Hi all,

Well I mentioned in my thread about injectors that it was finally time to re seal my vac pump because it had started really leaking. Seems I was wrong about the source of these new, and very sudden large puddles. Its PS fluid, and I can't figure out why, or where its coming from. Heres whats happened lately. Flushed PS fluid a couple months ago. Next, flushed fluid again to replace hydrobooster. At this point I was leaving drips, not puddles, from all the residual PS fluid all over the place from the two flushes. Next, I washed the underside of the truck to make sure I wasn't having major oil leaks. I went about a week seeing only a drip or two and sometimes nothing on the ground. All of a sudden I have large, very wet spots on the ground after sitting just a few hours. I thought it was the vac pump finally letting loose, but today I noticed that the fluid looked really light in color for engine oil. I got under to look and everything is a mess of course, but I can tell it is definitely my nice clean ps fluid, mixed with a little oil. The strangest thing is, everything is SOAKED, and even having not run the truck since yesterday afternoon, its still dripping every few minutes! There is literally fluid laying on the asphalt that hasn't soaked in yet, thats how fast its still leaking. Other weird thing is, the reservoir isn't really low  Where could this fluid be coming from? It definitely does not seem to be coming from any of the lines on the back of the PS pump. However, there are drips hanging off the bottom seam of the PS pump, it looks wet in between the PS pump and vac pump, but that could be oil. There is also PS fluid all over the top of the gear box which wasn't leaking much, if at all before. I do have a new return line from the gear box to the PS pump though, but even if that new line were loose(no i didnt check yet)  that couldn't be the cause, because how would fluid get up and back to the bottom of the PS pump? Could the PS pump be leaking from where the shaft that drives it comes out? Is it re sealable or does it need to be replaced? I'm planning to go to the carwash later and spray it off and then watch for leaks, but any thoughts in the meantime? I have my vac pump reseal kit on the way and Id like to tackle that next weekend. Just trying to figure out if i should be ordering a new PS pump for the same time....

Thanks in advance for any and all help!

On June 30, 2016 at 5:22 PM, leathermaneod said:

I'll try man. The ps pump is pretty easy really, just a pain working in tight places and super annoying when you have to do it twice. I think it would be easier to take it out with the vac pump, but I don't wanna disturb my new seals anymore than I absolutely have to. Now I'm just waiting for Mikes input before j really tear into the pump and the gear box. I'm wondering if there is any way this valve being stuck could have caused the gear box to leak. Anyway I'll more than likely start things tomorrow afternoon. I have to work 9-9 tonight so I'll get kind of a late start tomorrow.

 

I read about swaping the power steering pump on these things, watched a few video's and people were taking all sorts of stuff off that didn't need to come off! Lol

 

almost every video i saw, the engines were filthy! Engine needs to be spotless makes it so nice to work on...

I took just the pump off not the vacume pump and it was super fast/easy. Hardest part was putting the oil in myself then having to run i ti the cab to turn the wheel etc...

Hey all,

Making some progress here. I got the bad ps pump off the truck and swapped out last night, wasn't as bad taking off without the vac pump as i thought it would be. Heres a pic of the valve stuck in there

So far today I got the steering stabilizer off the truck, and the sway bar lowered down out of the way. Mike and I talked about leaving it in place, but I just didn't wanna work in a space that cramped. Turns out its good I did take it down, because the pitman shaft extender was super hard to get out of that bearing.

Now I have to run out to autozone and grab a 38mm deep socket to get that extender off the pitman arm. And I need a spanner wrench for taking the gear box apart.

I think Im also going to have to replace the bearing in my steering stabilizer. I don't know how long its been on there, but it seems shot to me.

The carrier will easily cant to the sides and it doesn't sound good when you turn it. It seems super sloppy, and as you can see, its a mess. I'm assuming I can just call up the manufacturer and order a new one, anyone ever done this before? I dont know who makes it for sure, but I think its BD Diesel....

The bar looks like this

Let me know what you guys think, any input will be greatly appreciated!

 

UPDATE:

This is extremely frustrating. I was counting on autozone having a spanner wrench for taking this gear box apart. Well of course they don't. And better yet, neither does anywhere else around me. At least not that is open on a saturday. So unless I can figure something out to improvise, I'm out of luck untill i can get one off the internet. On top of that Ill have to order one of those bearings online too becuase nowhere near me has one of them either. Any suggestions on what to buy for either of these items?

more questions, I'll be replacing the sway bar bushings as part of this project. Should I go with standard ones from autozone, or something better? Will I notice any difference? Also, my drag link is sitting on top of the pitman arm, but I just watched a vid on YouTube and that gents truck had the drag link hanging upside down from the pitman arm. Which way is is supposed to be??? Is my pitman arm screwed up now?? You can see it in one of the pics above....

Edited July 2, 20168 yr by leathermaneod

1 hour ago, leathermaneod said:

Any suggestions on what to buy for either of these items?

Check with your local Snap-On, Mac, Matco or Cornwell tool distributor.  

Not having much luck finding any of those near me. I could maybe call snap on and see if there is a truck near me but I don't think I wanna pay for a snap on spanner wrench when I may never use it again...

When you buy snap-on tools, you find reasons to use them! haha

 

Did you end up finding the deep socket? I just ended up using a big crescent wrench for that and it's nice and tight.

 

Your pitman arm looks right to me. Should be so that the thread sides are facing towards the ground.

Lol I can see that with snap on, but I'm sure the cost of a spanner wrench from them would be through the roof and I just can't spend that much on a specialty tool like that. And yes I got a socket. I shyed away from a crescent wrench because I want to be able to torque that thing down to 185. Reason being that I watched a vid on YouTube where the guy said his loosened up after a lift kit install. Well mine was loose too today when I took things apart, so it's going to be made very tight along with some red loctite. Thanks for checking on your pitman arm. So anyone out there have any suggestions on sway bar frame bushings? I saw the energy ones from Geno's are greasable but they don't have my size. I need the 34mm ones....

Yea I hear ya. All my snap-on tools are hand me downs or used cheap finds.

 

I'm not trying to argue that a crescent was/is better then the socket in this regard, just think you could accomplish what you want with a crescent if you have one big enough so you didn't have to waste money on a socket you'll rarely use. I used a 20in crescent and I got that thing pretty tight! haha

 

As far as sway bar bushings, I'd get it based on the kind of driving you do. If you see more pavement then dirt I'd say the stiffer the better. Obviously the opposite that for off road use. If it's 50/50 I'd just replace them with OEM type.

Thanks for the recommendation! 

Any ideas what I'm doing wrong here?

mum making that puller almost as tight as I can with a 2ft piece of pipe on a ratchet handle and then tapping it with a hammer and it's not moving. What gives?

Might be time for a bit of propane heat to the pitman arm.

thankfully I just got it. Gear box is out.

check out the one bolt.

thinkni should replace it?

Edited July 2, 20168 yr by leathermaneod

I would... Just out of the sake of the rust and the threads are going to be weak now.

Oh when you ready give me a shout I'll guide through the rebuild of the box.

Alrighty, Ill give dodge a call on tuesday and hopefully they can get it by wednesday. They are going to have some new sway bar bushing retainers for me on wednesday. Mine are not in great shape and I cant beat the price at $8.50 each. Just wish Energy made ones the right size so I could have greaseable ones...

Any ideas on where to get or what brand of bearing to get to replace that one for the steering stablilizer Mike? I'm planning to call around some more locally on Tuesday, but I'm not optimistic. I'm about to make a harbor freight run right now to look at the "spanner wrench" they have. I'm hoping it will work.

If Dodge is going to charge and arm and a leg for that bolt I'd just head over to Ace or some other hardware store and get my replacement there.

47 minutes ago, leathermaneod said:

Alrighty, Ill give dodge a call on tuesday and hopefully they can get it by wednesday. They are going to have some new sway bar bushing retainers for me on wednesday. Mine are not in great shape and I cant beat the price at $8.50 each. Just wish Energy made ones the right size so I could have greaseable ones...

Any ideas on where to get or what brand of bearing to get to replace that one for the steering stablilizer Mike? I'm planning to call around some more locally on Tuesday, but I'm not optimistic. I'm about to make a harbor freight run right now to look at the "spanner wrench" they have. I'm hoping it will work.

 I ordered those bolts from mcmaster-carr.com, I think.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I have to wait till tuesday to see what dodge will charge for them. Hopefully now much becuase I am on something of a timeline with this project and I cant afford to keep having delays. I think Ive got a "spanner wrench" that will work now. I'm hoping so at least.

Made from a $5 adjustable angle grinder wrench from HF.

I think you can find just the bearing with out the block at a farm store

I asked if they had one at TSC and they said no, but I didn't think to ask for just the bearing. I'll give that a shot!

Well getting a new bearing from TSC isn't gona work, I was trying to get the old one out of the housing, and it split right in half lol. I just order a new one off eBay for $23 with free shipping. 

 

For anyone who is interested, below you will find all my pics from the dissasembly of the gear box. 

Those are just showing how dirty it was before I cleaned it up.

All clean and ready to be torn down!

Pitman Arm shaft removed.

Even after all my flushes, there were still chunks of crap in there!

Some pitting on the pitman army shaft, I talked to Mike on the phone about it, he said it should be ok, we'll see what he says after he sees these pics lol

Got better after cleaning it up with a scotch brite pad.

Just some pitting on the aluminum cap.

Heres the cap that comes off to access the piston. That big gouge is from my punch when I tried to remove the retaining ring. Definitely try not to do that again!

Theres the piston. It was a little tricky getting it out, kept wanting to get cockeyed and jam up. Had to take a rubber mallet to it a couple times. Also, taking the piston out is when all the little balls fall out. I had the whole box sitting in a drain pan to catch all the fluid, it also worked great for containing the ball bearings!

Theres the worm gear and valve. This was a little tricky to get out of the gearbox housing. I had to tap on the worm gear end to get it to move. Of course I had it sitting on the edge of my table and the darn thing launched across the room when it let go. Thankfully it landed on cardboard and doesnt doesnt appear to be damaged. 

Here it is dissasembled. I had to tap on the end of the pitman arm shaft while holding the valve assembly in my hand to get the worm gear to pop out. The actual valve(splined collar on the pitman arm shaft) should come off of there. Its held on by one little pin that it should lift up and over. Mine doesnt. I'm going to see if I can seat the pin in at all with a punch and maybe it will come apart. No be deal if not though, nothing to replace under there. I just want to make sure that pin is in all the way. Thats all I got so far, its waiting on me to put it back together. Let me know if you have any comments or suggestions.

Sorry that last pic isnt supposed to be there but it wont go away lol

 

Edited July 3, 20168 yr by leathermaneod

Looks good man! You've inspired me! When I finally decide to do something about my steering box I think I'm going to try and rebuild it myself!

Well I got that valve collar off the input shaft, it has a lot of wear under there though....anyone know if this is ok? I just have to tap that pin in with a punch and it gave the collar enough clearance to come off. Now it almost seems like too much though. The collar comes off really easily....