Paul King
MrPJK
If im adding fluid to my steering gear how full should it be,Thanks in advance
Steering gear
- Thread starter Paul King
- Start date
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What does the factory service manual say. Free download at mymopar.com
AJ/FormS
68 Formua-S fastback clone 367/A833/GVod/3.55s
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fill it to the top and drive it for a week; see what happens,; it will find it's own level..... lol. No joke, it will, but it will also be messy.
If your cap does not have dipstick;
>and the pump has a round-tube filler neck, then it is a Federal pump, and then you fill to the very bottom of the filler tube when cold, or a lil less, just so long as it covers the guts. With hot fluid it can be at the bottom of the filler neck, just going up the tube. If you put too much in, then when it gets hot it will puke it over the top; this is normal. After it cools to ambient temp, check the level and that will be your maximum fill.
>but if an oval tube Saginaw, then it should have a dipstick. If the dipstick is gone, then fill it same as the Federal; but this pump is a lil more forgiving and the fluid does not seem to get as hot, so is not as likely to puke. The shape of this filler neck allows for a lil more expansion.
I like this pump because it can keep up with my steering inputs, whereas the Federal is good for "normal" driving.
>If you like to do figure-8 burnouts; the Federal pump is likely to gulp air, stall, make a lotta noise, overheat the fluid, and puke a bunch of it out. I only get one or two switchs out of them, and then the assist goes away. Whereas the Saginaw will keep up pretty good.
> As for the Federal; I like the design, and it is normally trouble-free for a couple of hundred thousand miles.
> As for the Saginaw; meh on the design, but mine has been on the car for pushing 150,000 since the last rebuild, so I can't really say anything bad about it. It puts up with 7000 crank-rpm shifts just fine, whereas the Federals that I rebuilt and tried, overheated the fluid. I really wanted my Federals to work.....but in the end, the Saginaw won.
If your cap does not have dipstick;
>and the pump has a round-tube filler neck, then it is a Federal pump, and then you fill to the very bottom of the filler tube when cold, or a lil less, just so long as it covers the guts. With hot fluid it can be at the bottom of the filler neck, just going up the tube. If you put too much in, then when it gets hot it will puke it over the top; this is normal. After it cools to ambient temp, check the level and that will be your maximum fill.
>but if an oval tube Saginaw, then it should have a dipstick. If the dipstick is gone, then fill it same as the Federal; but this pump is a lil more forgiving and the fluid does not seem to get as hot, so is not as likely to puke. The shape of this filler neck allows for a lil more expansion.
I like this pump because it can keep up with my steering inputs, whereas the Federal is good for "normal" driving.
>If you like to do figure-8 burnouts; the Federal pump is likely to gulp air, stall, make a lotta noise, overheat the fluid, and puke a bunch of it out. I only get one or two switchs out of them, and then the assist goes away. Whereas the Saginaw will keep up pretty good.
> As for the Federal; I like the design, and it is normally trouble-free for a couple of hundred thousand miles.
> As for the Saginaw; meh on the design, but mine has been on the car for pushing 150,000 since the last rebuild, so I can't really say anything bad about it. It puts up with 7000 crank-rpm shifts just fine, whereas the Federals that I rebuilt and tried, overheated the fluid. I really wanted my Federals to work.....but in the end, the Saginaw won.
Doesn't the cap have a dipstick on it?
Is the OP talking about a Power steering pump?
Or manual steering gear?
Or manual steering gear?
Dave999
Well-Known Member
if its manual it will be orginally filled with a water resistant grease
feel free to try pumping more in. or just do as most do... top off the box with gear oil... go for a drive so the heat from the headers gets into it
check on return and if necessary top off again...
they were orginally filled with a specific grease that was very clingy it was potentially similar to 1950s MARFAC 2 or mopar multimileage ... it sweated out a bit of oil when stressed or warm and kinda consumed it again when cool...
modern NLGI II red stuff can be used, BUT doesn't sweat out the oil so bunging in some 90 gear oil kinds assists in the same way...
i have opend a number of manual boxes for ratio chnages and found Modern RED mobil NLGI a kind translucent clear blue green stuff and plain old grey moly HIGH pressure stuff
none of the boxes had suffered too much ware.
2 of them had the top bearing cage smashed but had been used on cars with no slip joint/pot coupler. chassis flex then smashed up the input bearing
as far as i can tell most damage to manual steering boxes occurs when OVER adjusted or NEVER adjusted.
out of adjustment 1 way or the other kills em
too tight obvious ware
too loose the teeth chatter, ballnut in sector, in the straight ahead position, and wear
Dave
feel free to try pumping more in. or just do as most do... top off the box with gear oil... go for a drive so the heat from the headers gets into it
check on return and if necessary top off again...
they were orginally filled with a specific grease that was very clingy it was potentially similar to 1950s MARFAC 2 or mopar multimileage ... it sweated out a bit of oil when stressed or warm and kinda consumed it again when cool...
modern NLGI II red stuff can be used, BUT doesn't sweat out the oil so bunging in some 90 gear oil kinds assists in the same way...
i have opend a number of manual boxes for ratio chnages and found Modern RED mobil NLGI a kind translucent clear blue green stuff and plain old grey moly HIGH pressure stuff
none of the boxes had suffered too much ware.
2 of them had the top bearing cage smashed but had been used on cars with no slip joint/pot coupler. chassis flex then smashed up the input bearing
as far as i can tell most damage to manual steering boxes occurs when OVER adjusted or NEVER adjusted.
out of adjustment 1 way or the other kills em
too tight obvious ware
too loose the teeth chatter, ballnut in sector, in the straight ahead position, and wear
Dave
Paul King
MrPJK
Thanks everyone
Thanks everyone!
THANKS EVERYONE!
That's it... without answering the single most important question...
Is it a manual or power gear box you were asking about.
If you don't answer that, this post will go on forever!
Paul King
MrPJK
It was a manuel steering box
Thanks everyone!
THANKS EVERYONE!
That's it... without answering the single most important question...
Is it a manual or power gear box you were asking about.
If you don't answer that, this post will go on forever!
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