My brother is driving my parent's old 1998 Taurus Sedan. Dad and I picked it up back in 2009 with 117,000km on it for $300. It was the same year, colour, etc as the one they were driving. At the time, we replaced the all the power steering hoses, PS filter and installed a new PS pump. The replacement filter was plastic. This was done in summer 2009. Just after Christmas 2012, during a cold spell, the filter cracked/split. He took it to a shop and they installed a new filter and replaced/bled the fluid. Two days later, the same thing happened. The shop covered all the parts/labour and warranteed the job. It's been about three weeks now, and local temps have plummeted into the -30 degree range. This morning, the filter broke in half again. Each time it has done this, it has been cold, but what would be causing it to happen this often? I see there are other people on the internet with similar issues, but none seem to have found an actual cause. The shop has used Mercon V ATF per Ford's recommendation for fluid, so it shouldn't be the fluid, and it's been replaced and bled on the hoist before start-up both times. Any thoughts or known fixes from similar experiences?
The plastic filters fail here in the winter...(We seldom see -20F) So I would get a steel case filter, or just eliminate it all together...At 117K I doubt your going to have to worry about failure from debris...300 dollar taurus...Just drive the wheels off it and be happy you dont have to re-build the transmission.
The factory (dealer) return line comes with a crimped-on metal filter. And they wanted hundreds of dollars just for that line. I have been buying the replacement filters from the dealer as well. The previous Taurus had 250,000kms on it when it was done and the trans ran good (AX4N). This one has about 145,000 on it now, but it has the AX4S. I am considering using a steel tube in place of the filter, but I don't want to have a hose explode if the original over-pressure condition exists without the filter. Thanks for the info!
So I talked to the mechanic and we decided to put a metal piece of 3/8" steel line in lieu of the filter. The pump has already been run dry three times, so a little bit of dirt probably won't be the end of the pump. He ran it with the OBD connected to his scanner and the pressure switch was reading where it should and there were no signs of a bad rack, so at least there isn't a filter to get plugged-up anymore. Thanks for the suggestions and reassurance!
