I'm trying to replace my worn out power steering control valve. Got everything off except the control valve itself. How do I get the control valve to seperate from the pitman arm. The service manual says to tap on the side of the pitman arm with a heavy back-up hammer or similar, this is not budging it. There is also very little room for a puller.
Please give me your tips.

 

Pickle fork?

 

I used a pitman arm puller, it cost $15.99 at Auto Zone. You just put it on the bottom of the pitman arm, tighten it up and tap it with a hammer and the pitman arm pops right off.

 

Pickle fork. Piece of cake. Now that having been said--replace your old valve assy. with a new one. Don't reuse old. Will still leak.

 

The pitman arm puller works well with no heavy hammering. When I use the puller the arm just slowly comes off with no impact loading. 99 Nassau Blue

 

Isn't the puller to remove the pitman arm from the steering box? My understanding is that to remove the control valve from the pitman arm, you need to use a pickle fork; either hammering OR using an air hammer device with a pickle fork attachment. OR, do you put the pitman puller from the top (is there room?) and 'push' the control valve 'out'?

I removed my control valve using the air hammer device. Easy as cutting through hot butter.

 

I used a tie rod puller. I found that a pickle fork while being very effective almost always tears the grease boot. There is just enough room if you turn the steering wheel just so. It worked on my 69 BB.

 

Never use a pickle fork to remove the valve from the arm. Each time you whack it with your BFH you are imparting a whack also onto the gears & bearings etc INSIDE of the gear box.... big time Bubba style.

Use a puller.

 

I would use either one of these tie-rod pullers or a small 2-jaw gear puller can work.

 

This thread has several suggestions on removing the control valve including using a pitman arm puller, tie rod puller and pickle fork. To summarize:
Sounds like the pickel fork, hammer is a bad idea due to stressing the steering gear box.

The second tool mentioned was the Pitman arm puller. Can you use the Pitman arm puller to pull off the Control Valve? From one of the posts, it sounds like he is pulling off the pitman arm, not the Control Valve. Or is the idea to remove the Pitman arm which will then allow you to pull the CV off?

Third choice is a Tie rod puller which somebody mentioned as working ok if the steering wheel was turned al the way in one direction.
What is the best way to do this job?
Thanks for your help,
Hef

 

It depends on the design of the puller. There are clearance issues.
A tie rod puller may fit in the space for the valve, but not be robust enough to pull a pitman arm, but a pitman arm puller may be so bulky that you cannot fit it in the space to remove the valve ball-stud.

I have a "medium" sized OTC pitman arm puller that -just- fits in the space for the valve, and is also tough enough to pull the pitman arm. This particular puller also -just- fits between the upper & lower ball joint stud tips so it can be used to pop the ball joints loose. I also have the next size up OTC pitman arm puller, which will not fit in the required space to pull the valve stud, but can pull truck pitman arms.

It also depends on how tight the previous mechanic/owner tightened the nut on the valve ball stud. They do have a torque value, but most people seem to rely on the built in torque wrench in their arm. Since they are a tapered interference fit, when they're over-torqued, they can be extremely difficult to remove. So... a tool that works great on Johnny's Vette will not work on Suzy's Vette. Same holds true for tie rod ends & ball-joints.

Bottom line... you have to try one puller and go from there.

Edit: Since my particular OTC puller can be wiggled into the tight space above the control valve, I never have to remove the pitman arm to service the valve. The same OTC puller is a "pitman arm" puller.... so it can be used to pull the pitman arm as well.

 

Excellent reply thanks. So basically you use a OTC pitman arm puller that fits in the small space to pull the control valve off. So the smaller the better, as long as it can still do the job. It seems like the pitman and tie rod type pullers are pretty similar. I think I will take some measurements and go from there. Any idea what size your pitman arm puller is? I saw some generic pullers that were sized 4 inch and 6 inch. Not sure what that dimension is, maybe the screw? Thanks,
Hef

 

Go here...

http://www.otctools.com/frames-catalog2.php3


put in 7310

I have both 7310 ands 7311.

The 7311 fits above the valve and if used carefully will not rip the seal.

I put various metal artifacts between the tip of the main screw and the stud being wrestled with.... sometimes a (very) large nut on-end, sometimes a piece of metal stock cut-to-fit. Depends on the situation.

Double check the numbers..... the smaller one fits the valve.
I had them reversed.

Tom

 

Tom, Just did this today.. I used a pickle fork to get it off as I have done many times before. I rebuilt my steering box too and saw no damage but was just doing it to complete my mechanical rebuild. I think the real damage that can be caused is not to the steering box but to the PS control valve.

That area is tight so I disconnected the tie rod and tapped twice and the PS control valve came free. No big deal.. Dave...

 

Use an air chisel. Get a fork attachment for it, and it will be off in 10 seconds. No worrys to other components - suspension and steering are two areas where these tools really shine.

 

How about it Jim Shea...

Pickle fork the way to go here?

 

I have never used a pickle fork but I know what they look like. My question is how do you actually use it to remove the CV? Do you need a air tool to attach to it? Or do you put it in place and then tap on it?
Thanks,
Hef

 

The PS control valve is held to the steering box arm via an interference fit such as a tie rod. Remove the nut using a 3/4" wrench and then insert the pickle fork between the control valve and the steering box arm. Two or three nice raps and it should seperate. That is unless the last person to put it together cranked down on the castle nut as someone else previously talked about... Dave..

 

Pickle forks come in a varielty of sizes.

You have to match the size to the component you are working on.

You can buy them in sets, or individually.

They are also available for connection to an air hammer, as indicated above. This is a different type than the "normal" so it can be inserted into your air hammer.

IMOP, it's not a good idea to whack your steering gear box this way.
You can also install a harmonic balancer with a BFH.... it may not do damage that is immediately apparent, but in the long run it's a no-no. Same thing for a pickle fork and a gear box.

Jim Shea is a former GM/Saginaw engineer... I believe he also will say it's a bad idea to use a pickle fork. Maybe he's on vacation today.

Here is a quote from one of his posts...

"One other thing about using a pickle fork to remove a pitman arm from the steering gear. You can not only damage the pitman shaft seal, but you can also distort the gear housing in the seal area. This can cause even a new seal to leak around its outside sealing diameter and the gear housing bore."

Whether you bang on the adapter stud or the pitman/shaft.... the "whack" is transferred back to the gear box. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.... just like my posts here on the forum. LOL

 

Thanks! You guys are teaching me alot. With that being said its time to roll up my sleeves and get to work!
Will let you know how it works out, and I plan on documenting this for the next guy that has to do this.
Hef