I replaced my steering gear 37 months ago. '89 Dodge B250 van. The reman said warranty was void unless a filter was installed on the return line and the pump flushed beforehand. I complied.
I actually used a cheap fuel filter and ran the engine with the power steering pump in a closed loop pumping fresh fluid through the fuel filter for several minutes before attaching the lines to the reman'd gear and filling with fresh fluid.
The Magnefine filter has been wet with psf for the last 28 months, but never started dripping until recently.
Yesterday I removed the filter, using a double barbed fitting to rejoin the return line.
I collected the fluid which poured out in a clean container and later ran it through a coffee filter for re use. Money's tight these days.
Previously, I had used the turkey baster method, twice, to extract and replace the fluid with Lucas Stop leak psf, as the power steering pump had a slow leak. It worked, the pump no longer leaks.
The Magnet was not as strong as I had expected, but still had collected a good amount of black ferrous sludge.
I could not see any particles in the filter media.
The O ring seal seems to be an inadequate design to me. There is no seal once the threads bottom out, just a thin O ring pressing against the exterior of the cap that provides little resistance to reassembly. The o ring's exterior circumference itself is probably abraded by rethreading to some degree as well.
I am thinking about reassembling it with rtv on the threads and re installing it. A new filter cartridge would be desirable though. Seems a shame to throw it away.
On another note,
The reman'd steering gear is a POS. It does not leak, but is soooo loose and was from day one. I adjusted it as far as I dare, but keeping it in the center of a lane on the highway is a tedious chore. All wearable steering and suspension components have been recently replaced. All the slop is within the gear itself. It irks me greatly.
I also replaced the stock sloppy steering coupler with a U joint. One company who takes pride in their reman'd steering gears does not want to sell me one of their gears because of this coupler. They want OEM only. This irks me too as I feel my U joint Modification is vastly superior to the stock coupler. In '94 Dodge phased out this cup style coupler in favor of a U joint style.
The new steering shaft is able to telescope within the column whereas the stock coupler itself allowed telescoping.
No telescoping has been noticed.
I actually used a cheap fuel filter and ran the engine with the power steering pump in a closed loop pumping fresh fluid through the fuel filter for several minutes before attaching the lines to the reman'd gear and filling with fresh fluid.
The Magnefine filter has been wet with psf for the last 28 months, but never started dripping until recently.
Yesterday I removed the filter, using a double barbed fitting to rejoin the return line.
I collected the fluid which poured out in a clean container and later ran it through a coffee filter for re use. Money's tight these days.
Previously, I had used the turkey baster method, twice, to extract and replace the fluid with Lucas Stop leak psf, as the power steering pump had a slow leak. It worked, the pump no longer leaks.
The Magnet was not as strong as I had expected, but still had collected a good amount of black ferrous sludge.
I could not see any particles in the filter media.
The O ring seal seems to be an inadequate design to me. There is no seal once the threads bottom out, just a thin O ring pressing against the exterior of the cap that provides little resistance to reassembly. The o ring's exterior circumference itself is probably abraded by rethreading to some degree as well.
I am thinking about reassembling it with rtv on the threads and re installing it. A new filter cartridge would be desirable though. Seems a shame to throw it away.
On another note,
The reman'd steering gear is a POS. It does not leak, but is soooo loose and was from day one. I adjusted it as far as I dare, but keeping it in the center of a lane on the highway is a tedious chore. All wearable steering and suspension components have been recently replaced. All the slop is within the gear itself. It irks me greatly.
I also replaced the stock sloppy steering coupler with a U joint. One company who takes pride in their reman'd steering gears does not want to sell me one of their gears because of this coupler. They want OEM only. This irks me too as I feel my U joint Modification is vastly superior to the stock coupler. In '94 Dodge phased out this cup style coupler in favor of a U joint style.
The new steering shaft is able to telescope within the column whereas the stock coupler itself allowed telescoping.
No telescoping has been noticed.
