After months of very sloppy steering, with play around 2 to 3 inches, I finally just had my steering box rebuilt. Well, I happy get in and try to drive away around the corner...Eeeeerrrgh, ugh....What the h#II? The steering is now like trying to turn an old 1942 Massey-Furgeson 1 ton truck. I'm not joking. It it beyond tight. WTF!?!?! It cost me quite a bit to have it professionally rebuilt. The mechanic suggested that my Power Steering pump has probably been bad the whole time. Now that the new box is in there, I am only now able to see that the pump has been faulty.

Is this true? Or the real question is, when a steering box gets rebuilt, can they "over tighten" the steering? Should I take it back and crazily complain that the car doesn't turn? Or is his assessment correct that I have had a bad power steering pump all along?

Pi55ed in Portland

 

There is a pretty simple adjustment, but idk if it would make that huge of a difference. When I installed my rebuilt box it was pretty stiff for probably 300-500 miles but now its not too bad

 

If you drove a 1942 Massey- Furgeson 1 ton through his fornt door would he still think the pump is bad! LOL

If the pump was bad it would have been noticed before - you would have no power steering, but the box would be still be loose.The boxes are the same for PS and manual also. If the only changed was the box and it is now tight it is not the pump.

The box is not setup correct and sounds like a poor rebuild. The lash is way too tight or the ball nut is damaged. Most likly it is incorrectly setup.

The on center adjustment should not be more then 14 in/lb max. I never set them there unless it is for a road race car but I always tell the owner. I set them to 11-12 in'lbs and you'll feel it by hand with the box out of the car. In the car it should go effortlessly lock to lock with no lost motion on center.

Not knowing your rebuilder, I'd guess he's either an idiot or wanted to use the old gears and had little adjustment left. I also have heard of the "new" boxes that have been sold in recent years had gear issues but they were always too loose- "new"

There is no break in for the gears once properly set up. If you have a box that was tight after a rebuild and loosened up a few thousand miles later it wasn't because of break in but rather rapid gear wear from over adjustment. IE - you were screwed!

Sorry if I sound a bit harsh guys but I have been rebuilding these for a while and had more then one shipped to me that were just"professionaly rebuilt" and were total junk. Many guys here unfortunately had the same problem.

If I can help you let me know. I posted a picture thread on this, I'll see if I can find it and put the link here.

good luck don't drive it like that until it is properly setup. You can't just back off the lash screw either. You have to get the lash correct.

 

Here is the link get it before it goes away.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...ng+box+rebuild

 

I posted a reply to your Private Message before I noticed this thread. Now for some reason I can't pull up my reply on the Private Message Board. I would be interested to know if you got it or not. I sometimes think that some of my replies are getting lost.

In either case, I pretty much stated what Gary has alread said. Any reputable rebuilder in the gear business knows that you set the overcenter adjustment with the gear exactly on center. Also the if the pump was bad, it would have shown up with the old gear as well.

Jim

 

Thanks guys,
I spoke w/ my mechanic guy today about this. He is a really good ol' coot. He's been rebuilding Vettes (and steering boxes for Vettes) since 1967.
He was very calm and accomodating. He said "Well Andy, you know I stand by my work and you've always known that if something isn't right or your not happy I'll always make sure it's right. You know I guarantee my work. Just let me know when you want to bring it by."

Still, he was pretty certain the the pump has been bad. Plus, the pump has been leaky for 6 months or so. And on colder mornings, the steering was "tight" until the car warmed up. Maybe he still is correct?

It's funny, because when I turn the wheel 90 degrees left or right, it is VERY hard to turn, not just "manual steering" hard but almost fridgid hard. But...Anything beyond 90 degrees L or R it's as if the power steering works just fine. I'm confused & crabby because now my headlights just stopped working...D@MN car


Thanks Jim & Gary for your well thought assistance. I really appreciate it

 

This wouldnt surprise me in the least. I got it from fastcorvette.com before I knew any better.