I rebuilt the power steering ram on my '79, and everything worked great for about three days. Suddenly, fluid starts pouring from the ram. Inspection revealed the lock ring has come partially out of the ram cylinder. I figure the causes for this are, in order of likelihood, an improperly seated ring during rebuild (my bad); a faulty, weak, or improperly shaped ring (manufacturer's bad); or extreme pressure in the system (very bad).

I'm guessing there are weaker points in the system than that lock ring, and a pressure problem would blow something else, like a line, first unless the ring was bad. I'm not even sure the system is capable of generating that kind of pressure and am not seriously considering that as a possibility unless someone out there knows something I don't, which highly possible.

The forum has been a great source of information, and I'm posting this for two reasons. First is in case there may be another cause I didn't think of, and second, all the new spacers, grommets and such are soaked with p/s fluid and I want to know if they're ruined. I'd really hate to install another ring only to have the same thing happen later or have it leak because the rest of the stuff got ruined.

Finally, I was planning on fixing this Sunday by going to autozone and getting one of those boxes of lock rings they sell. Can anyone verify that size will be in the box. I can always take the ring out and bring it with, but it would be nice to know ahead of time. Thanks.

Dan

 

Take the snap ring with you. You have to remove it anyway.

Most likely that cause of your problem was that you did not properly seat the ring into the groove in the cylinder housing.

I doubt that too high of a pressure would cause the snap ring to unseat and the seal to leak. I think that your hoses would fail before the snap ring if that was the problem.

Jim

 

You might have just put the snap ring in wrong side out.
The flat or sharp side goes out.

 

That seal 'pack' is a tight fit, and the snapring will NOT seat completely by itself (merely the spring load, alone). You really have to use snapring pliers to spread the ring so it is completely installed or use a small drift/punch to tap each end of the ring down to the bottom of its groove. As per the above post: there really isn't an 'official' correct side to the snapring for proper install...BUT, most experienced folks look for which side of the snapring is flatter (sharper edge on the outside of the ring) and put that side OUT. That insures that the side with the more rounded-off edge is not the surface that retains the ring & seal pack. There is no instruction in the rebuild kits to do that, as it is really unnecessary IF the snapring is fully seated. But, installing the ring in that manner is just extra 'insurance' that it won't come loose.