Ford power steering gear

pcf_mark · Mar 15, 2018

I am putting the steering box back together tonight and I have a question. All of the seals and bearings went in fine so far - I have put everything back in EXCEPT the sector shaft. I can turn the input shaft back and forth it is nice and smooth. I am a little nervous about running it the full 5 1/2 - 6 turns. Can the balls fall out inside or something since sector shaft is not in place? I ran it pretty far in each direction and now I am second guessing doing that. Could the last few balls drop out inside the mechanism and screw me up? I was able to insert all of the balls by carefully rotating the input shaft. When I was done they were all down inside the holes none in the steel guide that goes on last.

I did not take the big plug out of the end but if I did I bet I could see if a ball fell out or something. They should give you some spare teflon seals - one broke I had to re-use an old one.

Viperwolf1 · Mar 16, 2018

pcf_mark said:
I am putting the steering box back together tonight and I have a question. All of the seals and bearings went in fine so far - I have put everything back in EXCEPT the sector shaft. I can turn the input shaft back and forth it is nice and smooth. I am a little nervous about running it the full 5 1/2 - 6 turns. Can the balls fall out inside or something since sector shaft is not in place? I ran it pretty far in each direction and now I am second guessing doing that. Could the last few balls drop out inside the mechanism and screw me up? I was able to insert all of the balls by carefully rotating the input shaft. When I was done they were all down inside the holes none in the steel guide that goes on last.

I did not take the big plug out of the end but if I did I bet I could see if a ball fell out or something. They should give you some spare teflon seals - one broke I had to re-use an old one.

If you have the cap and snap ring on the end of the box the balls cannot fall out. The cap acts as a stop for the piston. No problem moving the piston into the box though.

I wouldn't mess with the plug if you don't have to. They are usually very tight and the early (6 turn) ones are aluminum and can break. Later ones are steel.

Always keep a spare parts kit around if you plan to rebuild a box. I've had some seals that were damaged from the factory.

blubuckaroo · Mar 16, 2018

blknblu69v said:
paid my $12. Lets try this.

Your first photo shows hammer marks on the barrel close to the pitman arm, just like mine.
Why do people try to remove the pitman arm without a puller? The casting is really thin in that spot.
Mine was so bad that the rebuilder will need to re-bore that journal to fit the bearing.
I'm still waiting on that machine work so it can be assembled.
Good luck with yours.

Rustytruck · Mar 16, 2018

The dents come from the false belief that you can use 2 hammers to beat the parts apart. Its also a big problem since the stock arm diameter that the cheep pullers dont fit on them. You get pickle forks jamed in there to screw up the lower part of the housing. Had one steering arm ground down with 2 flats until a small puller fits. I'll bet that turned out well.

blubuckaroo · Mar 17, 2018

I've always used my puller. I'm the original owner and have done all the work, except for one time.
My oldest son got into what looked like a minor fender bender. The rear of the driver side front wheel got hit and bent the tie rods up. It also bent the frame's mounting surface where the box mounts. The repair shop must have beat it up trying to remove the pitman arm to get the steering box out.
Here's the wreck in '96.

pcf_mark · Mar 18, 2018

It took several attempts to get this box back together but I think I finally got it right. I keep having a ball or two drop out the back end and then the box would only turn about 4 1/2 turns! I ran it all the way to one end and started inserting balls and gently working it steering to the other end of the travel. When done I had six balls left that I put in the sheet metal tunnel part and installed. I ran it back and forth several time and set the tension on the worm.

I put sector seals in extra far and put two extra washers before the snap ring to give the seals some fresh surface area. I taped off the splines to prevent them from tearing the seals as I installed the sector shaft. I had to use a mallet to drive the sector shaft in until the end cleared the bottom bearing so I assume the bend at the end of my sector shaft is bad. Once it cleared the end it turned nice and easy. I set the lash so I could turn the box with low effort (i think it is supposed to be 10-12 ft-lbs). It had a pretty wide range (1/4 turn of the screw) that it felt pretty good before the resistance went up quick.

Even when I tightened it enough that it was hard to move there is still some slop - I can turn the input shaft a bit before the output shaft moves. I just assume that is the way it is supposed to be!

blubuckaroo · Mar 18, 2018

pcf_mark said:
It took several attempts to get this box back together but I think I finally got it right. I keep having a ball or two drop out the back end and then the box would only turn about 4 1/2 turns! I ran it all the way to one end and started inserting balls and gently working it steering to the other end of the travel. When done I had six balls left that I put in the sheet metal tunnel part and installed. I ran it back and forth several time and set the tension on the worm.

I put sector seals in extra far and put two extra washers before the snap ring to give the seals some fresh surface area. I taped off the splines to prevent them from tearing the seals as I installed the sector shaft. I had to use a mallet to drive the sector shaft in until the end cleared the bottom bearing so I assume the bend at the end of my sector shaft is bad. Once it cleared the end it turned nice and easy. I set the lash so I could turn the box with low effort (i think it is supposed to be 10-12 ft-lbs). It had a pretty wide range (1/4 turn of the screw) that it felt pretty good before the resistance went up quick.

Even when I tightened it enough that it was hard to move there is still some slop - I can turn the input shaft a bit before the output shaft moves. I just assume that is the way it is supposed to be!

I didn't know much about these things until the other day. I was in the rebuilder shop and asked a lot of questions with my box disassembled in front of me.
The guy had a piece of polished steel rod inserted into the piston to hold the balls in place for reassembly.

Also, he had replaced the balls with slightly larger ones that are made to take up for wear in the screw. I guess there are a variety of ball sizes available for rebuilds. That's what takes up the slop.
He said the balls usually wear out faster than the bearings.

pcf_mark · Mar 18, 2018

The balls makes a ton of sense. Each one has a role in the distance between the mating halves of the screw drive. I just hope it stops leaking and works as good as it did before. It worked fine just leaked a ton!

pcf_mark · Mar 19, 2018

I am hoping someone can chime in with experience to help me. When I was done I tested the box and could turn the input side very easily with a pair of vise grips gently. I got the box installed in the truck and bled the power steering by filling reservoir, turning it left-right-left about 20 times wheels in the air, ran engine a few seconds, topped off reservoir.

Now with the engine running I do not have power steering at all. Zero assist in either direction. When I shut the engine off I am getting air bubbles into the reservoir loud enough I can hear a few of them.

I assume I damaged a seal since that is all it could be right? I verified the lines can only be installed one way.

I had an issue with the second of the three seals on the input shaft and had to re-use an old one. They all looked good and installed easy enough.

Ooof this is turning into a real project just to stop a leaky sector shaft seal.

samamarshall · Mar 19, 2018

Found these on you tube recently - guy has some entertaining videos:

Disassembly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2aMQ7C5dEI

Rebuild
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr7P2HrcCtM&t=1061s

Adjusting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks8Op9LkwZY

I'm a little late...

pcf_mark · Mar 19, 2018

Thanks for the video links! Unfortunately it just verified I did it right and in the right order according to my memory of doing it. I must have damaged something is my only guess at this point.

pcf_mark · Mar 20, 2018

I did find this video which is the BEST BY FAR I have evern seen of this process

https://vimeo.com/165324708

I must have damaged something because following this I have it all together correctly...

pcf_mark · Mar 21, 2018

Can someone confirm that the power steering hoses are a different size? I had to use two different size wrenches I think. 10" of snow and my truck is stuck in the garage - makes me sad!

No assist / boost and getting air bubbles back into the reservoir seems like I could have the lines backwards. A cut seal should give me assist but only in one direction or the other. Or I assembled the valve incorrectly / cut the o-ring seal on that.

I just need a seal kit with all the o-rings no bearings since mine are new now - is there a part number for a kit like that?

Viperwolf1 · Mar 21, 2018

pcf_mark said:
Can someone confirm that the power steering hoses are a different size? I had to use two different size wrenches I think. 10" of snow and my truck is stuck in the garage - makes me sad!

No assist / boost and getting air bubbles back into the reservoir seems like I could have the lines backwards. A cut seal should give me assist but only in one direction or the other. Or I assembled the valve incorrectly / cut the o-ring seal on that.

I just need a seal kit with all the o-rings no bearings since mine are new now - is there a part number for a kit like that?

They are different sizes. Pressure side is bigger and closer to the grill.

pcf_mark · Mar 22, 2018

ViperWolf - I hope you can answer this one. I wound the steering all the way to one end of the travel with the worm fully engaged. Then I carefully removed the "nut" plug on the input shaft side. Once I had this out of the way I could see that the o-ring between the inner (valve spool?) and outer (spool body) was cut. As I took it apart the pin on the stub shaft was chewed up. I think I had this installed incorrectly and not engaged between the spool valve and stub shaft. I am trying to find some good pictures of this assembly going together.

The $10,000 question - since the worm is fully engaged (literally) can I correct the issue with the valve spool and body then simply re-install it and set the tension again without taking anything else apart?

Thanks! Now if does not leak AND works it would be just super!

Viperwolf1 · Mar 22, 2018

pcf_mark said:
ViperWolf - I hope you can answer this one. I wound the steering all the way to one end of the travel with the worm fully engaged. Then I carefully removed the "nut" plug on the input shaft side. Once I had this out of the way I could see that the o-ring between the inner (valve spool?) and outer (spool body) was cut. As I took it apart the pin on the stub shaft was chewed up. I think I had this installed incorrectly and not engaged between the spool valve and stub shaft. I am trying to find some good pictures of this assembly going together.

The $10,000 question - since the worm is fully engaged (literally) can I correct the issue with the valve spool and body then simply re-install it and set the tension again without taking anything else apart?

Thanks! Now if does not leak AND works it would be just super!

You can if you are very careful. I've done it a couple times. You will need to remove the adjuster plug from the input stub first. Then slide the stub and spool assembly in to line up with the worm pin. Once those are engaged you can install the adjuster plug. If the adjuster plug doesn't screw in far enough to be nearly flush with the adjuster plug lock nut something is wrong and you'll have to try again.

pcf_mark · Mar 23, 2018

Those pictures are very good thank you! Do you have one of the pin on the stub shaft and how it assembles with the spool valve? My pin is loose and it looks like the valve slides up the shaft then the pin gets inserted then the whole assembly goes in the body as shown in your second pic. It seems odd because it is a loose fit on the stub shaft in that area but I think that is because it mates with the bore not the shaft.

Viperwolf1 · Mar 23, 2018

pcf_mark said:
Those pictures are very good thank you! Do you have one of the pin on the stub shaft and how it assembles with the spool valve? My pin is loose and it looks like the valve slides up the shaft then the pin gets inserted then the whole assembly goes in the body as shown in your second pic. It seems odd because it is a loose fit on the stub shaft in that area but I think that is because it mates with the bore not the shaft.

Sounds normal.

pcf_mark · Mar 23, 2018

Thank you! I had that oriented incorrectly which explains why the o-ring got hammered and I had no assist.

pcf_mark · Mar 24, 2018

I am not one to give up but this is becoming a tedious way to learn something. I put this back together (again) but I had to take it COMPLETELY apart to set the tension correctly and get everything lined up. All done everything looked good as shown above.

Now I have no leaks! Yeah! Woo hoo!

BUT...I only have power steering to the right. I have a little bit to the left but not really. I think it must be one of the teflon seals not sealing correctly. I had to re-use an old one on the middle groove. This is strictly a guess on my part based on how the fluid appears to flow.

Any tips would be appreciated. So far I have $40 in the whole project so I can't complain yet because I am learning something and way under $300 - $450 I was quoted. The road feel was a lot better than before I went through it so that was nice.

I was wondering if there was an air check I could do like testing a transmission before you button it up...I do have a lot of noise from my hydroboost indicating I have air in the system. Could this cause this behavior?

Thanks!

Ford power steering gear

Bronco Guru

electron whisperer

Grease Monkey

Bronco Guru

Grease Monkey

Attachments

Bronco Guru

Grease Monkey

Bronco Guru

Bronco Guru

Full Member

Bronco Guru

Bronco Guru

Bronco Guru

electron whisperer

Bronco Guru

electron whisperer

Attachments

Bronco Guru

electron whisperer

Attachments

Bronco Guru

Bronco Guru

Similar threads