Two steps forward, one back

[stickshift_or_walk]

The good news is that after a year of wrenching, we finally fired up the small block in the '69 yesterday !!!
With open manifolds, we juggled the timing a little, tweaked the carb a little, and it was idling smoothly, if not quietly . All the new gauges worked, no bad noises, life is good.

So after topping off the fluids, including the PS pump, we started slowly turning the wheels to work the air out of the new PS box and lines. This truck originally had manual steering, so that was the first time the pump (salvage yard) and gearbox (Autozone) had functioned in this truck.

Suddenly, we have a gusher of PS fluid on the shop floor, so shut it DOWN ! Sure enough, the front cap and seal on the steering gearbox are cockeyed, having popped out of position. So, after exercising the vocabulary and mopping up the mess, we pulled the box for return to Autozone, who has promptly ordered a new one to make good on the deal.

Then last night, running back over it in my head, I'm wondering what we did wrong, if anything. Is there some technique to the initial break-in of a new PS gearbox, or did we just get a bad seal? I thought maybe I'd raise the front end up when we try the next one, but should that matter?

Thanks...SSOW

[ksamps01]

I have never had that happen and I usually do the same thing you were doing.

[incoma]

I'm really curious on this one also. I connected my p/s Sunday and was going to put some fluid in it tomorrow after I tune the carb a bit more. Any special way to get all the air out of the box? I don't want a whining p/s box.

[68w/sbc406]

i pulled a set up off of an 86 pu, then it sat in the garage for 6-8 months and it got tipped over and all the fluid spilled out of the box, and when i put it on i did exactly what you did. worked fine. probably a bad seal, maybe something wrong with the box that created too much pressure. if it happens again i would start looking at the pump

[Lobo'74]

I just had a rebuilt box installed. The rebuild firm said to hook up the box, fill the pump reservoir to the proper level and start the engine. DO NOT TURN THE STEERING WHEEL. They were very, very specific on that. Run at idle for a minute or two, shut it down and check the PS pump revervoir. Fill it back up to the correct level and start it up and idle it again. Keep this cycle up until when you shut it down the fluid level is at the full mark same as it was when you started it up.

The explination they gave for not touching the steering wheel until the above process is complete is that if you turn the wheel before the box is completely filled (the filling process is what lowers the PS resv. each time) you run the risk of getting air in the box and causing a "lock" of the incoming fluid. They said the only way to solve that problem is to open a fitting on the box to allow the trapped air to escape and start the process again.

It all seemed reasonable to me and I was all set to comply, but I did not have a pitman arm puller to get the arm off the old box. I had to take it in to my local shop and have them pull the old box, get the pitman arm free, put it on the "new" box and reinstall.

Hope this helps.

[stickshift_or_walk]

Thanks, Lobo. That sounds like good info. The new box should be in Friday, so we'll try again this weekend.

I also talked with a long-time family friend who has spent a lifetime in various automotive jobs, and has probably forgotten more than I'll ever know about the subject. In his old dealership days, they would often repair those boxes, and he says the end cap really isn't held in place by anything except pressure - no groove or clip. Sometimes, the cap doesn't seat correctly when exposed to pressure and you get the result I did. In his experience, you just put on new seals and try again, sometimes the casing is bad and you switch.

Bottom line, he didn't think we did anything wrong, either - just got a bad assembly. I do think I'll try Lobo's suggestion, tho - we don't need any more exercise installing gearboxes.

SSOW

[busterwivell]

What Lobo says makes sense. I installed a rebuilt quick ratio bos on my Chevelle when I switched to ps. Had the car on jack stands. Filled the pump, started the engine and turned the wheels from side to side in the air, and everything worked out ok, but I think Lobo's plan makes more sense now that I think about it.

[Johnny05]

The instructions that came with the steering box I installed said to fill the pump reservoir and "slowly" turn the wheels from lock to lock checking the fluid level as this is done. I followed the directions and have not had any problems.
I've used this method before and it's alway's worked. I didn't buy from AZ so I'm not sure what their bleeding instructions would be.