As of right now my truck is parked in the driveway again without any power steering. this will have been the 5 pump put into the truck in the last 1.5 years. I have a 2006 Dodge ram mega cab 1500 w/the 5.7L. I have also replaced the gear box as well. This last pump started surging in turns, and then went completely out. So far I have used both Car quest and Napa replacement pumps and niether worked any better. I am getting about 3 months out of a pump.

Why is this? Am I just having really bad luck? Any thoughts on why this is happening? Please help before i become a former dodge owner...

I am just not sure what is wrong....

 

Perhaps there is trash in the system. Perhaps an inline filter in the return line will help.

 

Not a common problem at all, so I'd say there is another issue taking these pumps out. I had a Nissan Sentra Wagon, company car for about 5 years in the late '90s ate water pumps.
The thing got beat to death, went upwards of 10k miles between oil changes and I put like 230,000 miles on it (it had like 90k on it when I got it!). Towards the end, it used about as much oil as it did gas but it kept on going. I couldn't get 15k out of a lousy water pump though. Never did figure out what killed them...

 

when we replaced the pump and gear box this spring we flushed the system pretty well, but i guess it could be messy still. I just do not under stand what else it could be.

what type of inline filter could I use?

Also what is Hydroboost and how can I tell if my truck has it? I am just tired of dumping money into it.

 

You are using ATF4 in the PS pump and not PS fluid right? All gas engines have a vacuum booster. Diesel engines have hydroboost units. Here are some pics. First pic is a vac boost and the second is a hydro

 

thanks for replies. I am using ATF 4 and thanks for the hydroboost info. I just can't figure out why it is such a pain. Also why there is such confusion on getting parts for the truck? I am wondering if I am just having bad luck or what, but it is getting old

 

I would hope just bad luck. Maybe you can find a used OEM at a salvage yard or a truck getting parted out

 

I just bought an '06 1500 Mega Cab in June. It is in the shop for the 3rd time in a week, for a new power steering pump. Mine is lasting about 1 day before it breaks again.