We should get our terms straight. To most folks here, the steering
pump is the device driven by the engine serpentine belt that delivers pressure to assist in steering. In the case of your TD, the steering pump is in tandem with the pump that provides pressure to the SLS. The device that takes a signal from the steering wheel and is assisted by the steering
pump is the steering gearbox or just steering
box. The pitman arm attaches to the steering
box.
[COLOR="rgb(65, 105, 225)"]Thanks for the info. I was confused in my terminology. I rebuilt opened up both the tandem pump and the steering box. I had installed the same steering Box that was in the car and then when I tested it there was a massive leak when I turned the car to hard right. I opened up that steering box and found a a flaw in the metal of the casing. I then took out the steering box from my parts car and installed it. I don't remember whether I opened up the second steering box or not.[/COLOR]
I have difficulty understanding the problem you describe but it sounds like you reach a point in right turns that the steering linkage doesn't naturally return to straight ahead when you release the steering wheel.
That is exactly the problem that I am havingThat's unusual. My questions at this point:
1) Did you touch anything in the steering linkage? Tie rods, center link, idler arm, etc.?
[COLOR="rgb(65, 105, 225)"]I replaced all of the above parts. Pretty much everything in the front end[/COLOR]
2) How far into the steering box did you go? Did you replace the pitman arm shaft seal and call it a day, or did you take it apart completely and set preload to the inch-pounds specifications?
[COLOR="rgb(65, 105, 225)"]I took the steering box apart[/COLOR] If you removed the steering box from the car, did you use locking compound on the bolts (which you're not supposed to reuse)? Is it still firmly attached to the frame?
3) Did you do any work to the front suspension that might have altered camber, caster or toe settings? [COLOR="rgb(65, 105, 225)"]Yes I did but then took the car in to have it aligned.[/COLOR]
4) Did you bleed the power steering system? [COLOR="rgb(65, 105, 225)"]As I remember the power steering bleeding was a pretty simple cruise down the driveway to "berp" the air out. [/COLOR]
5) What motivated you to touch the steering system in the first place? What problem were you addressing? [COLOR="rgb(65, 105, 225)"]I had multiple problems. I had a leak in the steering box which I couldn't find because it only leaked when the wheel was turned hard right. I thought the leak was coming off of the engine somewhere but I was wrong. Also there was a problem with the tie rods. The car would clunk every time we turned. I don't remember if it was both ways or just to the right. I replaced all of the front end bushing and tie rods. Then the pods went bad and the car was bouncing. When I fixed that I found that the tandem pump wasn't working so I resealed that and it works fine now. I also had to clean the SLS valve. The SLS works now but may need a final adjustment. I then replaced the rear end suspension arms bushings tie rods etc. Now I am down to trying to figure out this final problem ( I hope) [/COLOR]
Having asked all that, someone will come along and suggest you flip some switch to make it right
Sixto
87 300D