I have a new rebuild. I will be firing the engine up for the first time, along with a new tranny and complete new power steering sytem. This is for a 74 Maverick with a 302. It has the old power steering control valve. Any recommendations on how I should go about giving everything the attention it needs to be broken in properly?
follow the motor/transmission builders break-in recommendations...they are the ones standing behind the rebuilds... May 13, 2010 and this is your first post...
I would start the car with the front wheels off the ground. You need to purge the air out of the power steering system by turning the wheels back and forth, turning the steering wheel lock to lock...and checking the power steering fluid as you do this.
Ford only says be sure the P/S reservoir is full and cycle the wheels back and forth three or four times(LOL apparently even they don't know for sure)... When I started mine for first time with fresh engine & P/S system, I filled the reservoir to top of tube, rotated the pump by hand and then cycled steering a couple times... Next I made sure reservoir had fluid to bottom of fill tube, installed belt and went about running the engine, steering worked fine when I tried it... How you start and run the engine is far more important than the P/S system, follow the re-builders instructions... Most will recommend oil type & any additive to break in cam... Generally should run it at least 20 minutes at 2K RPM with some cycling between 1500 & 2500 RPMs... DO NOT let it idle...
