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Bad PS Pump. Replace Steering Box too?

lawsoncl

NAXJA Forum User
Location
North Idaho
I found out I had no power steering when I went to make a hard left turn at the bottom of a hill. Bit of a crap your pants moment there....

I'm pretty sure its the power steering pump. If I rev the engine up to 2500, I have power steering again, but otherwise it's like the engine is off. Fluid is full and has a very lite burnt plastic smell. Kinda like the stuff brand new in the bottle only a bit stronger. The belt is not slipping, and it doesn't sound any different than it always has. If anything it seems quieter. Looks like $55 for a rebuilt.

The steering box has a little side-side play and just barely wet at the output shaft , so I've been debating on rebuilding it as well. If the PS pump failed do I need to worry about contamination? How hard is it to rebuild? It looks like the steering box is the same across 87-01 XJs and might be the same as the wranglers and some other GM vehicles, so might grab one at the junkyard instead.

edit - found a reference that cross the steering box to:

  • Fits All Jeep Wrangler TJ Models 1997-2002
  • Fits All Jeep Wrangler YJ Models 1987-1995
  • Fits All Jeep Cherokee XJ Models 1984-2001
 
Consider replacing the stock steering gear box with one from a 93-98 ZJ. It has a bit quicker steering ratio (12.7:1 vs. 14:1) and a much better feel on the road. But it's not that quick where it will hamper off-road crawling. Pure bolt-on mod, but you need to re-use the XJ Pitman arm. I'd never go back the the stock steering gear - feels like driving a bus.
 
Consider replacing the stock steering gear box with one from a 93-98 ZJ. It has a bit quicker steering ratio (12.7:1 vs. 14:1) and a much better feel on the road. But it's not that quick where it will hamper off-road crawling. Pure bolt-on mod, but you need to re-use the XJ Pitman arm. I'd never go back the the stock steering gear - feels like driving a bus.


Thanks. I was wondered what would cross. I already some ZJ parts in there like the tie rod. Might head for the pull-n-save junkyard this afternoon. They charge $16 for a pump and $28 for a steering box. (yeah, I'm cheap)
 
So, anyone got a spare stock pitman arm they'll sell me cheap?

The gear and pump are swapped out. I just need to add fluid and transfer the pitman arm over. That sucker is stuck on there real good! Pitman arm puller tight to the point it's starting to stretch, heated until the steering gear is smoking hot, and whacking it with a 5-lb sledge and it's still not budging. Not enough clearance to get it in the bearing press.

I hate to send it back with the old gear to get the core charge back. The pump is going back with the pulley on it, but I expected that and spent the $15 for a new one.


EDIT - Nevermind. I just walked out for one last try and it came right off. Maybe it just needed to cool down and bath in the PB-Blaster a little longer. I also put a clamp on the pitman puller to help keep it from flexing and popping off. Heading to the store for some fluid.
 
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EDIT - Nevermind. I just walked out for one last try and it came right off. Maybe it just needed to cool down and bath in the PB-Blaster a little longer. I also put a clamp on the pitman puller to help keep it from flexing and popping off. Heading to the store for some fluid.

Good you got it off - they most always are a real biotch to remove. Three days of constant douching with PB is the norm. Did you get a ZJ box?
 
Why did the ZJ pitman arm have to be removed? I bolted a ZJ gear box and pitman arm up with no problems. Stock suspension.


Some people say the ZJ pitman are is a upgrade for lifted jeeps, when I compared it to the pitman arms I had on the shelf from XJ they were the same. These were off late 97-01 XJ, and were a major pain to pull, these parts are what actually sold me on the portable electric impact gun. The kolbalt Lowes special had more power than my air impact gun, admittedly I don't have a big compressor and tank but it's rated for the tools and slightly bigger than the one I used to drag around to construction sites.

But yeah the pitmans arms are a pain to remove, even soaking pb blast and heating with the torch.




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The ZJ arm drops about an inch lower than the XJ arm. Using a ZJ arm on a stock suspension XJ will skew up the track bar / drag link parallel geometry and possibly cause bump-steer. You don't want that......

115946d1079311252-my-jeep-mj-waggy44-front-toyota-8-rear-leafs-up-front-etc-zj-xj-pitmans.jpg
 
Old_Man use to rebuild the Renix Steering boxes, but could not get good seal kits anymore and quite about 6 + years ago. Mine on my Wagoneer has a slow leak ever since I bought it from Autozone. I finally got the leak manageable by using STP PS stop leak fluid.

I always just replace the PW pumps on all my rigs. I replaced the one steering box on my XJ because it developed a serious leak.

Old_Man says to use use new hoses, and add an inline filter ( I forget which side) and its a good idea to flush the old box if you keep it.
 
I replaced the gear since the output was sloppy side-side about 1-mm. At $100, it was easier than trying to do a rebuild or even try to do just the out put bearing. I used a Cardone 27-7560 steering gear, which I think is the slightly quicker ratio. It does seem to turn in slightly quicker. The part numbers were confusing as some brands showed the same p/n for both the ZJs and XJs, some had different numbers, and some had different numbers between the 92 and 98 boxes which were supposedly the same.

I had to do some alignment as the steering wheel was about 1/8 turn off. I measured everything just to make sure I wasn't off a spline on either the input or output even though I was pretty sure they're keyed and only go on one way. With the steering wheel straight the pitman are was straight, so didn't mess that up. While adjusting the drag link to center the steering wheel, noticed the right side TRE end was bad, so ordering a new drag link.
 
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