Power Steering Pump Shaft Seal

[peebee]

Long story short, I had one of my drive belts shred due to age (I know, my fault). I ended up getting the truck to a local garage and went ahead and replaced all 3 of the drive belts. I should add that my truck's a 1997 SR5 with 262,000 miles. I change the oil and tires and have never had a single problem with until now. :cry2:

Everything was fine for the first week but I gradually noticed the steering was a little off. The next morning while going to work I immediately heard the power steering unit whining so I popped the hood, checked the reservoir, and it was bone dry.

My first thought was that they had to move the power steering unit when putting the belts on, pulled a hose off, etc. and lost fluid. So I went to the local auto store and picked up some ATF and filled it. Eventually the same symptom returned where steering started getting odd and one morning the power steering pump starts whining like crazy. Again, the reservoir was bone dry. There's obviously a leak somewhere.

I took the truck back to the garage that changed the belts and they assured me that they didn't have to pull the power steering lines, etc. but they took it in to look at it, just for due diligence. I later got a call from the mechanic and he said it's leaking from the power steering pump front shaft and that it appeared like a segment of wire from the old belt got twisted around the shaft and pulled it into the seal, which caused the seal around the shaft to fail.

Sorry about such a long post guys. My question is... How likely do you think this is to happen? And has anyone changed this seal before? I have a document that states I can just pull the pump, pry the seal out, and punch a new one in. Sounds a bit too easy to me but I'm no expert. I'll try and attach it here in case anyone was curious to look it over.

remo.pdf = how to remove the pump
repl.pdf = how to replace the shaft seal

Thanks for any feedback. It's much appreciated!

Mike

 

[Grenvilleter]

Thanks for the pdf's . Not sure if I would repair or replace?
Depends on cost of replacement vs. time to repair and how quick do I need it

 

[peebee]

Thanks for the pdf's . Not sure if I would repair or replace?
Depends on cost of replacement vs. time to repair and how quick do I need it

You're welcome on the pdf's. I have more of these for 1996-2002 if anyone is interested.

The seal is OEM, $5 from my local stealership. The pump is $330 for parts with 1 hour labor. I figured if replacing the seal really is as easy as the pdf's show then it's really just slightly more difficult than simply replacing the pump. I don't figure time is much of an issue because I have a 2nd vehicle and this should really only take 2 hours max? The only thing I'm confused on is the pdf says "Using SST, press in the oil seal" but I think SST is just a special Toyota tool. I can probably use a deep socket and some elbow grease for the same effect.

 

[Grenvilleter]

Well..it's the same labour and the seal is only $5.00 so nothing to lose by attempting repair. You could use a large bench vise for a press and a slightly smaller socket to press with. If you have the pump and seal in your hands, i'm sure you could find a press or get a little shop to press it in for cheap as well.

Why not ??...give it a try and let us know how it turns out.

 

[peebee]

Well..it's the same labour and the seal is only $5.00 so nothing to lose by attempting repair. You could use a large bench vise for a press and a slightly smaller socket to press with. If you have the pump and seal in your hands, i'm sure you could find a press or get a little shop to press it in for cheap as well.

Why not ??...give it a try and let us know how it turns out.

Yea, my thoughts exactly. Anyone else ever do this? Is it pretty straight forward?

I've got limited mechanical skills but I have a thing for being able to take things apart and reversing the order to put them back together without much trouble.

 

[Grenvilleter]

I guess the question remains...how difficult is it to remove the pulley?

 

[peebee]

I guess the question remains...how difficult is it to remove the pulley?

From what I've read it requires an adjustable pin spanner. I've never used one but can pick one up for $10-$30 depending on where I get it from.

 

[LittleCaesar]

It is possible that the belt shredding took out the pump's seal. 4runningdaily repaired his, and took a pic or two. Given that he is 17, however, no thorough DIY from Connor. Maybe he will chime in.

If one has or access to a puller, not hard at all. Or maybe it is another tool.

 

[peebee]

It is possible that the belt shredding took out the pump's seal. 4runningdaily repaired his, and took a pic or two. Given that he is 17, however, no thorough DIY from Connor. Maybe he will chime in.

If one has or access to a puller, not hard at all. Or maybe it is another tool.

Thanks for clarification on the possibility of the belt shredding and I'll try to find 4runningdaily's post.

I did a little more homework and I believe you're correct, the pulley should come off with a pulley puller. The guy at Toyota told me an "adjustable pin spanner" but I don't think that's right after some reading.

Anyone have an idea of the size of bolt I'll need with a pulley puller? I plan on picking up a kit but I want to be certain it will include the correct size I'll need.

Thanks everyone for the feedback.

 

[01thunder]

why go through the work just for a seal? with that many miles, get the pump from where ever you prefer and install a new one. remove the bolts, remove reservoir if new one doesn't have it, pulley and reinstall. and fill too. pretty easy and straightforward.

 

[Nelsonmd]

I replaced that seal on my pump (along with every other seal) before giving up on it and getting a new pump from Napa. The pulley is pretty easy to get off unless it is super corroded on there. I put mine in a vise while I had the pump off, but you can do it on the vehicle too. I don't think you NEED the special tool, you could use just about anything to stop the pulley. Just shove a wrench or something through the pulley and support it on something and crank the pulley bolt off. Or a strap wrench would probably work too.

You may have a tough time getting the old seal out without removing the shaft as it is sort of pressed in there, but if you can get it out, you should be able to put the new one in with a properly sized pipe to push it in. You may leak out all your PS fluid anyway though when you take the seal out, so you may not be that far from taking the pump of anyway.

BTW, a Napa PS pump was $120. Not too bad IMO, it works great so far.

 

[peebee]

I understand why it makes more sense to just replace the entire pump. Believe me, it's tempting. I guess because I know the pump worked flawlessly for the first 260k the only reason why it's giving me trouble now is because of my own stupid decision to not replace the belts when I should have.

I also planned on removing the pump just to make it easier getting the pulley and seal out. IMO leaving it in the vehicle looks like it would be more trouble than it's worth.

 

[peebee]

Just to let everyone know how I went about this...

I did end up pulling the pump off and replacing just the shaft seal. So far it looks like it's holding oil but I haven't driven more than a few miles on it. I'm not very mechanically inclined so it took me about 3-4 hours where it probably should have only taken an hour or so.

The job did NOT require a pulley puller. The pulley is metal and secured with a nut. Remove the nut and the pulley slips off some teeth on the shaft. Getting the seal out was a little tricky. What I ended up doing was drilling a few small holes on opposite sides of the deal then screwing in some short screws. Then I used a claw to pry the seal out. Putting the new seal in wasn't too big of a deal. I just used the old seal (removed the screws), a deep socket, and a hammer. Using the old seal as a way to distribute the impact of the hammer equally against the new seal.

Once that was done I reinstalled the pump, filled, and drove a few miles around doing figure 8's. 260k miles on the pump and she seems to be good as new again.

Hope this helps others.