power steering pump seal blowing out....5 times now

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glhx

glhx

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i replaced the pitman shaft seal. put the washer and snap ring on and then the grease seal. started the car and had a leak. then did the same thing again with a new seal and that leaked . tried again with another seal and still the same. the 4th seal was the wrng part number. all these seals were in kits. the 5 time was another new seal......this time i left the washer and reataining clip out. the whole seal came out upon start up. so i put it back in and hammered it down. then put the washer and clip back in and got a leak. the washer when seated on the seal is 1/8th inch away from the clip.....on startup it was sitting on the clip so the seal had moved the washer the 1/8th inch. took the clip back out and started the car again.....the seal came out again.....there are press fit marks on the seal and it had to be pressed in with a mild force.........so...either everyone makes the wrong seal......or my housing is shot.....the box never leaked on the bottom....it leaked on the top (input shaft) so i replaced that and just decided to replace the bottom as well. i cant gt this thing to seal up....ive spent atleast $60 tring to get seals in this thing.....whats up here
 
I believe your are talking about the gear box instead of the power steering pump, correct?

Is it possible that your gear box is not original to your car and the seals you are getting are not correct for your box.

I went through a seal problem on a 1969 Olds Cutlass a couple of months ago. The correct pinion seal would not work. I ended taking the original seal to the parts house and found out the rearend was not original to the car. It was a 72 rearend and it took a different seal. Bought that seal and fixed it.
 
This happened on my 65 Barracuda. The input leaked on the steering box so I replaced the seal, and decided to replace the lower seal which then started leaking.
 
yeah i did mean the box. 66 what did you do to fix it.......

i did replace it with a used one after my original steering box started to leak. it had a broken piece inside it so i scrapped it. the leak had nothing to do with the broken piece though. IF it is the wrong seal its very close. ten thousands more metal on the outer diameter and it would stay in there. I am at a loss......could it be the pump putting too much pressure to the box....ive never seen one do that before but i am reaching here....maybe the housing is bad
 
it started leaking originall when i put a 318 out of a 76 charger in the 69 dart
 
76 may be the start of the problem. I am not an expert but I just looked it up and it does not show to interchange. It could have more pressure than the 69. Maybe someone will chime in with more knowledge than I have.
 
so maybe i can put in another seal and replace the pump with a 69...maybe that will work. i hope someone does let me know.
 
you know...im pretty sure my pump is from a 68 coronet. i had the 318 coronet engine laying around and used the water pump power steering and alternator........could that still be the cause....the autozone part numbers are different
 
Steering gearboxes are interchangeable '62-'72 A- and B-body. The reason the '76 doesn't interchange is that '73+ A (etc.) bodies got the larger pitman shaft. A P/S pump/box mismatch is also not the problem. Sounds like poor-quality and/or incorrect seals are being installed. AutoZone sells garbage; they're fine for buying cheap oil and stuff, but not actual working parts that you actually want to have work. Get with Steer & Gear or Firm Feel for good quality, correct repair parts.
 
In the service bay... The simplest way to remove the original seal is remove the snap ring , start the engine and steer to end stop. The pressure would blow the seal out into the catch pan.
I think your problem may be in your seal install method. What tool are you using ?
 
check the seating area on the output shaft very closely to make sure there are no scratches or were marks that would damage the seal. I don't believe the pump has anything to do with it. its just a pump and their isn't that much difference in output pressure between them. are you useing the correct fluid. is their any slop in the output shaft. a bad bearing will cause seal problems.dose the pump make any unusual noise dose the power steering work properly.make shure there is no oil on the outer seal seating area and use locktite with activator to install the next one so as to help hold it in. if it isn't tite in the hole.
 
i am using an extra one of those large washers and a 1 1/8 socket that has the end cut off so it sits down over the shaft. the remove method red fish said is whats happening.....its blowing the seal right out of the housing.....when installing the seal i seat it all the way down against the ridge above the bearing........this location in the housing makes it sit about 1/8 below the snap ring......it blows the seal up against the snap ring and loosens it and makes it leak....the only other option i know of is to try to seat it about where the snap ring is.....with the washer installed of course. i did use lock tight on it.....still blew out. could there be another problem? no slop in the output shaft and just using regular power fluid
 
Try one more time. Check the suface where the seal meets the housing. Remove any scars. A light coat of rtv on the bore surface wont hurt anything. Place a new seal over the shaft and against the bore. Sit one of your useds seals upside down over that one. Now drive on the old seal to install the new one. Drive it in just deep enough to install the cover washer ( if equiped ) and the snap ring.
 
one thing about using loctite that is very important that most people dont realize is it wont bond to the metal if theirs any oil film. use carb or brake cleaner to remove it.they also make a spray they call primer that helps a lot to properly cure the locktite.I don't use locktite without it. also It wont cure in cold weather. they have diferent grades of locktite for different purposes some of them you have to heat things to get them apart or you will destroy them.you could bump up to the red if you want but it will be hell to remove.There is one stronger than that but i wouldn't use it.
 
maybe i could run 2 cover washers to take up the space and seat it all the way down? could it be a pump relief valve sticking or a rotor vein sticking?
it is an original 68 saginaw...............there are no scratches or imperfections in the housing that i can see. when he seals blow out they have the metal to metal contact lines like a driven in seal.
 
I wondered about the relief valve also. That is a very good question. I dont know if it has one or where it is. Thats why i asked if its functioning normally.Those assembly methods with the locktite are extream but it wont pop out on its own and if you try to take it out you mite swear because it will be stuck.I would like to know how this turns out.Good luck.
 
I've seen the pressure relief valve failure rupture the high pressure hose rather than blow out the shaft seals.
I really think you are just driving the seal in too far. If there is a tiny oil return hole below that bearing, driving the seal in too far would cover that hole and cause the seal to move.
 
still no luck. i replaced the power steering pump and high and low pressure line. they needed it anyway. the pump had alot of play. i then replaced the seal again with anew one. this time i drove it in with the washer on top of it. i drove it until it barely cleared the snap ring line. the snap ring went in tight because it was so close but it did seat. The outcome of all of this.......................it leaked worse than usual! the seal is going in with resistance. there is nothing else i know of to do
 
no, i dont think so. ive gotten them from napa, advance auto parts, and rock auto, some of them are plews edelman brand. is not leaking from the inside of the seal its leaking from the outside of the seal
 
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