A little advice.....

[whocares]

I have searched and read a few pages worth of threads, but havent been able to find a solution to my power steering problem. First off, its a 89 BII and the power steering is nice and quiet.

It has started leaking behind the power steering pulley where the pulley shaft enters the pump. I dont see any other leaks anywhere else. Its throwing a thin line of fluid over on to the washer fluid reservoir and up on the underside of the hood, and of course its getting on the steering box thats underneath.

I am curious to see if anyone has just replaced the seal where the shaft enters the pump, or if that's even possible. I read in another thread that adding a small amount of transmission stop leak may swell the seal enough to stop the leak, and I was wanting some opinions from the experts. So what say you?

 

[srteach]

Replace the seal? Possible, but not easy. Plan on breaking the belt pulley. I've never gotten a pulley off without breaking it.
Swelling the seal is only temporary. It will work for a while, but will eventually cause a bigger leak.

The reason the seal fails, usually, is due to a bearing starting to wear out. Plan on replacing the pump. There is an article about replacing it with a better (non-ford type) pump in the Tech Library.

 

[whocares]

Thats what I was thinking too, just wanted some more push in that direction. I might as well do the upgrade while I am at it.

 

[cammeddrz]

I've never gotten a pulley off without breaking it.
.

with the correct tool, and heat it is easiy done. my techs remove/re-install at least one a day without hurting the pulley, in fact there are often rebuild kit available for most p/s pumps for pretty cheap

 

[whocares]

I have the puller set that I bought for changing the pulley on the power steering on my 02 Crown Vic....haven't looked yet, but I assumed it was usable on this too.

 

[srteach]

with the correct tool, and heat it is easiy done. my techs remove/re-install at least one a day without hurting the pulley, in fact there are often rebuild kit available for most p/s pumps for pretty cheap

Not arguing about the pulley, just noting personal experience. Rebuild kits are probably available for most things, but he was asking about just replacing the seal.

 

[whocares]

Not arguing about the pulley, just noting personal experience. Rebuild kits are probably available for most things, but he was asking about just replacing the seal.

I was kinda hoping someone would pop up and say something like "oh yeah, that seal. No problem, it takes 10 min to replace and costs 12 cents" Wishful thinking obviously but never hurts to ask and see what the opinions are. Since the pump is quiet and working well (other than the leak) it would have been so nice to just replace the seal.

Murphys Law isn't going to let this happen easily anyway. I will either break the pulley or I will break the puller while the pulley comes off cleanly.

 

[whocares]

I found a seal kit for the power steering pump at NAPA (part #7134) it's less than 8 dollars. I think I may give it a whirl.