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Well, I spent the afternoon replacing the 4 hoses, the hydraulic cylinder, and the valve assembly. I filled it with genuine AC Delco power steering fluid from the local GMC dealership, balanced the valve, and ran it from lock to lock a few times to verify the hose angles and routing. So far, all is right with the world and the floor is dry, but I’ll need to put on some miles to exercise it properly.
It's really not that bad! My car is 47 almost 48 years old. So, with that in perspective. I'm on my third power steering pump. The factory original, then a rebuilt from the local auto parts store that lasted over 20 years and now a Tuff Stuff pump that's been in for a few years. I'm on the second ram. I rebuilt my original once, that only held up for about 10 years, then replaced it 5 years ago. Original power steering control valve. I did try changing it out, no it wasn't leaking but I was chasing a problem I couldn't find. The replacement was horrible and my original was reinstalled. Now, most of my leaks. Hoses! Don't think I ever blew a hose to the ram. But the return line! Lost count! Feed line, 3 or 4. So, last time I had a hydraulics shop make me up some truly heavy duty hoses. Like the hoses on a bulldozer. So far there holding up.
And that's everything. And that's over 47 years of history.
I took the car out for a ride today to check the power steering system for function and/or leaks. Everything worked fine and I haven't seen any evidence of leaks as of yet. I'll check again in the morning as I left some pristine cardboard under the car.
Here's a strange observation though. The steering wheel is no longer aligned when going forward in a straight line. It was perfect prior to replacing the power steering valve and the cylinder. I assumed it would remain the same with the simple replacement of the parts, but it seems that I've changed the relationship between the Pitman arm and the steering relay rod. Maybe the new PS valve body isn't an exact duplicate of the one I replaced. 🤔
Nahhh, nothing to worry about. It's in the way that control valve is threaded and screwed onto the draglink. Adjust the tie rods to recenter the wheel. Keeping your steering box on high center.
And I like to keep clean cardboard under mine as well. Just good to A. Keep an eye on everything. And B. Keep the concrete clean.
