Hello everyone,

recently I noticed I had a leak on the power steering pump. There is hydraulic oil on the underside of the pump. First I tightened the lid and even replaced the gasket but that wasn't the culprit. I thought it was the shaft o-ring but... the pulley is clean so it can't be that.

As the pump seems to be one single block with the oil reservoir I don't think there is a gasket beneath the reservoir. So it must be the front seal of the pump.

So far so good. I ordered a new seal kit for the pump at my dealer. It costs a few dollar only. There are about 10 gaskets in the set, some of them incredibly thin. While on my way home I stopped at a local junkyard and asked the guy what he thought of rebuilding a p/s pump with new gaskets. He said that it was a terrible job because when you pull the pump apart there are about 50 tiny metal lamella (or segments) that are almost impossible to position back. He said he'd attempted some 5 pumps of which 3 did not work after the job.

I certainly don't want to end up like this. Does someone have any experience with this? Is it possible to just pull the front cover off while the shaft and everything that is on it stays in the pump? This way I'd only replace the front seal and the shaft's o-ring and that is it. Does this sound feasible?

Many thanks for your suggestions gentlemen!

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1991 W124 300D 2.5 Turbo

http://jasper.sk/gallery/

I did not see what year model you are talking about, but are you using ATF for power steering fluid? If so, the eighties and early nineties cars do not have seal material that is impervious to the additives in later formulated ATF. You should be running power steering fluid from the parts store.

If you HAVE been running ATF in there, it is most likely the shaft seal worn from its use.

Good luck,

Hello there Larry,

hard to remember what I used in there. The last time I remember I added hydraulic oil, suitable for AT also. That is what was written on the bottle. It wasn't specifically ATF.

The car is a 1991 model. Obviously there is a seal leak but I don't think it is the shaft seal because then the pulley would be greasy as well. It is more the front lid seal. It is easy to guess because I don't think there is any other seal at play - apart from the front lid the alloy housing is solid. I will attempt to pull the front lid off, while, at the same time, not removing the shaft from the housing, and replacing only the 2 seals.

I only hope there won't be too much resistance taking the lid away from the shaft through the seal. I don't have any dedicated puller tool for that.

One way or another, I will keep this thread updated.

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1991 W124 300D 2.5 Turbo

http://jasper.sk/gallery/