2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Power Steering Failure - Seal blown?

[RCook]

My power steering dumped a bunch of fluid, on first look apparently from the top end of the steering gear box, and no longer works. Could it be a blown seal? Anyone else had this happen? How hard is it to fix?

 

[BDaugherty]

Where exactly is it coming from? It could be a blown hose. The seals in the box can be replaced, but it's a little more involved than your average wheel seal. Find you leak first, but don't burn up the PS pump trying to find it.

 

[RCook]

It seems pretty clearly not a hose - the hoses and connectors are completely dry. It looks like the fluid dump may have come from the "adjuster plug seal", around the shaft which connects to the steering coupler. Does that make sense?



Looking at the shop manual, it seems that to replace that seal I'd have to disconnect the steering coupler and get it out of the way, then remove the lock nut and adjuster nut, and replace the seal - in the adjuster nut?? If the shop manual has a picture of the seal and where it fits, I haven't been able to identify it.



Then when I replace the adjuster nut, will I have to adjust correctly, or does it simply go back into the right position somehow?



I haven't had to work on any of this stuff yet, but it doesn't look like much fun to get at with the steering gear box in place. Does doing this in place sound like the right way to go, or would I need to dismount the steering gear box to work on it?



If simply disconnecting the steering coupler is the right way to go, is there any trick to doing that?

 

[RCook]

Problem Solved! (I think)

It turns out I completely mis-diagnosed the problem, and it was apparently my screw-up.

More careful inspection indicated there was no seal or hose or connection that had been leaking recently. If I had kept the area cleaner this would have been clear right away.

I had apparently let the PS fluid get quite low. After several very cold days of sitting unused, when the truck started up with extra thick PS fluid (not enough had been changed out to Valvoline Synthetic), it seems the PS pump may have been unable to suck a glob of it into the pump mechanism, and thus acted like it was out of fluid.

Now that it's been warmer for a few days, I started the engine and found that very soon the PS was working again. Checked the fluid level, and it was way low. I filled up, ran some tests - a little at a time - and all seems OK. Checked fluid level several more times between tests, and it's holding OK.

The remaining mystery is: what was the fluid I saw spilled under the truck? Could it have spit some PS fluid out somehow, maybe through the cap? I haven't yet figured this out.

Note to self: Check PS fluid more often than every other year or so. Keep the hardware cleaner.

 

[Bob Cochran]

My guess, out the cap.

 

[GAmes]

One morning a few years ago I walked out to the parking lot of a motel in Tennessee and saw a big puddle of PS fluid under my truck. I walked to the only open place of business that was near, a convenience store, and they had some off brand fluid which I poured into the reservoir. Two days later and no more problems other than a little growling I was at home. I cleaned the filter screen https://www.turbodieselregister.com...7-possible-low-power-steering-assist-fix.html and flushed the system. Post # 30 gives wrench sizes and other info.

 

[RCook]

Thanks, guys - I'm feeling a lot better now.

 

[fest3er]

Good to hear you hadn't blown a seal. That would've been TMI.

While Jim was fixing my truck up in PA, he called to tell me he'd found out where one of the oil leaks was and said, "Looks like you've blown a seal. " I told him to just fix the darned thing and leave my personal life out of it.