Below are some pictures of a power steering pump from a 1998 ford crown
victoria.
Similar power steering pumps are used in numerous other modular engine
equipped ford vehicles, but the rate of the regulator spring will vary
depending on vehicle application.
Here's the drive vanes expanded. In the previous picture they were
fully retracted. When the pump is actually installed in a car, the
vanes will move outward as engine rpm increases due to centrifugal
force. After all, this pump is classed as a positive displacement
rotary vane pump.
The evo valve on this pump was worn, which resulted in easier steering
effort than when the vehicle was new and rolled off the dealer's
showroom floor.
The front shaft bearing in this case is a copper thrust bearing.
At the time of the pictures were taken, this pump was in service for
about 5 years and had about 100,000 miles on it. It was removed from
the vehicle due to a squeaking noise that it was making. The power
steering
fluid was clean with no noticeable debris visible to the naked eye. Nor
could any grit be felt by rubbing two fingers together
coated in power steering fluid from the system. However, you might spot
some metallic debris in the pictures due to the angle grinder that was
used to open the housing.