woodturner

I have a 2002 Frontier 4cyl. A couple of months ago I replaced the power steering pump. It was definitely bad.

Since then, the power steering works great when I first start the pickup. After things warm up, the power steering does not work at all when you are sitting still. It does, if you are moving.

I do not have any leaks
I have checked the fluid levels
I have bled the system several times
I have flushed (turkey baste) and replaced the fluid with some DEXRON III.

I am not sure where to go from here. If it was the gearbox, wouldn't it not work at all warm or cold?

Suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

smj999smj

It sounds like another bad pump; was the replacement a new or used Nissan pump or an aftermarket reman? Was the P/S system properly flushed when the pump was replaced or a filter installed? The best way, if not the only proper way, to test the pump would be to use a power steering pressure gauge to check the pressure output of the pump and compare it to the FSM specs.

Outkast

Bad pump or the previous bad pump ran the gear box dry and it's allowing pressure to bleed of internally

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Nissan Senior Tech, Mtn View Nissan Chattanooga, TN

*If I don't respond right away it's because the volume on this board has gone WAY down so I only check it once or twice a week*

woodturner

Outkast

You response helps a log. I do have one question. If it is a dry gear box, do I have to replace it or is there a fix for a dry gear box?

Thank you

Outkast

You can rebuild them, that is a really old school style of worm gear. But if you order Nissan you will only get the whole thing. BAsicly you can tak it off and tak it to a rebuilder or find on that'll do the whole job.

__________________
Nissan Senior Tech, Mtn View Nissan Chattanooga, TN

*If I don't respond right away it's because the volume on this board has gone WAY down so I only check it once or twice a week*

woodturner

Outkast
I appreciate all of your help. After reading what you had said, I made an economic decision as to how I would solve this.
According to what you said one of the causes could be the power steering pump even though it was new. I called the parts place and told them it was bad. They replaced it for free and I did a swap.
The steering started working immediately and continues to work after things have warmed up. I didn't even have to bleed it.

I had a bad pump out of the box when I replaced it last June.

I guess this is what happens when a novice does the job. I had no problem with the mechanical part. It was the symptoms that gave me a bad time.

smj999smj

I think it's just more of an issue of poor quality aftermarket parts. That said, the high cost of most genuine Nissan P/S pumps are so high that it makes them impractical to purchase compared to the much lower cost of aftermarket units.

FriendlyNismoTech

I'm afraid he's right, and it's not just the dealer's unfortunately. To put things into perspective... the 2010 Sentra with it's low end Nav system. I've had to replace a few under warranty. We charge warranty almost $3,000 for the unit itself, Customer cost is around $3,600. I had a rep from Panasonic helping me with a beta software build to remedy and issue, and asked him the unit's actual cost. $695 from Panasonic to Nissan, from Nissan to Dealer it goes to $3,000. Someone explain that logic.

My cost for a worm gear for this truck mentioned here is $900. Last one I did, I sent the customer to a parts house to buy his own Gear and Pump. The gentleman Did $2,800 worth of labor and provided his own parts. He really loved that old truck.