I searched the form for some help but couldn't find anything, so here we go...1998 F150 4x4 4.2L Reg. Cab...Lost my power steering and found the problem. It's leaking around that big nut at the bottom of the steering box. I ordered a new seal kit for it and hopefully that will fix it. But does anybody know what causes this to happen?

 

I am having the same problem, guy at parts store said the shaft sometimes gets scored around the seal, which is a bigger problem, cause the new seals wont seal. Can you let me know if it was a big job to replace the seals, Im debating whether or not to do it or just replace the whole box, thanks, Kevin

 

Well I just put the new seals in this morning and my registration is up so I haven't used it since but it wasn't really a big job. The worst part is getting the last seal out. I had to bronze a real small drill bit onto a piece of rod (to make it long enough) and drill a hole in the seal and then put a screw in and pull it out with pliers. And I guess getting everything back in was a little tricky because they didnt leave a lot of room to work the new seals in evenly on the 4x4s. To get the arm off that goes to the steering rod I had to use a little heat and a ball joint remover on a air chisel. I hope this helps and I hope my shaft isn't scard! The seal kit is only a few dollars I never priced a new box but it doesn't look that difficult to replace either.

 

The easy to remove the old seal is to remove the pitman arm , remove the snap ring ,start engine up , turn wheel hard to one side and let the pressure push out seal. Yes it makes a mess but it is easy .