Thriller MJ

[XJFever]

NICEEEEEEE, that looked like fun

[Blacky]

u looked alittle scared at one point there blacky

one point!? try the entire day! haha

[Twisty]

After doing literally nothing for maintenance for give or take 2 years, I'm going to take care of a few things.

First on the list is a leaky power steering pump.  It was leaking out the back and the leak was getting worse.  I talked to Chris at the Q and he told me how to "rebuild" them.  I decided to give it a whirl myself instead of sending it to Texas and paying for parts, labor and shipping.

We have a PSC TC pump with -12 feed and -6 out.




Seal kit.  $12 from Amazon.  I ordered the wrong part number because the shaft seal was the wrong one, but it wasn't leaking so I wasn't really worried about it.






Schematic.




Put the pump in a vise to hold and use a c-clamp to push on the back cover.




This will allow you to put a small pick (or drill bit) in the drilled hole to push out the snap ring.




Then I pushed the shaft in which drove the back cover and internals out.  I did this slowly so pieces wouldn't go flying.




With the back cover removed you can see the cam, rotor, and vanes.  This is what makes the pressure in these pumps.




There's your problem!!  A cut o-ring.  What's up with the rust on the inside?  I'd be blown away if it happened while being bathed in oil.  Unless it rusted at PSC I don't know when it would have happened.




Internals apart.





Comparison between stock XJ pump (right) and PSC (left).  The inlet isn't that much larger on the more expensive PSC pump.





The PSC pump had some wear on the cam, rotor, and vanes.  After some deliberation and research I decided to conduct a test and assemble the pump using the cam, rotor and vanes from the STOCK XJ pump.  I am 99.5% sure that they are dimensionally the same.  







That's all I took for pictures.  The pump went back together fairly easily and works pretty well.  I did not notice a decrease in power or speed.  I can turn lock to lock in about 3 seconds; a little slower when warm, but it has always done that.  I want to take it for a test drive tomorrow.

[Twisty]

And in case any one is looking for further reading on power steering pumps (P style, TC style, CB style) and how they work, I HIGHLY recommend this thread.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/general-4x4-discussion/973826-what-s-going-inside-ps-pump.html

[Twisty]

Last night when I was reassembling everything, the clamping screws stripped out of the aluminum bracket.  The supplied bolts are 1" long and had about .25" of thread engagement  I swapped them out for some 1.5" long bolts which I trimmed down to 1.25".  

Steering system is back together, is 100% functional and ready for a test drive.  




Up next for the steering is a filter change.  The reservoir has an internal filter; NAPA part number 1418 or WIX 51418.  They go for about $12

[SPYDER]

good info....I don't think your feed line can be any shorter 

[jps4jeep]

Nice manicure

[Twisty]

Not much shorter.  


It's nice to know that you notice the little things John.  Makes a person feel good about themselves.  



Took the MJ for a 10-15 minute test drive.  I climbed a few trees to test steering and did a test on dry pavement.  Turned just as well as it did before, but this time there were no leaks.  The tires were aired up to ~15psi, so I'm sure once I drop them to 3 it will be a little different.  

[Posimoto]

Nicely done on the restore Tim! 

[Twisty]

Thanks Chuck.  It is nice to be able to refurbish things that work fine, but need 1 or 2 issues cleared up.  Sometimes a new part is too much money, and the old one is perfectly fine except for a few inexpensive parts. 


Watching you refurbish compressors and transmissions has given me a little motivation to rebuild instead of replace when I have the time and ability.

[05rckymtn]

 That will be a post many of us will prob refer to some time down the line.  Great job!

[Twisty]

Thanks.  I hope it will be.  It could save someone a lot of money and down time.  Since the repair, the pump is still leak free.




I found that one of the Johnny Joints on the front lower control arm was loose, and causing a lot of noise which Blacky and I were noticing that last two times out.  I was getting ready to pull the trigger on some new bushings for my Johnny Joints (8 bushings total ~$50) and I decided to check where the play was coming from 1 more time.  I discovered that the bolt was loose and allowing movement.  I tightened the bolt to the best of my abilities (pretty tight) and the movement went away.  Hope that the hole isn't ovaled out, or I will have to repair them with some weld washers from Ruffstuff.  

$50 saved.

[Blacky]

Thanks.  I hope it will be.  It could save someone a lot of money and down time.  Since the repair, the pump is still leak free.




I found that one of the Johnny Joints on the front lower control arm was loose, and causing a lot of noise which Blacky and I were noticing that last two times out.  I was getting ready to pull the trigger on some new bushings for my Johnny Joints (8 bushings total ~$50) and I decided to check where the play was coming from 1 more time.  I discovered that the bolt was loose and allowing movement.  I tightened the bolt to the best of my abilities (pretty tight) and the movement went away.  Hope that the hole isn't ovaled out, or I will have to repair them with some weld washers from Ruffstuff. 

$50 saved.

Awesome! I'm glad you found where that was coming from. What led you to thinking the Johnny Joints were the cause?

[Twisty]

I could feel something moving in the front end, and I know it wasn't the upper control arm.  The lower arm was moving slightly when sawing the wheel so I started to feel the joints for play.

[Twisty]

Boring update alert!!

New fuel filter.  Smaller this time.





New steering filter.





And I'm strongly considering buying one of these.
http://www.4wd.com/Armor-Protection/Oil-Pan-Skid-Plate.aspx?t_c=79&t_s=467&t_pt=3545&t_pn=TER4667100

I'm 99% sure this is the same one that Maki has on his TJ, and I liked how it works.  I dragged my oil pan on a rock at the BBQ and don't want to ruin a weekend by destroying the pan and oil pickup.  I don't have the time, materials, or space to build my own and for the price I think that this is hard to beat.