jeffball610 Posted November 7, 2022 Report Share Posted November 7, 2022 So I bought a Gates rebuid/seal kit and rebuilt the power steering pump. It had a massive leak from the front seal and i had to fix what was there. Unfortuantely, the pump won't turn. I reassembled the unit, but if I torque the rear housing bolts at all, the shaft won't spin. I assume I need to push the shaft forward or something, but I'm not sure what I'm missing. Do I just need to wack the shaf forward? Did I potentially assemble something wrong? It's a pretty simple unit, so I'm not sure what I did wrong. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev Posted November 8, 2022 Report Share Posted November 8, 2022 It sounds like you put the pump wheel on backwards. There is a dot machined into it that indicates the direction. I believe it faces towards the back of the pump, if memory serves me correctly but the FSM states it. If it is on backwards, the clip will not push into the correct chamfer and when you put the back plate of the pump on, it will jamb up like it is doing for you. Also, if your front leak was pretty severe, a rebuild may not do the trick. I've found that the bearing wears with time and causes it to still leak with a new seal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffball610 Posted November 9, 2022 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2022 The leak was quite severe. I think the pump shaft has a groove and it will likely leak again. The pump wheel only goes on one direction that I know of. Maybe I put it on backwards. I'll double check. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev Posted November 10, 2022 Report Share Posted November 10, 2022 Here are some photos On the one side, you will see a small square 'dot'. This side has a lip and chamfer to accept the clip on the main shaft. This faces to the back of the pump, or 'out' as I have it marked for assembly. As seen, the other side doesn't have any chamfer or lip. So for assembly, put it on as follows: With the clip on, you have to push the pump impeller up and seat it into that lip/chamfer so it fits in there good. Because what happens is that the back cover of the pump pushes against the main shaft. See the recessed section in this photo that I have lubricated. So, if your impeller isn't seated in the clip properly or on backwards, when the back cover goes on, it pushes the shaft forward and mashes the impeller into the body. A little off-topic but when you install the vanes in the impeller, make sure they are facing the correct direction. There is a radius on one side (the right side in the photo below). This faces out in the impeller. I don't have a good shot of the bearing in the pump body but it is a sleeve bearing style with fluid passageway groove, etc. You can kind of see it under the seal in the photo below. This bearing wears with time and it doesn't take much to start a leak, even with a new seal. I don't have a source for a new bearing but something must exist because the Cardone rebuilt units have a new bearing installed. I still didn't believe it could be the bearing because I even tested the deflection per the 87 FSM and it came out in spec...but still leaked like made after rebuild. Tearing it a part up to three times with even polishing the shaft to practically a mirror and installing a double lipped oil seal (as shown below) still didn't fix the leak. This pump is still laying in a box in my workbench, years later. I found a Carbone rebuilt until and that is what is in the car now. Somewhere I have the ID measurements of the inner bearings between this pump and the rebuilt pump. I don't recall the values but we were talking around 1-2 thousands of a difference....the difference between leaking vs not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffball610 Posted November 13, 2022 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2022 Yep. I installed the gear backward. It went on so smoothly the other direction and was tight in the correct direction. I got it installed. I'll fire the car up tomorrow to see if it leaks. I'm sure it will. This is just a stop gap for the whole car. I just want it up and running so I can find all of the "issues" before I do an engine swap. I know people love the G54B, but it has some issues and parts are difficult to find due to age and low production numbers. I'll do what I can with what I have, and then onto something "better". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffball610 Posted November 14, 2022 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2022 I still haven't pulled the car out of the garage due to vairous fluid leaks. The rebuild seems to be successful, but it does have an issue of foaming over after I shut down. I'm sure it just needs to be "bled", but the foaming is rediculous. As soon as this last oil leak is fixed, it's time for a road test to see what else is wrong. The front brakes drag (likely due to corrosion) and who knows what else needs to be fixed. The LS should be here this weekend, and I have a CD009 sitting patiently in the corner 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasQuest Posted November 14, 2022 Report Share Posted November 14, 2022 Definitely needs the air bled out of it. Make sure to use dexron transmission fluid and NOT power steering fluid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obsolete Posted November 14, 2022 Report Share Posted November 14, 2022 That's Dexron III, also, not Dexron VI. The older, thicker, non-synthetic stuff. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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