I just bought a 74 Corvette. I also have owned a motorless parts 74 for 2 years. The "new" 74 had a leak in the power steering. It appeared to be coming from the back of the pump. The line fitting seemed to be tight. The fluid appeared to be coming from the face of the pump behind the 1 inch nut that the line tightens into. My parts car had no motor, but had a pump zip-tied to the inner fender, so I removed it from the car and took out the fitting. I removed the fitting from my newly purchased car as well. Here is a picture of the two fittings next to the pump housing of the parts car.



The leaky fitting is on the left. There is a fluid hole underneath the rubber seal. It seemed obvious to me that the improper location of the seal would likely cause the leak. I rolled the seal down into the lower groove and reassembled. I will test drive tomorrow.








OK, a couple of things I haven't figured out. I noticed that on my car there appeared to be a spring loaded disc in the bottom of the hole you see above. The pump in the picture does not.

The fitting on the right had a seal that seemed to be square in cross section. The one on the left is round.



I had purchased a seal kit. The instructions talked about pumps after 85 using a square shouldered seals, but doesn't specify which of the o-rings. It also talked about an x being stamped in the housing of the 85 and newer pumps. I havn't found an x on either, but it might be hard to see on the car installed pump. The ring in the kit for this fitting appears round in cross section.

 

Yes, the seal was in the wrong groove on the fitting on the left. The disc you see inside the discharge hole is actually a sliding valve. Press on it and you should feel a spring behind the valve pushing back. The valve should easily slide in the housing bore and should not stick.

I am not familiar with the different o-rings versus square cut rings through the years. However, I am sure that they are interchangeable one to the other. Also I am not familiar with the "x" mentioned.

Jim

 

Good news, it didn't leak. It wanders around on the road, but that may just mean it needs a good alignment.

 

Congrats! Your 'wandering around' could be alignment...or it could be a bad 'ragjoint', or bad trailing arm bushings/bearings , or a sloppy steering box. We'll hope for the alignment being out.

 

You may have found a simple fix to what could have been money spent to fix a leak problem.

Thats a good photo of the difference between the two bolts and the gasket/seal. I have a leak someplace in the power steering system and this may be one thing to check before I order a new rebuilt kit.



kdf

 

Oh, yes, as I make progress on fixes, I find other things that need attention. I think I will start with an alighnment. The rag joint looks OK I think. Even though I now have no leaks, it doesn't much feel like assisted steering. It is still tough to turn, so maybe there is still somethign else yet wrong with it. Sigh! Oh, and the headlights don't come up and the engine backfires. The list goes on. At least it is just a hobby car.

 

The engine backfires because the ignition timing is way off. And, the ignition timing is way off because of the vacuum leak in the headlight system. And the lights don't come up because of that same vacuum leak. It all ties together. Find/fix the vacuum leaks and lots of problems 'disappear'.

 

Should I clamp all the vacuum lines at the engine when I set the timing to make sure it is set right?

I have suspected a leak. There was a leak at the PCV valve. A plastic tee was used and it had melted. I installed a brass fitting at the back of the car to split the PCV valve and the line to the charcol cannister, so unless there is a leak in the line going back to the gas tank, I think I have that sealed up.

Now I need to trace the other lines that operate the headlights.