Sorry if this is in the wrong forum - I had a leak on my power steering box. I replaced the pitman arm seals. Now that the lower leak has been fixed, I see that I have a small leak seeping from the top plate of the sector box - (the one on top with the adjustment screw). the leak is engine side, rear bolt at the 10 oclock position when facing the engine. I have checked that all the bolts are tight. Any ideas what I need to do to fix this leak? Looking at a diagram it seems it is just an o-ring. Can I just remove the adjuster nut, remove the top plate, and replace the o-ring, or is there more to it?
Replacing the O-ring should fix the problem if that is where it is coming from. I'm not sure if the bolt holes in the box are blind holes or are open to the cavity but if they are open then use should probably use some thread sealant on the bolts. I had a leak on mine awhile back that I finally pinpointed as coming up out of the threads of the adjustment bolt. A new nyloc nut and a little thread sealant on the stud was all it took to fix it.
You don't mention if it's PS 0r MS. I just went through this same deal (PS box). I assume it's PS, because MS only have grease in there normally. My pitman shaft seals had a leak. Fixed that, and the cover O ring started leaking. Just fixed that and now it's leak free! Once you move that adjustment screw, you really need to readjust the box again with a torque wrench and preferably off the car. The oring is a weird size and large, most parts stores aren't going to have it. You can buy a complete pitman kit w/ the oring, new bolts, and lower seals pretty cheap. The 4 bolt holes are blind. It is a good idea to put a small amount of silicone on the center adjusting bolt after it's set up, as mentioned. ---------- Post added at 02:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:03 PM ---------- Now I see I never really answered your question! Put a drain pan under the box. You would put an allen wrench in the adjusting screw, hold it, and remove the nut, then remove or at least loosen significantly the 4 bolts. Then you turn the allen screw...I think clockwise and the cover will slowly lift off. If you leave a couple of the bolts in the cover won't spin while you are turning the allen wrench. Eventually you will have to remove the bolts as the cover lifts off. I put longer bolts in to remove it easily. Then...the oring just sets in the cover. Reverse procedure to assemble. But you should really adjust the box after it's done.
The oring can be difficult when you try to get it to stay in the groove and reassemble. You can use some heavy grease like Lucas Heavy Duty to hold it in place. If it's a later model, it will have the oring attached to a metal plate you crimp on the cover. Those are easier to do. The adjustment screw will have to be about all the way up for the cover to snug down. If you want a ballpark adjustment setting, try like backing off the allen screw 1/2 turn or so and tightening the nut. If the steering feels difficult at all, you will have to adjust the box with a torque wrench. You will wear the pitman and other gear faster if it's not adjusted right.
