Steering box rebuild - adjustment query?

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RobTwin
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Steering box rebuild - adjustment query?

Post by RobTwin »

Hi all

As I mentioned somewhere else (Workshop thread, I think), when we got the Satellite running we found that our rebuilt steering box is/was leaking like a sieve :evil:

Rather than try and take it out and give it back to the peeps that did the rebuild, we thought the easiest route would be to try & fix the leak ourselves with the box still fitted to the car.

With many thanks to Anton for the loan of his homemade cover-removal-tool, and the provision of a spare set of seals/o-rings, we now have the cover off and have established that it was, what we presume to have been, an incorrect sized o-ring, positioned in the wrong place!

You can see in the 1st pic the dodgy o-ring and where it sits in relation to the recess that it should sit in.
Looking at these pics that Stu took, it took me a while to get to grips with which surface is higher or lower, and hence whether the o-ring should sit inboard or outboard of the step, but when I saw the last pic that shows one of Anton's o-rings sitting snug against the inside of that step it all became clearer.

So.... before we bolt it back together, refill the oil and start her up to see if the pump still works and if the leak is cured....

Has anyone else had a go at replacing these o-rings / seals and if so, does the last pic look like it's in the correct position?


Grateful for any input :thumbright:


Damaged o-ring in-situ:

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Damaged o-ring removed (the smaller one in the middle is from just under the nut above the cover, which wasnt leaking):

Image

New o-ring in different position:

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Last edited by RobTwin on Fri Oct 05, 12 2:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Rusty
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Post by Rusty »

Have a look at the part that screw in and seals onto the o-ring to see if there are any clues on that. There maybe a recess machined in it for the o-ring to sit in. I wonder if the original pic with the damaged o-ring is in the right place, but it just popped out during assembly and got squashed?
May I ask who rebuilt yours and how much it was?
Mine hadn't seen fluid for 25 years, and when I tried it I was not too surprised to see it leak around the input shaft. Was thinking about having a go myself, but they look look a nightmare - especially without the special tools.
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RobTwin
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Post by RobTwin »

Bit of an update, and another question!! :)

The o-ring problem seems to have been solved \:D/

And now we've managed to get 'er started (ign module problem also fixed.... for now [-o< ) the next problem/query has resurfaced...


As soon as we started using the car after getting it back together just before the Nats, we found that the steering felt 'notchy'... and the steering input didnt quite match where the car went :shock:

We put this down to poor adjustment as done the bods that did the rebuild (sorry Rusty - I'll post info on who it was and price when I've checked with Stu) so now the steering box is back together we want to get the adjustment set right.

Has anyone got any experience of this - how much to turn the adjuster screw, and which direction? And does the 'notchy', ie not smooth operation sound like it could be cured by some adjustment?

In an ideal world we would try 1/2 a turn, drive it a bit, turn it a bit more, etc etc, but to get to the screw we've had to take the battery, battery tray, plugs & leads out.
So it would be handy to have an idea whether 1/2 a turn is enough to do any good before we put all the bits back :)

Any ideas?

Thanks, R & S
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Dave-R
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Post by Dave-R »

Are you adjusting everything as per the instructions in the workshop manual?
You have to set the correct backlash and the position of the valve on the top of the box is critical.
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Steve
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Post by Steve »

Watching this closely as Ive got a small leak at the back of my steering box and going to have a go over Winter... :happy1:
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RobTwin
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Post by RobTwin »

Thanks Dave - our FSM says to (in Stuart's words):

"...remove centre link (from pitman arm to idler arm) and then with engine running feel for backlash (presume that means slop in the arm) and adjust the screw to remove backlash."

Trouble is, we can’t adjust the screw with the battery etc in place. So we realise that we're trying a bit of a shortcut / bodge by just trying to turn the screw by a predetermined amount.

As Stu says, unless he misread it and you don’t need the engine running? Can’t be 100% sure but it seemed a real pain.

So just wondering really how much adjustment is likely to make any difference. (obviously it depends on where the screw is positioned at the moment) :-k
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Dave-R
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Post by Dave-R »

Yeah with the engine running you need to feel the wobble in the pitman arm.

I have posted the whole procedure in a seperate thread along with a handy video.
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