STEERING BOX SEAL REPLACEMENT QUESTION

[CFD244]

Hi Folks

The OEM power steering box in my 1971 Demon has a fluid leak from the pitman arm shaft. My question is......Can the oil seal and dust seal be replaced with the box still in the car? If so, can anyone advise the best procedure? (BTW......This box has less than 1000miles on a rebuild)

Thanks FABO

 

[halifaxhops]

I have, You wont like my way though, take the nut and arm, and snap ring off oil pan under it, and start it and turn the wheel all the way over and it WILL blow the seal and washer right out! Plus flushes the system out quickly also!

 

[4spdragtop]

Sorry to read Troy, following along.

 

[CFD244]

Sorry to read Troy, following along.

No worries.....Just a small leak. Rebuilder will make it right......If I bring him the box. I don't want to pull the box, so he will give me the parts that I need. Rebuilder is a stand up guy who does great work. I am 99.9% happy LOL. Sometimes **** just happens

 

[halifaxhops]

Really not hard to do a pick will work also.

 

[Kendog 170]

I did a chevy pick up box. Removed arm, snap ring, washer, then screwed 2 drywall screws into the seal and pried it out evenly. I don't know if it would be the same with a Mopar box.

 

[RedFish]

It is possible to replace the input shaft seal in the car but,,, aleast 1 member here has screwed up with the shade tree (draw screw) method. Very little surface to put a screw through. Damage to shaft or bore can happen.

 

[cudamark]

Makes me wonder why the seal went bad that soon after a rebuild. Faulty seal? Bad install? Nick on the sector shaft? I've replaced the pitman seal on old boxes by using a cheap dent puller with a screw-in adaptor. As mentioned, just be careful not to damage the sector shaft or you'll never get it to seal.

 

[dadsbee]

Like Ray stated... pull the arm and clip and crank it fully to one side and blow them out. A towel draped into the bucket will cut the splatter...

 

[CFD244]

Makes me wonder why the seal went bad that soon after a rebuild. Faulty seal? Bad install? Nick on the sector shaft? I've replaced the pitman seal on old boxes by using a cheap dent puller with a screw-in adaptor. As mentioned, just be careful not to damage the sector shaft or you'll never get it to seal.

I'll take a close look with the seal out to confirm the hard parts are Ok.

 

[CFD244]

Thanks for everyone's input. I'll give it a shot this spring when I pull it out of storage......

 

[JDMopar]

Maybe the new seal will come with a protecto sleeve to slide onto the splines before sliding the seal in place. I've done 2 input shaft seals on PS boxes in the car, and they both had little thin plastic tubes to slide onto the input splines to keep from damaging the seal when you drive it in.

Please video the seal explosion when you change it.....lol.

 

[CFD244]

Maybe the new seal will come with a protecto sleeve to slide onto the splines before sliding the seal in place. I've done 2 input shaft seals on PS boxes in the car, and they both had little thin plastic tubes to slide onto the input splines to keep from damaging the seal when you drive it in.

Please video the seal explosion when you change it.....lol.

LOL......Thanks for the tip. I was thinking about wrapping the shaft with plastic wrap or something of that nature prior to installation.

Where did you get your seals?

 

[JDMopar]

I got mine at NAPA, but that was probably 20 years ago....so you know how things have changed. You could make something out of thin plastic pretty easily. Maybe even aluminum foil wrapped a few turns. It just needs to cover the splines so they don't tear the seal. The worst part of changing the input shaft seal is having to take the steering column out.

 

[CFD244]

I got mine at NAPA, but that was probably 20 years ago....so you know how things have changed. You could make something out of thin plastic pretty easily. Maybe even aluminum foil wrapped a few turns. It just needs to cover the splines so they don't tear the seal. The worst part of changing the input shaft seal is having to take the steering column out.

Mine's the pitman seal so not too bad.

 

[scatpackbee]

No worries.....Just a small leak. Rebuilder will make it right......If I bring him the box. I don't want to pull the box, so he will give me the parts that I need. Rebuilder is a stand up guy who does great work. I am 99.9% happy LOL. Sometimes **** just happens

Oh man that’s really shitty Troy.

I got my PS box destined for my Barracuda rebuilt by the same guy...