I have a 2001 Dodge Dakota QC 4x4 sport with a 3.9 v-6 112,000 miles. I bought the truck for my daughter to learn to drive with. She was pulling into the driveway (too sharp, right turn wheel turned as far as it could) and the driveway has a pretty decent incline to it. As she tried to straighten out into the driveway (and continue up hill) the truck lost all power steering. There are NO leaks, NO Noise, the fluid level is full and the belt and pulley are tight and turning fine and there are NO dash lights on. A mechanic friend is saying it sounds like it blew out the check valve in the steering rack so there is no pressure regulation. He said the only thing to do is replace the rack. I bought a reman from Autozone for $168 - 15% online discount = $143 and picked it up in store (also bought new outer tie rod ends). Before I put it in, could it be anything else? I would hate to spend a couple hundred bucks and a full day putting in a rack if it doesn't need it!

Also, what fluid should I use in this system? I saw somewhere ATF4 and NOT power steering fluid?

 

It may just be stuck don’t know why but try turning the wheels back and forth a number of times do this with the front jacked up so the wheels are off the ground and you can turn the steering wheel easy.

This may break it lose worth a try anyway be sure you do have pressure in the system that I don’t know how you test.

As I say the steering valve may be stuck by some dirt in the system.