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Power steering pump leak
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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