre-bled at the factory, but they sit a good bit between storage lots and shipping and so should be cycled at prep.
 

Maximus Gladius

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Iā€™m that guy that cycled it 60 times for my 3 pumps. Found all of them were 1/2 litre shy. All I know is that when the first two quit on me (factory and the replacement), 3rd one hasnā€™t quit yet and itā€™s almost one year old, my original thought was to see if there was air in the system and sure enough, there was after cycling 30 plus times. No way of knowing how many times the steering was cycled at the dealership or factory.

I had wheels up, engine off and passenger side slightly elevated higher than drivers side to help guide the air toward the bottle and out. Could hear the air squishing around after a few lock to lock turns. I stopped doing that once it was quiet and the level in the bottle stopped moving up and down.

The reason I do it with engine off is because Iā€™ve had my steering done by previous dealership (Tacoma) only to find the mess of steering fluid all under the hood and engine from some forced fart (rack and pinion replacement) that exploded out the bottle so Iā€™m nervous to run the engine. I like more control so I want to see the lowering and rise of the oil and I want to hear the air moving around.
 
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ShadowsPapa

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They are similar, just using an electric pump instead of a belt driven pump. If you look at the passenger side of the timing cover you will see a small idler pulley. This takes the place of the belt driven pump. It probably would be possible to retrofit a conventional belt driven pump if someone really wanted to, since the steering box is a conventional power recirculating ball unit, but it would cut into the efficiency since it would always be driven.

As for the bleeding with 25 lock to lock cycles, I may be the only one at the dealership that actually takes the effort to do it. The power steering is pre-bled at the factory, but they sit a good bit between storage lots and shipping and so should be cycled at prep.
I told my sales guy both times I bought my Gladiators to "take it and drive it around, put some miles on it, I don't care how many. Make SURE it's ok."
The first one I got with 25 miles on it, I can't recall how many were on the 2022 but it was obvious it wasn't just pulled off the truck and handed over to me.
But in both cases - not all of the protection was removed from trim. Both trucks still had the plastic over the dome light in the bar.
I did add some PS fluid to the 2022 but that was weeks after delivery as it was fine for quite a while. I guess that shows - you can't ever do these enough times.
Once things have settled and I've driven a new vehicle a while, I take a Sharpie and put a dot where the level of the fluids is at that time so I know - not just comparing to max and min marks, but what's normal for this truck at this time.
Sadly, can't do that for the coolant tank on the 4xe - it's black and has a stupid dipstick. I hate that. You can't just look at the reservoir like I've done for years.
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