Back to the Basics: Re-Sealing a leaky power steering box

[BrianG]

Originally Posted by chevy72blu

I really wish this board still had a reputation system. Tx Firefighter you make some of the best posts on this site. Thank you for your hard work!

...

I concur!!!

[BrianG]

Okay, I "tried" to replace my input seals last night... all did not go well!

Actually almost nothing went right. To make a long miserable story short, the worm gear ended up coming out! URGHHH!!!

So, is it a definite that I'll now have to tear this thing apart? do the balls EVER stay where they should be, or am I SOL? the unit is still attached to the pitman arm and I'd love to keep it that way.

I did put it back together and it did seem to turn the wheels by turning the input shaft, but maybe that doesn't mean a thing. There is fluid in the housing. I had it un-attached from the frame, but like I said, still connected to the pitman arm.

If it is a guarantee that the balls fell out when I unscrewed the worm gear out of the housing, is there a way to put them back in without rebuilding, or would they be lost down inside it somewhere?

Thanks in advance!

[Tx Firefighter]

Brian, I don't know the answer to your questions. I haven't ever gone that deeply into a box and successfully gotten it back together. My whole life I've either resealed the leaks or swapped boxes completely.

[BrianG]

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

Brian, I don't know the answer to your questions. I haven't ever gone that deeply into a box and successfully gotten it back together. My whole life I've either resealed the leaks or swapped boxes completely.

Thanks for responding Kevin. I'm on the fence about what to do next. Honestly I probably should have gone for a rebuilt unit anyhow, but thought I'd try to get a few more years out of this one. She was getting a little loose, but I've replaced so much of the front steering, (basically everything besides the pump and gear) so things might be a bit tighter now. I saw so many posts about the input seal being a somewhat 'easy' process so I thought I'd give it a try. I would say the process should have been easy, but nothing went at all right for me.

Thanks again for all your insight and great write ups that you do!

[Carmen Black]

Ok, I must have done something horribly wrong. I went to put the shaft back in and the tall center tooth doesn't look like it is close to fitting. It must be a quarter inch taller than the slot. I even removed all the seals thinking the seals might not be sitting right and it did not help at all.

I tried to take a picture. It shows the center tooth and the dark triangle in the back is the tall slot in the gear.

Does anyone know where I went wrong?

[Tx Firefighter]

Reach down inside of the box and pull the teeth towards or away from you. They can roll on the shaft and cause what you're describing. If you use your finger, you'll find the teeth will wiggle around.

[Carmen Black]

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

Reach down inside of the box and pull the teeth towards or away from you. They can roll on the shaft and cause what you're describing. If you use your finger, you'll find the teeth will wiggle around.

Ok, so last night I was hitting the teeth with a punch and a hammer and they wouldn't move at all. I read your post when I got up this morning, walked out to the garage, touched the teeth with my finger and they rolled out of the way. Then the shaft fell right into place.

So, I don't know what that was about, but thanks for the post, must have had some magic in it or something.

[cg285]

speed reading through the posts i seem to remember one complaint about not returning to center. the sector adjustment is critical. under no circumstances should it be adjusted by "feel". if adjusted too tight it will resist returning to center and the customer complaint is typically described as "loose steering".
i could go over the procedure if anyone is interested.

2. if you lose the balls there is a special tool required. you could make one if you had a lathe. there are also 2 different ball sizes and they must be alternated when installing. one is black and the other silver. sometimes it's hard to distinguish oily and used so i normally just replace them

3. there is a trick to replacing the pitman seals while on the vehicle. remove the pitman arm, snap rings then, after placing a drain pan underneath, start the engine and turn the steering wheel (rt or lt) to the stop and the seals will remove themselves.

[mcbassin]

Thanks for taking the time to document and share this Kevin. I am going to use it for my reference soon.
One question, do you know if the gear ratio for a 76 gear box is the same as the 87 you rebuilt? I have a 72 and a 76. I plan on replacing the 72 with the 76 because of the better gear ratio. I wondered if the later ones in the 80s are better yet?

[JasonLS1]

this might be an obvious is obvious dumb question, please forgive me im a newb to this steering box/gear stuff. Ok is it possible to change the input shaft seals with the steering box still in the truck?


jason

[cg285]

adjuster plug seal and yes it can be done in situ

[JasonLS1]

Originally Posted by cg285

adjuster plug seal and yes it can be done in situ

Thank you ! Just what I was hoping to hear, planning this a weekend day project.

[darkhorse970]

Very informative, Kevin do you have any ideas if we don't know what year /application our steering box is from? Know of any resources for shaft dimensions or any other identifiers?

[bollybib]

Kevin,

I just read thru this thread. Great job ! I love reading about basic stuff like this and you have tons of pics, too. My truck's gear box isn't leaking but I'm planning on rebuilding the manual gearbox on my Vette soon and I came across your thread while searching for rebuild info.

Take care,

Jim

[jkeating1]

TXfirefighter: do you have a thread on re-sealing the pump? I've searched but nothing came up. Your steering gear thread is excellent.

I was preparing to remove the box and tear into it, but after a trip to the car wash to clean the whole system I could see it was coming from above instead. I would suggest that first step to all, BTW.

I would also note that, if at some time in your truck's life, on the return line, someone has either (A) used too large of a worm drive hose clamp, or (B) re-used the full-circumference factory clamps beyond their service life; either one might seem tight at the screw, but loose around the hose.

Back to the job at hand (fixing the leaking pump)--it seems intuitive. I just don't want to overlook anything. Mine has the remote reservoir, so that reduces the places to leak.

[v30crewcab]

I usually get the bigger complete kit, and change the upper and lower bearing as well. I've had a few lowers real loose. tightens them up nice.
heres a link to a total box rebuild. also tells you how to properly adjust them too. they're not rocket science inside!
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/gener...build-how.html

[yossarian19]

Back from the dead but this seems like a good place to ask

My truck's box (reman from Lares, '86 C10 unit) went nut & washer --> pitman --> grommet--> snap ring--> washer -->seal -->needle bearings.
The seal kit listed for this box is always PSK-1, which is a two-seal kit.
I looked up the part number for the single seal and it is listed as the "lower" seal (shorter of the two) in the PSK-1 kit.
There is no room under the snap ring for the second seal.
Anyone run into this, know what could be going on here? The seal I took out had under 150 miles on it and leaked like a sieve. I did use Dextron instead of PS fluid, which I won't do again, but I don't want to put the box back in the truck until I'm confident of the story.

[aggie91]

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

I'm very glad this article is helping you fellas. I'm planning to post an entire series of them as I do various jobs around the shop. Next up I'm planning on doing a reseal your power steering pump article.

Hey Kevin,

What ever happened to the article for the power steering pump?

[karlbenz]

Glad I found this. Thanks for saving me $150. o'reillys doesn't carry the parts. Advance auto does though

[chevy-fun]

I was going to buy a cpp box. Mjne is leaking so may try this first. Thanx Kevin

[ksshane]

Subscribed.... Im going to need this in the very near future. Thank you very much for the write up

[ck5566]

Subscribed, very good info

[72ironmike]

Gonna give this a shot ! Thanks.

[ChuckLee]

wish i had found this thread earlier before tearing into my saginaw box. it just leaked out the top/front like most of them do. since i bought the rebuild kit i figured i mine as well rebuild the whole unit, all went swimmingly until the nylon (or whatever material they are) rings were stretched on and were then too loose. let them sit a couple days to "shrink back down", which they did, but when i attempted to push the unit back into the housing, those nylon rings just tore right apart.

[spoon3210]

Thanks for the tutorial. I see you are in Springtown I am just down the road in Ft. Worth. I am also a firefighter