air lock in ps system

[D21disciple]

my daughter is being told that she let her ps fluid get too low and now there is an air-lock in the system after topping it up. i am getting this info 2nd hand ... she has someone else helping her out ... and i am glad because it's a monsoon out there and just barely above freezing.

 

i have never heard of this happening with a power steering system. thought that air would just make it's way out the top no matter how low the fluid got.

 

any thoughts on this ?

[Kingman]

Should bleed it's self out. If the leak is so big that the system can't build any pressure, that's a different story. But in that case it wouldn't hold fluid in the reservoir for long before running out again.

[D21disciple]

thanks kingman. i agree that it should bleed itself.

hopefully this weather will improve tomorrow to the point where i can take a 2 minute look at it and not get soaked head-to-toe.

[Kingman]

Ours is a rather good remote reservoir design with hardly any issues as far as that goes.

 

The only time I've had a problem with air lock is with the older Ford style pumps with the pump and reservoir as one unit (the ones that whine all the time). Those you sometimes let sit overnight with the cap off and try again in the morning.