My trip to Texas was going well, took my time getting here and spent the last 5 days at the Pt. Lavaca beach. Was spring break so it was busy but not to crowded.

Yesterday come into town to dump tanks and get supplies for the event at Victoria starting Thursday. I was at a friend's shop where he has a dump, took a bit of maneuvering to get lined up. Turning the wheel, BAM, no power steering. Jumped out to look and saw PS fluid pouring out of the top of the steering box. I just had the box rebuilt before this trip.

Further investigation showed the seal around the pitman shaft had blown out and up the shaft.



Could not find a replacement seal anywhere around Pt. Lavaca. Got the part number from the rebuilder but still nothing. I had taken the pitman arm off and had the seal assembly with me.

Further inspection of the pieces the seal was OK just a slight bend, the retaining ring was good, the weather seal had a slight cut in it, and the retaining circliip was slightly bent! Looking closer at the circlip I could see that one end had been inserted in the groove BUT following around could clearly see the circlip was NOT installed correctly and was only partially in the retaining slot.



Follow around from the upper end over the top of the clip and it is clear that the clip was only retaining the seal assembly by that end so when pressure built up during hard steering, the clip let go.

I carefully straightened the seal, the circlip and re-assembled. I flipped over the circlip to use the other side because there was some rounding on the side of the clip that had done the retention. It was a REAL BEAR to install. I had marked the clip all the way around so I could visually see it was fully inserted. The size of that clip and the pressure it took to compress enough to seat it, I can definitely say that when correctly inserted (hopefully as it is now) that seal assembly could never blow up and out, maybe the seal would develop a leak but not blow out!

Will be headed to Victoria today after a bit more rest.

There is a rounded edge and a sharp edge to almost all cir-clips...sharp edge faces out, but you may already know that.

Mark

quote:

Originally posted by MWrench:
I just had the box rebuilt before this trip.

Arrgh! Welcome to my world (Bought a factory new crate engine so I wouldn't have to work on it...)

Seems like half the stuff I work on is a redo of some "professional's" work. I have had several plumbing leaks, all of which were worked on before, some electrical problems too.

As the saying goes, "If you want it done right..."

That must be an odd seal to be so hard to find. When I replaced the trans on the 86 the brake drum tailpiece bearings were rusty. GM used a pair of ball bearings for the yoke which are out of production. I had to buy them on Ebay and they are getting hard to find. When I get the rest of the parking brake part numbers I will post a thread on that job here.

Meanwhile good luck with your travels! We are fat and happy enjoying the sunshine in the Keys.

Have Barth, will travel

Had a bad experience four weeks ago when my tail pipe fell off and busted the front tire on my toad. The repair shop had just recently installed it. They made good on it but it should have never happened.

When you have work done just remember that a "professional" is an armature (sometimes rank) that expects to get paid. And with the emphasis on the get paid part. I would hire a mechanic in a heartbeat if there was assurance that the person actually cared more about doing the job properly than the money involved. And the "stealerships" are the worst offenders and the manufactures are busy trying to make it harder for independents to get the info to work on them. While incorporating many parts that are expensive and with limited lifespan. My 66 Ranchero with a 408/5.8 hei distributor and Edelbrock is simple, crude, and will out run, out handle, and is more fun to drive than my Jag xj8. (and sure easier to get parts for and work on. My Breakaway while showing some indication of being build in the same area by relatives of redneck palace constructors is still relatively simple and trouble free (for an RV).

I made the short trip (30 miles) from Pt. Lavaca to Victoria Texas with no further issues. I will be driving around the airport a lot tomorrow so it will be a good test to see if the re-assemble holds, I think it will, just to obvious why the clip failed to hold.

When I return home, I will have to pull he box out again and replace the outer seal. This seal keeps the water and dirt out of the box. The shaft is vertical and has a good place to catch and hold water.

Well, all was not well! The steering box wasn't leaking for a bit right after the quick repair but somewhere along the route home it started again. This time was a small leak but non the less a leak. During driving there is very little steering activity that would require a lot of pressure but once I got home to park, lot of turning.

After parking, noticed a rather large puddle of oil on the driveway. Pulled the box and took it back to the rebuilder. Stayed there this time as he replaced all the seals, we looked at the shaft and there was nothing that would cause seal damage. New Cir-clip installed well this time.

The seal was probably damaged as it was forced out the first time. At least I got home. I am getting good at removing the steering box! Testing today and final loading for the Mojave event, will leave tomorrow.

Leaking at the Pitman shaft or the input shaft?

Here is Ed's picture from above. Looks like the bad seal is on the pitman arm shaft.

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That seal looks like it not seated properly. I would expect it to be inside the box and secured with a snap ring.

quote:

Originally posted by Tom and Julie:
That seal looks like it not seated properly. I would expect it to be inside the box and secured with a snap ring.

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It was not properly installed. Go back to this post to see what actually happened.