Power steering

[Calais3800]

hi everyone im new to this site i bought a vn calasis a weeks ago and the power steering shit it self this moring!

i pulled it out and found the seal at the back of the unti is stuffed! its all buckled and the fluid just pours out of it when the motor was running. can i repair this seal myself?? or does this mean the unit is rooted coz theres a bit of play in the spindle when i took the wheel/hub off. if so, is wreckers best or repco & auto barn ect.

can anyony help me out wiff sum advice?

[paddyj]

You can get the seal kits from ebay for about $15 but I don't know what's involved in replacing them. Mine packed it in a few months ago, ended up getting a brand new one for $168 from Holden, think the guy charged me the wrong price because repco were looking for over $200 for a reconditioned one.

[Calais3800]

kool,

But does anyone know how to tell if the pump is gone? is the fact that the seal is blown indication of this or will a new seal do the trick? coz Holdon wreckers have em for $88.

[chromic]

I rebuilt my pump 2 weeks ago. The rubber O Ring seals were broken so I reeplaced them with a kit I found on ebay. First time I ever rebuilt a pump.
After I put it back in I went for a test drive around the block a few times with a friend following me just in case something would drop its guts,lol. All good now though.

When you say the fluid is pouring out is it coming from the hoses or resivoir?

[Calais3800]

niether......its the pump its self, ive pulled the whole thing out last week and the seal at the back has distored real bad. it looks as if air's gotten into the fluid somewhere and its blown the seal inwards. wat a stupid place to put a seal?? wonder why they dint leave the back as all cast! anyway its a large metal seal with rubber edge thats at the direct rear of the pump. it directly faces the block. i have no idea if its replaceable or if i need a new pump. looks like it can be popped out with a chisel or screwdriver though........

another problem waz the pressure hose coming from the pump. no leaks. but very dificult to remove. must be cheap steel coz the spanners keep buring up the connecter fittings every time i try to undo it fom the pump.

[chromic]

I'm pretty sure that the part you mentioned is the called the end plate and it has a snap ring which holds it in. It sounds like the end plate isn't sitting properly. I got the snap ring out by getting a small (narrow) screwdriver and putting it through a hole which is opposite to where the the o ring is (where the pressure hose which is a bugger to take out) Check out the two large O rings that you will see when the end plate is out to see if the 2 rubber seals are ok.

Putting the snap ring back in again is a bit of a fiddle if you dont have a clamp as you have to put pressure on the end plate (it's spring loaded) If it isn't put in properly it will show because it won't sit properly.

I had to use a chisel to get that pressure hose loose out of the pump as the ring spanner was rounding the bolt. The 4 bolts that were on the pulley wheel weren't much chop either.

Having said all that, It's your call as to what you want to do. Could you take your pump to the wreckers and compare the two pumps? I was going to buy another pump when mine leaked but I decided to take a punt and got lucky. (which doesn't always happen)

This is all from memory though and was from what I came across when I was doing it.

Good luck!

[Calais3800]

that might be it! yeah if your holding the pump at the back where its goes up against the engine block there a large round metal seal, appox 8cm in diameter. looks like a service seal or something thats sposed to pop out.

glad you told me its spring loaded! haha. looks easy to pop out completly seeing its already half way there. looks hard ,to knock back in. i though maybe rubber mallet for that. but yeah not sure this might be indicaton its had its time.i spose i could just change the o-rings like you say and hammer it (large round seal) back in and see it it fails again ,dunno. but i sourced a wreckers in cranbourne that flog em for $45 (second hand) not bad.

yeah that pressure hose is pain of a job!!! i think dat waz de part...........the 4 bolts, yeah on the black hub thing, i took the bloody drive belt off first then floundered wiff em before realliseing how much eaisier it would be it i put it back on. (nothing to brace p/s hub while undong little nuts) haha.

She's got a recent vr powersteering pump/idler tensioner unit from when i bought it so looks like is second p/s pump at least, for this car, must be a commodore thing coz all my commys from past had same trouble except the old models. but thanks for all your advice anywayz chromic and paddyj. my regards..