I had to remove the steering pump in order to remove the idler/tensioner pulley bracket on my 1995 Buick LeSabre Series I 3.8 L V6.

Now the steering system has air in it.

The shop manual says to cycle the steering wheel 20 to 40 times to get the air out of the fluid.

There are no leaks on the ground.

The fluid level in the reservoir does not go up or down.

I keep getting large bubbles.

I have been doing this procedure (with the engine off per the manual) for probably two to three hours in 40 cycle groups.

I did turn the engine on twice early on in the procedure. The pump ran fine for a few seconds each time then proceeded to howl and generate a lot of foam. I turned the engine off very quickly so as to not ruin the pump if possible.

The pump had not been giving problems prior to this.

Any thoughts on what I can do?

Its best to do it with the front wheel off the ground. Jack the front of the car up and set it on stands, remove the power steering cap. Start the car and turn the wheel from stop to stop untill it stops yerning. "DO NOT HOLD THE WHEEL AT THE STOP, AS THIS STARVES THE PUMP" just a back and forth motion.
"Its going to make the noise a little and foam in the resevoir thats the air leaving the system. When the noise stops (keep the engine running) & look in the resevoir to make sure there are no bubbles/foam. If not your done."

OK. Sounds good.

I have had the car on jack stands and have put in about 3 to 4 hours of work going back and forth with the engine off.

If it doesn't work, time for a new pump.

There are no leaks from the hoses, no drips on the ground. Everything worked before I took it off.

So here goes.

Thanks again.

P.*. Even with the car on jack stands, it has been excellent upper body exercise.

Yea i kno what ya mean! Lol... I went through the same thing a little while ago.. But i had bought a cheap pump. But if it was fine before. It should still be fine. If not then yeah "time for a new pump" but yours should be fine.

Shawn, Many thanks. I turned on the car. There was a very little noise. The level in the reservoir dropped way down. I turned the car off filled the reservoir to the cold mark. Let is stand till the foam went away. Started it again. This time only minor small bubbles and no drop in level. Let it stand again. Started it again. No bubbles. No noise. Cycled the steering back and forth several times. No noise. Bled the cooling system. Took it out for a spin to WalMart, for gasoline, etc. It did just fine. Great help! Thanks again, Neal Lewis P.*. The power steering pump, even if it fails has given me my money'* worth: it is 20 years old. The car has been in our family since it was bought brand new in Emporia, Kansas.

Anytime, glad i can help!

Well, obviously, I jumped on this too late.......you did not have to remove the pump(I assume you mean you removes the pump completely, by removing the lines)......all you had to do was remove just the two bolts holding it to the engine.....it would have dropped down enough for clearance.....if fluid came out of the reservoir, all you had to do was top it off to the cold mark....might help the next guy doing this....

Thank you for your input.

The job got done. You people on this forum have been a big help!

Thanks again for your advice!

Neal Lewis

I'm running into some difficulty on finding a new rack gear and a new sector gear. Most places say that the Dorman 83211 Ignition Switch Kit, won't work for the 1995 Buick LeSabre with tilt steering wheel. O'Reilly'* says it will. Steering Column Services has the sector gear, which appears to be a specially made part. Can anyone clarify? Are these two little gears available readily available, or are they special and from one source only? Thanks.

So this is the problem you have in the other post? With the lock cylinder removed, did you try to manually move the rack/gears?

Have you looked into, just getting another steering column from a junk yard, excuse me, recycling establishment?

Easy to remove/install, and just reuse your own steering wheel....