I'm loosing a good bit of power steering fluid. It appears to be leaking from the lower end of the steering gearbox (where it hitches up to the (Pitman?) arm linkage). Can these seals be replaced? How hard is it to do? Also, is there an adjustman on the gearbox for steering slop as I have a little play in it.

 

There is a treatment that works pretty good,look for LUCAS brand stop leak and conditioner,It also smoothes out rough spots,and swells the seals to stop leaks,I know what you are thinking,and I scoffed too at first, but It does work if your leak isn't too bad,It comes in a small white bottle with a pointed top like gear oil,(about $8.00).I used a big seringe with a small hose on it to suck out the fliud in the pump,then filled with this stuff.If nothing else it will slow down the leak until it can be fixed.

 

Not sure for the Ranger, but NAPA had a rebuild kit for my Bronco's gearbox that came with new seals and lock-rings. But let me tell you, it was harder than it looked. I ended up just replacing the entire gearbox and saved a whole lot of time and frustration. Give them a call first...

 

about an ounce of brake fluid in the system will also cause the seals to swell. Was told by the shop that I had a lower gear box leak and that it needed to be R&Rd. Well the guy later told me that I could use the brake fluid, no more leaks and about $1.50 a pint.

 

OK, well I replaced the lower seal without removing the gearbox and thought I'd pass on what I learned so others will be able to do it quickly. There are a few tricks. But I also have a question about which seals go which way so please respond if you know.

Anyway, it's pretty simple and an old mechanic trick. Use a pitman arm pull to remove the pitman arm from the gearbox shaft. Trust me, the right tool makes this easy and it only cost me $9 for the part at Murrays.

Next, according to the diagram there should be a snap ring holding the seals in. However, I couldn't see a ring yet but saw some rubber. I took a small screwdriver and picked at this rubber until I could grab it and pull it out. This exposed the ring. Appearantely the rubber from the seal behind the snap ring had worked it's way down and over the ring, hiding it a bit.

Using snap ring pliers makes getting the ring out a lot easier, but I couldn't get a good grip on the ring with the pliers. The trick to this part is to take a small punch, socket, or whatever and tap on the ring in various spots. What you want to do is force the seals to move back a bit, allowing the snap ring some room so you can grab it with the pliers easier. We ended up bending one of the ring's eye holes out just a bit so that we could grab it with needle nose pliers, but most of the time the snap ring pliers will easily take it out.

Now, here comes the mechanic's trick...Fill the power steering all the way up to the top (past normal level) and put the cap back on. Start the truck and crank the steering wheel all the way to one side. This should blow out the seals but if it doesn't on the first try fill it again and crank it the other way. This will make a mess so be prepared.

Now comes my question. The seals were now on the ground and I had no clue as to how the new ones should go back in. The seal kit diagram doesn't help as the pictures are not distinct. The kit came with two different size metal washers, two rubber seals, and a new snap ring. What came out of the gearbox was only two rubber seals and of course the snap ring I took out. Looked up into the gearbox shaft and saw nothing remaining, so I concluded that the two metal washers were extra parts for different vehicle applications.

This leaves me with trying to figure out which of the two rubber seals goes in first and which side is up and down for both. Both of these seals are different. One looks like a simple rubber washer but has a raised lip on one side's center. The other has a rubber gap on one side with a spring wrapped around it inside the gap/lip/whatever you want to call it. I guessed that this part went in first with the gap/spring being the top. For the other rubber washer I guessed it went in with the raised lip facing down. I tapped them into place and installed the snap ring. So far no leaks. Any idea on if I put them in right?

Finally, once you have the seals in you want to start her up and make sure there are no leaks. Next count the number of turns the steering wheel makes from total left to total right. Divide this by two and center the steering wheel at the halfway mark with it straight. On my truck it takes four turns from one side to the other so obviously it's two turns to center (straight). Now turn the key off so the steering wheel will lock in this position. Get under the truck and straighten out your tires and put the pitman arm back on the shaft. You'll see two big grooves on the arm and shaft that must match up for it to go on. Put the nut and washer back on and tork it to the proper weight (about 200 pounds I think). All done!

 

Thanks for getting back to us and the great write up, I'll put a link to this thread in the tech info thread.

 

Good job. If it's not leaking, you most likely got it right. Seals will usually only seal one way.

 

I asked a few mechanics and it appears I put the seals in properly. The top seal with the spring in it goes in first with the spring side as the top. The lower seal has it's rubber lip facing down. Just a thought, to avoid any confusion try wrapping some wire around the gearbox shaft and pointing it's ends out on both sides (wider than the seals). Now when the seals blow out (blow is the wrong word...they pretty much just seap out) the wire will keep them hanging on the shaft in the proper order for replacement.

 

question on this repair, if you guys are still around. Would an alignment be suggested after doing this with adjusting the steering linkage?
Cuz if I get the pitman arm and stuff off by a notch or two it would make a difference over time with drifting off the road on the highway right?