I am working on my son's 81 Ford Fox body Fairmont. 200 I6/C4 Front disc, rear drum... Power RP steering... Problem 1: When you slam on the brakes, semi-panic style, the left rear tire locks up. Can a proportioning block go bad? I can't get any other tires to lock up if I try. Just the one locks. No pulling, bled the brakes, flushed the old fluid, all good... Power brakes. Problem 2: When you turn left, the power steering kills the engine. It has done this a long time. The PO complained of stall on left turn. I have it narrowed to the PS system. It does it on slow, sharp turns. The kind like going into a parking spot or driving in a tight subdivision, where you can't go fast enough that the throttle is up. Also does it sitting still and turning the wheel as you approach hard left. There is no other load on the car, it is not fuel related as it does it sitting still, and the idle is plenty high @ about 700-800 (factory setting). Could I need a pump or rack? If so, which is going bad? There is a very slight growl from the pump when the wheel is turned and system is loaded... Slightly more to the left than right. That is why I assume the pump is dragging down so much that it kills the engine. Any thoughts? Anyone have this problem b4? Thanks! Dave BTW: You guys helped so much when the car was dying in gear! I found it was vacuum related. The car was covered with those stupid plastic vac lines going everywhere like spagetti puked all over the engine. Needless to say, I just went in and gutted all that crap. Now there is a vac line to the dist, brake, tranny, heater, and that's it. Purrs like a kitten now!
Problem #1: Check for a leaking wheel cylinder or wheel seal. Fluid will make one lock up quicker than a dry brake. Also check the brake shoe adjustment. Could be too tight on that wheel, or too loose on the other side. Problem #2: Just a guess, but maybe the rack is warped or galled on that side, causing a bind and increase in pressure, overloading the pump.
Bad pump. They have an internal pressure relief that should keep that from happening, it sounds like its stuck.
You may have inadvertantly removed a vacuum hose from a dash pot on the carb or somewhere that is supposed to kick the idle up when the engine is loaded by the pump causing it to stall.Sort of the same set up used to kick the idle up on carb equipped AC cars when the AC is turned on.Many late model cars have a pressure switch on the PS pressure line that kicks the AC off when loaded to keep the car from stalling.So I think this may be your problem to some degree.Also could be electrical.Something is moving enough to cause a wire/ground to break contact causing the car to quit.I have seen this as well.Good luck hope this helps.
Good info. I noticed the fluid looked like burnt tranny fluid. I thought I saw it shining too... like maybe there was a bit of metal dust in it.
