Power steering and other stuff....

Decided to set the camber and toe today, as it was nice and sunny.  Pushing the car back and too on the drive manoeuvring the car round to get it in position, I heard a weird squelching noise looked up to see power steering fluid pissing out under the reservoir pot cap! Never had an issue with the level before always bang on the mark.  Would it possibly be caused by not having the engine running but turning the steering manually?

The only way I could get the fluid back down was actually starting the car, which I’m trying not to do until it’s ready to go in the road.  Starting it up i was able to check fuel pressure at long last



That was at cold idle around 1500 rpm

I replaced the oil last week because of possible fuel contamination  with what bob recommended mineral 15/40 for running in.  Noticed the oil pressure is now high



I’m assuming it’s high as using a thicker oil?  The millers running in oil showed normal pressure.

You NEED to check fuel pressure with a hot engine as when its cold the cold start valves etc are open and give a duff fuel pressure reading due to the change in engine vacuum.
I could be wrong but your cold engines vacuum reading looks quite low...you sure you dont have a pipe off somewhere?
As for the steering fluid, ive never had any issue like that with the engine off!?
The oil pressure does look on the high side but i wouldn't worry about that until you get some miles on it. Its definitely better than having low oil pressure anyway!

Cheers mike, low pressure not good

Going for mot in a few weeks, so will see how she runs then, if I’m honest I can’t fookin wait not drivin her in 7 years

Im sure itll be a blast mate!
Re-reading your post again i noticed your running it on 15/40 oil, which would definitely explain the high oil pressure so nothing to worry about there i reckon.
I run 10/50 millers in mine and usually get just over 5 bar cold oil pressure...

Looking half decent now

Thats good and as Mike says absolutely noth8ng to worry about. Oil pressure is reading higher due to oil cold viscosity bbeing 15 as opposed to 5 or 10 like most synthetic oils nowadays.
Also as Mike said you need to check through all your vacuum system for leaks as that reading is very low even at cold on fast idle

mike74 wrote:You NEED to check fuel pressure with a hot engine as when its cold the cold start valves etc are open and give a duff fuel pressure reading due to the change in engine vacuum.

Fuel pressure adjustment on a return type fuel system is always done with the vacuum line disconnected so engine rpm and vacuum has zero influence. Temp only effects readings if you have a cheap ass fuel gauge. Your injector dead times and flow is always based on differential fuel pressure not fuel rail pressure.

If your setup is done right differential fuel pressure will be within a psi or 2 throughout the rev range.

I thought my pressure would be fine? In the manual it says 36psi at idle, mines 39psi at a raised idle..  will check it again in a few weeks when on road.

Yes, power steering fluid will burp out of the reservoir when turning the wheels back and forth with the engine off, and it also introduces air into the system because the pump isn't moving fluid.  Fords are notorious for this.  When I do brake jobs on Ford Explorers, I have to start the engine to turn the wheels left to right for caliper removal, or air gets in the system and it's so hard to remove it that sometimes it takes a vacuum pump in place of the reservoir cap to remove it.

But yes, when you turn your wheels back and forth without it running, all that fluid has nowhere to go but out the cap.  Some cars do it, some don't, just depends on if the level in the res is close to the top (in some cars there's enough dead space at the top to absorb the increase in level)

I've checked fuel pressure on mine when at fast idle (cold) and then when hot and they've always been different!?

Ryaneg6freak wrote:Yes, power steering fluid will burp out of the reservoir when turning the wheels back and forth with the engine off, and it also introduces air into the system because the pump isn't moving fluid.  Fords are notorious for this.  When I do brake jobs on Ford Explorers, I have to start the engine to turn the wheels left to right for caliper removal, or air gets in the system and it's so hard to remove it that sometimes it takes a vacuum pump in place of the reservoir cap to remove it.

But yes, when you turn your wheels back and forth without it running, all that fluid has nowhere to go but out the cap.  Some cars do it, some don't, just depends on if the level in the res is close to the top (in some cars there's enough dead space at the top to absorb the increase in level)

Cheers Mate, makes sense, never had an issue when turning it before but turned it a fair few times yesterday adjusting the track rods.

Got it all set to within factory spec, be interesting to see how far out it is when I get it 4 wheel aligned next month. Bought one of these last year:

http://www.trackace.co.uk

Can’t wait to see how out it is considering the whole car was fully stripped down, the wheel alignment looks bang on, the laser is telling me it’s within the spec. We shall see though! Depends if the back is out to the front I guess, end up crabbing like an old mini

'OI, leave old mini's out of this thank you very much! Its not their fault they crab straight out of the factory :p

I'm interested to see how well that tracking gear does too. I for one am sick n tired of being bent over every time the alignment needs checked on any of my cars

got to love the build quality

mike74 wrote:'OI, leave old mini's out of this thank you very much! Its not their fault they crab straight out of the factory  :p

I'm interested to see how well that tracking gear does too. I for one am sick n tired of being bent over every time the alignment needs checked on any of my cars

Will say this for some shops in Australia (Sydney at least).  
I rotate my wheels every 10k kms, take the R too the shop, 4wheel Laser alignment and wheel balance $AU55.oo (GBP30.oo).
Can't complain about that, R drives true as a die.