power steering and vacum pump

[dripley]

I noticed a little growl out of my power steering pump today. Checked the fluid and it was low and added some to it quit the little growl I was hearing. I have also noticed it growl a little on start up in the cold part of the winter. It always went away after warm up. How do you check the pump to see if it is going bad? I have also noticed some oil driping from that area and was thinking the seals are going bad. When I get home I am replacing the tappet cover gasket and will have that side of the engine pretty clear. Since I am going to be in there that deep I would not mind doing what ever I need to wile I have it apart.I have seen mentioned here before about a rebuild kit for the seals. Can yall remind me of where that can be obtained?

[War Eagle]

Rock Auto has them.

[Mopar1973Man]

Cummins also sell them...Cummins Seal kit about $10- Part Number-4089742

[Haggar]

You can get them from cummins under pn 4089742. (lol Mike beat me to it!) I would call and talk to these guys (you can get just about any part you need from them too!): Gould gear and electric www.fixinrams.com/ Look around their site some. good pictures. GL HTH Hag

[JAG1]

Dripley, when my truck had around 35,000 my power steering pump went wild squeekie. It was in some extreme cold. I used a turkey baster to change the fluid to premium Valvoline PS fluid and kept doing it after ea trip till it was clear. I could tell it was much better for the pump, steering was smoother.

[Mopar1973Man]

Haggar got what I was looking for... (touche')

[dripley]

You can get them from cummins under pn 4089742. (lol Mike beat me to it!) I would call and talk to these guys (you can get just about any part you need from them too!): Gould gear and electric www.fixinrams.com/ Look around their site some. good pictures. GL HTH Hag

I went over there and looked around. I have never been into the vacuum pump before. Is the pricier kit with tools and instructions worth the money or is replacing this pretty straight forward?

[Haggar]

It depends on what tools you have on hand, and what you need to replace.

MOST times it is just replacing the lip seal around the drive coupling. It is pretty straight forward if you have ever replaced a press in place seal before.

What can get tricky sometimes is a "tool" that will push on the correct part of the seal or the adapter so you do not damage the new seal as you install it. If you have a harbor freight "seal installer set" you probably have a pusher that will work. If you have a scad of different sockets, you might have exactly the size you need. If you have a local machine shop, they have tubing drops etc that may work out to the right size. (sometimes pipe works nice too.)

I would say it comes down to do you have enough (for lack of a better term) "junk" laying around to press the seal and seal retainer in, or do you have time to wait until the next day to find just the right round piece to push it in place?

If you want to do it and be done quickly and don't have a lot of different diameter round things to press with hanging out in the shop with you, let him provide the pushers. If you want to save money, I think he will tell you what sizes are needed, so you can run around and find them whilst the other parts are coming in.

HTH

Hag

[dripley]

does that kit rebild the pump also? Or is it just the seal that gives the problems?

[Haggar]

Dripley,I am pretty sure the 59.99 one is the one you are looking for. (I had to buy more than that, as my drive couplers were sheared.) (that has the pump/front cover seal, the adapter seal, and the lip seal, and the front half to rear half seal. If you have the pressing tools, he will sell you just the seals cheaper.)Don't hesitate to give the guy a call. SUPER nice fellow. (sorry I can't remember his name....) You will feel much better that you are getting what you need. Hag