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Hydro Assist Problems

2K views 28 replies 13 participants last post by  TheLakeRat 
#1 · (Edited)
I've searched and can't find my answer so maybe some of you can help me. I have an AGR Rock Ram setup. I put it on right after Christmas. The problem is it has a hard time turning left sometimes. It can be scarey on the road. I've bled the system several times just in case that was the problem. At idle it's also sometimes hard to turn the steering wheel. I've talked to AGR and they say it's probably the pump. I'm not convinced of that. It does work sometimes and seems to get worse as it gets hotter. They thought I may need to spin it a little faster but that didn't make sense to me because sometimes it worked at idle. I disconnected the ram from my steering linkage yesterday and it doesn't move when I turn the wheels. I would think it should. I had better steering when I just ran my stock box and pump. Can anyone tell me what I may be doing wrong?
My setup is a Jeep with a 5.0 HO. I am running a saginaw style pump. The pulley is the same diameter as the stock Jeep pulley (saginaw pump also). Thanks for the help!
 
#2 ·
Sounds like a bad pump to me too. Do you run a cooler? H8monday told me how to hook mine up. highly recommended a large cooler in the line. Get as much fluid in there as possible.
 
#4 ·
If the ram was disconnected you should be able to turn the wheels if it's in the air.Check to see if both the outer axle ujoints are ok.I have seen them seize up and not allow the wheel to turn.When you drive down the road the axles may slightly rotate and then when you go to turn they are at the bind point.I worked on one rig it would do it and as it got close to the area of the bind you would have to pull on the steering.Suddenly it would snap over the bind point and do a lane change.Not very fun at 60 mph.Good luck.
 
#5 ·
I fought a problem on my rig just like you described. Everyone said it was the pump. I said"not the pump", its not the pump, and continued to screw with it ad nauseum. A friend, tired of hearing about my theories of not being the pump, gave me a spare of his. I put it on, and damned if it did not work 100%%!:confused: I took the bad pump to autozone, for around 30$ got another, from a 84 chevy PU with diesel (hence the hydroboost) and have been happy with it, and it was like 30 bucks... I must have wasted like 30 hours screwing with it. Sorry to say, "Try a new pump":D

WEPS
 
#6 ·
I'm going to try one tonight. It pisses me off that I bought a complete system and it's not working. Does the Hydroboost have a higher volume? Is the working pressure the same? How hard should it be to turn the wheel at idle? Right now I can hardly turn it some of the time. I appreciate the feedback.
 
#8 ·
i bet its the pump...mine came with a bad pump too.

What kind of pump did you replace it with? I assume that AGR sent you a new one. I think I'm going to try the one for the Hydroboost and if it works just keep the AGR pump as a spare.
 
#11 ·
FWIW the pump I bought form AGR (along with a new box) ran real hot and probably would have failed if I hadnt added a cooler.

Used a 5x7 tranny cooler.
No problems since. Turns 38's with no complaints.

If i'd known then what I know now I wouldnve saved my money and just done the pressure mod to a stock one. :rolleyes:

MJ
 
#13 ·
My homemade setup sometimes has difficulty going left as well - right hand turn it goes like heck but left is real slow(only when the ram is unhooked - tires on the ground it works great) - changed out the spool in the box one and made no change - bought a new pump that helped but still it has fits occasionally - especially when coming off the highway and making the 180 in to my development - it will lock you out sometimes- (I think it is cavitating) synthetic fluid would probably help...

Anyhow back to your issue: When you disconnected the ram did you leave the tires on the ground or on jackstands - if they are up you have to run the wheel all the way to lock and then tug to get any movement from the ram... Like my set up I cannot see how the pump is the culprit if it turns one way but not the other...

I would add a good cooler and a filter - made a huge difference in mine - I think my cavitation issue is due to lack of volume rather than pressure though - I plan to run the cooler on a seperate circuit rather than in series with the pump like now - upsize the return line also... Good luck

Matt

 
#14 ·
Tonight I put a New pump on for an 84 Chevy truck with a hydroboost and it made no difference. I tried with the ram lines disconnected and it was even harder to turn to the left. I thought that there must still be some air in the system so I disconnected my steering linkage from the pitman arm. What I notice was that when I turned the steering wheel to the right there was a slight resistance from stop to stop. when I turned it to the left there was resistance only on the second half. I turned it from stop to stop about a hundred times to bleed it. I looked at the fluid occasionally and didn't see any bubbles at all. When I cranked the engine and turned hard right the pump loaded up and made that squealing sound like it should. When I turned hard left it didn't. I think that there is something wrong with the box.

On another note the ram is leaking a little at the shaft. I wiped it off and in a few minutes there was a drop. The tech support guy at AGR said that this was normal. I don't buy it. What do you guys think?

I have a cooler and will get a filter whan I get the bugs worked out.


I think that I'm going to pack it all up and send it back. I really appreciate all the input and if you think I'm missing something please let me know.
 
#17 ·
It sounds like a definate box problem to me.
If they won't give you a refund send it to me and i'll take care of it for you.
Also there is not supposed to be any leaks in the ram. If they told you that then they are just trying to blow you off by feading you a line of Bull shit.
Again, i will be more than happy to fix that box for you but i can't do much with that ram. They are crap.
 
#18 ·
I went thru 3 A*R pumps. They all worked, but all made noise. They said I wasnt getting the air bled, and I was starting to beleive them. So, I tried a used pump borrowed from a friend and it worked great. Not that impressed with my $1k investment.
Try Howe!! Ive heard that the guy that used to own a*r is back in business. Called performance steering components??
 
#19 · (Edited)
Thanks for all of the input. One thing I did before I put the new pump from Napa on is take the back off of it to look at the Veins and I guess what you would call the chamber. It looked identical to my old AGR pump. However they looked different than my stock Jeep pump. I'm guessing from what I can see is AGR uses the Hydroboost pump and changes the steel back so it will handle more fluid and also drills out the fitting like Matt has on his website. That's the only differences I can see. I'm going to pull it all off tonight and send it back to them. I hope they can turn it around quick. Let's see how their customer service is. For what I paid for this setup it should work great. I wish that I would have used West Texas. I guess great deals aren't always as good as they seem. :(
 
#20 ·
We'll Like i said if they won't take care of you let me know and i'll hook you up. I'd hate to see a fellow PPB member get screwed.
 
#21 ·
Wish I would have heard of ******* earlier too. A better product for a fraction of the price, duh???
hey Matt, can you bump up an LT1 pump? Ive got full hydro, and I need a bit more PSI.
 
#23 ·
Thanks Matt,
It's all in the mail now. It's hard to believe that all 3 parts have problems. I may be giving you a call soon. I've learned a leason this time. I also noticed when I pulled the can off the pump that the maganet had a little bit of metal on it. More than I think it should have. It had more than my 15 year old factory Jeep pump did. The pump may be what caused the 2 others to fail. They were talking about fixing the parts. For what I paid I would expect them to give me new ones. They have very few miles on them and I've only had it since christmas. We'll see what happens and I'll keep you posted.

On another note. I have a question for you. I have a 5.0 HO Mustang motor in my Jeep. Of course I'm running the saginaw pump instead of that ford pump. The pulley is off of an 87 S10 Blazer. Do you happen to know what size pulley I should be running? That one is the same diameter as the factory Jeep one. I think about 5 inches. Should I run a smaller one to increase pump speed and if so do you know what vehicle has one? It's a serpetine belt. I really appreciate your input.
 
#24 ·
dobsogj, I can usually upgrade any pump but i haven't had a LT1 to test with. If you want to send it to me i'll se what i can do with it at no charge.

spoolnaround, sorry about the wait on your ram. should be VERY soon.

patcal19, Normal pully size is about 5 in. if you can find a smaller one that will fit definately grab it. Then let me know so i can let everyone else know.
 
#25 ·
I have 2 extra LT1 pumps. One is a pump that agr f**ked up, and one is a salvege one with 7K miles that works pretty well, just not enough psi. I would rather experiment with the agr one but if you would rather have the other one, thats ok. It is a remote reservoir, do you have any larger reservoirs, or know where to get one? Should I be running a filter? It does have a cooler. What kind of psi is good for full hydro? When I had the stock pump on it putting up 1200 psi, it wouldnt steer well when it was in a bind. I put the 4th (thats how many it took before I got a good one) agr pump on putting up about 1500 psi, and it is better, but could be a little better yet. How high can I go? I got my orbit from WMS and Casey said it was good for 1800 I think.
Thanks a bunch for all of the help!!!
 
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