power steering gear box seal
06-07-2009, 04:54 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
power steering gear box seal
i got a 1993 f150 4.9l 5spd and just yesterday i found out i have no power steering fluid in my pump. so i filled it up and went on. then today i go outside and see all the fluid on the ground. i took a look and it looks like it is leaking out of the gearr box by the pitman arm. its been leaking slowly for about a year or so now. i went offraoding yesterday and thats when i heard the pump was out of fluid. im just wondering if you can just replace the seal on the gear box or do i have to replace the whole thing? i look on autozones and napa websites and they call it a input shaft seal, is that the seal i need to fix that or no? are they hard to replace?
06-07-2009, 06:57 PM
#2
Senior Member
No, the input seal is where the shaft from the steering column enters the box. You need the output seal, if the leak is by the pitman arm. Its the larger of the two. Remove the pitman arm, remove snap ring, and remove seal with seal extractor (slide hammer with screw). Reverse for assembly.
01-28-2010, 10:22 PM
#3
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For Reference
This is an old thread, but just wanted to make a suggestion for reference...
When I replaced my pitman arm seal, instead of using a seal extractor (not everyone has one), I took the advice of another thread and used the power-steering pump itself to remove the seal.
1.) remove pitman arm (it can come off with a vengeance, so please be careful when using pullers!)
2.) remove snap ring
3.) with some fluid in PS pump (be prepared to lose it all over the floor), start engine and turn steering wheel back and forth to left- right-lock
It came off in 1-1/2 turns of the wheel for me, but it worked well.
My father-in-law is a mechanic and said I'd be better off replacing the whole gearbox to avoid all the work, but this method made it really easy. I hope someone else can use this!
When I replaced my pitman arm seal, instead of using a seal extractor (not everyone has one), I took the advice of another thread and used the power-steering pump itself to remove the seal.
1.) remove pitman arm (it can come off with a vengeance, so please be careful when using pullers!)
2.) remove snap ring
3.) with some fluid in PS pump (be prepared to lose it all over the floor), start engine and turn steering wheel back and forth to left- right-lock
It came off in 1-1/2 turns of the wheel for me, but it worked well.
My father-in-law is a mechanic and said I'd be better off replacing the whole gearbox to avoid all the work, but this method made it really easy. I hope someone else can use this!
11-21-2011, 01:48 PM
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pitman seal
I have a 2003 F150 and I had a mechanic replace my seal twice within a month. I was told by a different mechanic if you don't get the groove for the C-clip clean out really well it may cause the seal to go. And check the shaft to make sure it is still in good shape. After 2 attempts I am going with a new gear box and replacing myself.
