Power steering pump seal?

[JHardwick]

Looking for a little info before I tear into this thing. Is the leaky seal on the steering shaft? I have so much fluid blowing clear down the side of the truck that I can't tell which seal is leaking. I'm not heading back out until after ThanksGiving and have a rear seal on the x-sfer case leaking too.



Any help on the PS leak is very much appreciated.

 

[WhiteSheep]

J-



I have had the steering box replaced on my 4. 5 at about 18k miles. It took the dealer three times to believe me that it was the box and not the PS pump that was leaking. It was leaking so much I had to fill up the reservoir every time I drove it. The dealer said this was not an uncommon problem for the 3rd gens. I suggest you take your truck to the car wash, degrease your steering box and pump and watch it for a while. Alternatively, you could put some dye in the pump. My bet is that it is the box as it sounds like you run big tires. If you use them in the dirt for real, this would stress the box.

 

[RSeger]

I told service rep on Monday that my that the steering box was "wet". Technician inspected and replaced yesterday under warranty with no questions asked. This seems to be a very common problem. Are you too far out of warranty period?

 

[JHardwick]

I'm at 103,000 miles and I'm pretty sure it's the pitman shaft seal.

 

[JHardwick]

I knew I shoulda looked more closely!!!



I degreased everything and powerwashed it off. When I crawled under and saw fluid coming down around the box, I instantly figured it was a pump seal and not a pitman seal.



Well, it turned out to be an o-ring that goes between the reservoir and the pump housing. There are 2 screws that hold the reservoir and if they come loose it can work on the o-ring at the point where it enters the pump housing.



I'll look closer next time, that was a $144. 00 lesson

 

[nick05]

i had a steering line replaced by the dealer. noticed a little puddle then looked. wet on the frame and bottom of the box. not too sure which one but hasn't leaked since.

 

[rbattelle]

I'll look closer next time, that was a $144. 00 lesson

The o-ring cost you $144? Or you replace the pitman arm seal, and that cost you $144?



-Ryan

 

[GMueller]

My steering box had to be replaced at 2k miles. Leaked at the steering shaft seal, only when under pressure. The dealer replaced it, no questions asked. Even had a couple replacement steering boxes in parts stock at the time. Made me believe they had seen the problem before.

 

[JHardwick]

The o-ring cost you $144? Or you replace the pitman arm seal, and that cost you $144?



-Ryan

Cost me $144 do have the dealer replace the o-ring at the reservoir/pump housing connection ... ... ... ... they didn't even pull it into a bay, they fixed it in the parking lot!!! I know this is my bad for not investigating further, but!



They apparently have a new policy of charging $58. 02 for a diagnostic fee. I can handle that as long as it's deducted from the overall repair. That keeps them from diagnosing problems that people decide to overlook or fix themselves. But noooooooooo, they add it right to the repair bill.



This is the last straw, they have had a year to recover from adding Mitsubishi and training techs on new stuff. I really like a couple of the techs, but the policies and bull**** are getting the best of them! I hope they are happy with their new lounge, computer system and all that, but I liked it better when there was a service rep behind a simple little counter who was also able to turn a wrench!

 

[rbattelle]

They apparently have a new policy of charging $58. 02 for a diagnostic fee. I can handle that as long as it's deducted from the overall repair. That keeps them from diagnosing problems that people decide to overlook or fix themselves. But noooooooooo, they add it right to the repair bill.

Let me get this straight: they charged you $58. 02 for a diagnostic fee, then replaced a part that wasn't bad? That's not a diagnostic fee, that's a MIS-diagnostic fee! You ought to go back to them with the failed part in-hand and demand at least a refund of the diagnostic fee.



-Ryan

 

[one8upcb]

Do you have any photos of where exactly this is leaking. I have a leak in the same area and i thought it was my cp3. had it replaces and now it looks wet again. but ontop of the ps/pump is really wet.