If the wheel jerked left, you have the adjustment nut too tight. Back off.

 

I have to rebuild it first. I lost all the fluid out of it when it slammed left. will try again after turkey day.

 

step 35, i just tightened mine snug. so the slots lined up for the washer with the tabs.

 

Well I opend up my control valve in preparation to overhaul again and noticed tha the thick plate and thin metal gasket were bent pretty bad from everything being misalinged inside when I rebuilt it the first time. Guess I need to pay better attention this time. I will try again and hopefully do it right. It looks like all the internals were pushing down on the thick plate instead of going down the center. try #2 coming up.

 

sorry to hijack a little...

is there any vendor selling the rebuild kit with the heavier spring?
there are 2 type springs in the vette's ps valve , one heavier , before 1976, one lighter , after 1976.
the heavier spring makes the steering not that light as it is usually

 

finished the rebuild and followed all the directions this time and it works great. 13 dollars for the rebuild kit (x2) from advance auto and works like a champ. Thanks all.

 

Hi All. great write-up. We are having leak problems with our 76. The power steering control valve gets soaked with fluid and I have a few questions. What's the purpose of the grease fitting on the control valve? Does it need to be bled? If so, how do you go about bleeding?

Also, the power steering pump does not clatter or make a sound when it's empty and car running while turning the wheels as expected with a power steering pump that is low or empty on fluid and it appears we get zero fluid flow after filling the power steering reservoir up. Could these facts be signs the powersteering pump is bad? Thanks.

 

I remember a article a while back from Jim Shea? He mentioned something about the 40 vs 55 spring. I think he said if u called VBP they could rebuild one with the correct spring. Shoot me an email i'll look for article.

 

Hi everyone, we stopped the power steering control value from leaking with the rebuild kit and balanced it. We then noticed the high pressure hose leaking and replaced it. However, the steering is still hard. I am told that all these parts had been replaced in the recent past and do not have many miles on them. Looks to be true since they are all very clean. Any ideas on why the steering would still be hard? Could it be the powersteering pump?

 

It's to grease the ball joint that is mounted to the pitman arm. Note that this is NOT part of the normal chassis greasing. It's done when the control valve is assembled and that's it. Over-greasing can prevent the valve from working correctly.

The system is bled by slowly turning the wheel left-right with the front off the ground until there are no more noises (keep topping off the pump during this).

 

Ok, thanks. I will try to bleed today.

 

I just went through this myself. With Jim Shea's help, here's what I found. The system hadn't been bled properly, and I did it as per the service manual. To get all the air out of the system, with the front wheels off the ground, and the engine OFF, turn the wheels lock to lock a couple times and check the fluid. Refill as necessary. Then, turn the wheel lock to lock about two dozen times. Check the fluid again and top off if necessary. Then, start the engine and turn the wheel lock to lock a few times. Do all the turns at kind of slow speed, you're not in a race to get done. Once that's all done, put the car back on the ground and turn the wheel lock to lock a couple more times.

If you still don't have power steering, chances are, due to an improper bleeding procedure the first time, the flow control valve in the power steering pump may be jammed. If you still don't have power steering after bleeding the system properly, pull the high pressure line from the pump (disconnect it at the valve first to drain the pump) and then the fitting that it screws into, it'll take a 1" wrench. The control valve is behind that fitting and has a spring on it. It's the fitting, valve then spring. The valve should move freely in the bore. If it's stuck, you should be able to get it out with a magnet and or pushing it with your finger. Once it's unstuck, put it back together and bleed the system as described.

It worked for me after thinking I'd screwed up the valve rebuild and I ordered and installed a rebuilt from Van Steel (they're rebuild comes balanced and with a 5 year warranty BTW).

 

Ok, will try. Is that flow control valve procedure done with the pump on the car? Thanks.

 

If you find the pump flow control valve stuck, I would suggest removing it and looking for varnish type deposits, nicks, burrs, etc that might have caused it to stick. Just reinstalling the valve without looking for the cause is only waiting for the next time that it will stick.

Jim

 

You can shim the spring to reduce assist. On my '71 I first tried a 0.089" shim but it was too much (very little assist). I just changed to a 0.049" shim. Haven't driven it yet but I think that should do it nicely.

 

Sure if you can get to it. Jim's absolutely right, make sure you look at it to make sure there aren't any burr's ding's or vanish that helped make it stick. In my case, it seems improperly bleeding the system got it stuck...

 

thanks .
please let me know how you feel at speed when you have the chance to drive the car. if it feels tight at speed and if you have a good steering feedback on "darty" roads ( these are the issue that forced me to remove PS and go manual)
Aldo

 

Hi all. I've tried all suggestions on this thread to get power steering to work properly but no luck. When car is jacked up with both front wheels off ground, steering is hard when turning to the right all the time and hard only sometimes hard when turning to the left. Left and right steering is hard when front wheels are on the ground driving or not. I'm confirmed fluid is flowing from the pump. Any thoughts?

 

One thing I have not seen you mention. With wheels off ground and engine off how does it turn? On mine I could turn it with one finger. mike...

 

Yes, it does turn with engine off and wheels off ground. Of course it is not easy to turn like that. Not sure what part needs to be changed. Really weird because all that stuff is new (well 10 years old new). The guy we got the car from changed it all about 10 years ago but had not driven it since 2000.