Ok, I just replaced the control valve, hyd ram, along with control arm bushings and other incedentals. Everything in the steering and front suspension is tight, exept for the CV ball stud.. It wiggles and does not feel tight. This equates to about 4" of slop at the top of the steering wheel with the car parked on the ground before the front wheels move. :( (Had the wife move the steering wheel while i hunted down the culprit)

The CV is a new rebuilt unit from Muskegon Brake.

I haven't put the pump on yet, so theres no fluid in the unit. Is this slop normal? Will it tighten up when the pump is running? Do I have a defective control valve?

Sigh, I was really hoping to finish this job up and move on to something else....

As usual, all responses are appreciated and TIA

Jim-K

 

The control valve ball stud is spring loaded and can move a slight amount with respect to the control valve. I would suggest looking at another C3 steering system. You might find that this motion is normal. When you hook up the pump and have power assist, a slight motion of the ball stud will cause the control valve to shift one direction or the other and direct pressurized oil to one side or the other of the assist cylinder.

If you find that by looking at another C3 that your ball stud has a lot more motion, send it back to your supplier.

 

Only check the ball stut for the steering controll valve when the engine is running. If the engine is off then the pressure is down in the valve. Power steering fluid pressure will take up the slack when the engine is running. Its a funky setup. It fooled me the first time.

 

The ball stud is internally adjustable. I have rebuilt many of these units. There seems to be a rash of poorly rebuilt units surfacing lately. The ball stud is spring loaded as described, but there should be -0- play between the stud and it's socket. Unfortunately, since the ball stud does move side-to-side even when it is adjusted properly, it is impossible (or just difficult) to tell if it is in need of adjustment without disassembling the unit. As posted above, the stud does move slightly in order to slide the internal hydraulic valve which closes/opens the ports to provide power assist in the needed direction. This IS normal. However, the clearance between the ball stud and it's half-shell sockets should be -0-, and this is very often the problem with these units if they are not adjusted properly. This is an INTERNAL adjustment (not to be confused with the external adjustment that everyone knows about) that can only be made by disassembling the unit, and when you separate the two case halves, there is a metal shim gasket that may/may not re-seal when you put it all back together. I have extra kits on hand whenever I service one of these. You need to determine if the excessive play is due to the stud/socket clearance.

Also, worn out steering boxes can cause the same problem. There is an adjustment on the steering box as well, but if not done per the service manual, the box can be instantly ruined. I adjust these on the bench, per the GM service procedure. If the box is worn out, the adjustment will have no effect. There are companies that specialize in "blue-printing" the steering box with new internal parts just for this reason.

 

I recently rebuilt my steering system and tried rebuilding the cont.valve myself & tore the annulas seal, so I purchessed a rebuilt one from Eckler's which had alot of play in it so I sent it back and got another one that was good but I think if I did it again I would go NEW.My steering is tight now. :yesnod:

 

Ok... I thought that i'd check to see if the taper hole was elongated, which it isn't, and now i can see better how this unit works. Thanks for the clue I haven't got everything back together yet to run the car (I'm doing other stuff at the same time) but have decided to keep the rebuilt as long as it does not leak. If i need to replace it, i will definitatly get a new control valve next time.

Thanks :seeya

Jim-K