PS leak, like a sieve

[72grande]

My power steering has devolped a very serious leak. The leak is comming from the steering box, and near as I can tell its comming out at the pitman arm.

Questions:

Can I just replace the seals/rebuild it myself?

What does a whole new box go for?

Does anyone make an upgraded aftermarket replacemnt for 72's (this side of OMG expensive)?

 

[yeloxr7]

The pitman shaft seal can be replaced. Not a difficult job - I think a snap ring holds the seal in place.

 

[72grande]

Well, that is certianly good news. But my chiltons is a little light on pitman arm seal details.

Being held in by a snap ring, would it be right to assume the seal doesnt need to be pressed in/out with tools more specialised than a big socket and hammer?

What is the TQ value for the pitman arm retaining nut?

 

[yeloxr7]

Yes the seal is pressed in. I drilled a couple of holes in the metal part of a seal I removed from one of these steering boxes, then used a slide hammer to remove it. A socket that fits or a piece of PVC pipe or pipe fitting in the proper size works as a driver. Maybe a rear seal driver for a transmission will work.

 

[stanger53]

There are actually two sector shaft seals on this box - a double-lip seal and a single-lip seal - separated by a metal washer. Replacing just the lower seal may not help. The inner seal can be a pain to get out, even when the box is out of the car and stripped down.

 

[72grande]

Just bought the seal kit from napa. 14 bucks. I love how cheap some parts are for these old cars. The kit has two seals, two washers and a new snap ring. I've arranged some garage space to work on it tomarow.

There were two options for the seal kit at napa. One for saginaw and one for ford gears. My chiltons said the steering box is an integral saginaw unit, so I got the saginaw seals. Was that the right move?

Also, the instructions say I can force the old seals out by running the engine and turning the wheel to the extream left. Does that sound rcorrect?

I know my way around an engine pretty well, but I've never messed with suspention parts before. Wish me luck! :SNSign:

 

[pabear89]

Yes some times you can get the seal to pop that way,
But make sure you have your kitty litter handy.
that fluid will come out and empty the pump.

But if it only comes out halfway then the drill and puller is a must.

PB

 

[72grande]

Sucsess, well mostly. The leak went from being so bad it was irresponsible to fill up, to a very small drip drip. I'm not even sure the slow drip is comming from the same place. It's small enough now that I will probley just ignore it untill I get around to going through the whole front suspention.

Couple of notes, just for anyone finding this thread in the future.

1. A pitman arm puller is required. You ain't going to get that damn thing off any other way. I tried.

2. The seals popped right out, no problem. You gotta crank and hold ALL the way over to the left. If you're half an inch from far left, its not good enough.

3. I was able to use a deep socket to hammer the new seals on.

4. The saginaw seals were correct. They were identical to the ones I pulled out.

Thanks everyone for your help. This place is great :SNSign: