Just replaced the accessory bushings and power steering hoses on my wife's car.

Removing the pressure hose from the pump was a pain. The natural thing to do was put the pulley face down on the bench and torque the thing off. The fitting in the pump that the hose screws into came off with the hose.

I got everything put back together today and drove the car for an hour. At the end of my drive there was a light spray of power steering fluid on everything in the plane of the pulley.

The fluid level is fine.

Did I ruin a seal in the power steering pump? Do I get to replace the pump now?

This was my first time working on power steering, so hopefully I haven't done something too bad(stupid).

Best,
Spencer

I can only say that the thing to do would have been to use two wrenches to remove the hose. Naturally doing it right, right out of the box, is not always the way nature works. Chaos is a bigger part of nature than we care to admit! Us humans, we are so vain!

You use one wrench to immobilize the one fitting in the housing which in effect "back ups the housing" and holds it steady, even if its on the car!

Then you crank the two wrenches together, squeezing them side by side, in your hands. You do the same thing again when putting it back together. It gets them tight while having control!

In using my imagination, I envisioned you having the pulley flat down against the bench top and wrestling with it.
In doing so, you probably jostled the shaft in and out or back I and forth in rotation and drove some grime up under the area of the thin lips or shifted the worn smooth surface of the shaft to a new place.

If you are lucky and it leaks enough it might wash itself clear but power steering fluid is thin and it may never stop.

You could try fresh power steering fluid with stop leak or look into a seal for it. It would be nice to see a number on it from the outside but they might be standard enough for a savvy parts mans to get.
Today, that is a commodity hard to find!

You will have to pull the pulley to see or replace the seal. If you purchase a rebuilt you will have to do that too!
The seal would be far cheaper and would give you experience in seal changing which is always a good skill to learn.

Stop leaks might be helpful if you suspect any rack leakage under the boots too.
Only trouble is none of the stuff will say how long it will work. They lean over and speak sideways, that it will not fix mechanical problems! Duh, I say Hello, these are mechanical seals by their labyrinth architecture!

Anyway, When it stops, the seals have been worn even more, due to swelling affects of the chemicals. They are considered last ditch effort for a compromised solution. How is that for a double dribble statement? I listen to politicians too, unfortunately! (-:)

Going the sealant route is best/easiest, unless, you have already used that stuff? Then it is done and over!

Watch the fluid level and clean things several times for a little while. A few drops can go a long ways!
You might get lucky?
Phil

I recently encountered a similar problem with my '90 760GLT. I couldn't separate the pressure hose from the pump's pressure valve fitting. On closer examination, I could see that the pressure hose and pressure valve fitting were cross threaded. No amount of double wrench could get them apart. I bought a new pressure hose. Then I went to a PNP and pulled a couple of pressure valve fittings to replace mine. That pump is widely used amongst 240/740/760/940 models. You could get a pressure hose from the PNP as well. I haven't got it all back together yet, but I have my fingers crossed.

For the fun of Volvos,
Mike
--
'92 245DL, '90 760 GLT

To the best of my knowledge the pressure hose was not cross threaded in the pump fitting. The threads did not appear to be damaged and the new pressure hose threaded in without difficulty.

Good luck getting everything back together.
-Spencer

Hi Phil,

Thanks for your detailed response!

I did try the two wrench squeeze method with the pump on the car but couldn't bust it loose. On the bench I had two wrenches on it too. Cranking on that (maybe a little unevenly) is what loosened the fitting. The angle between the wrenches never changed. :(

Thanks for your advice about the effects of my adventure on the PS pump. I learned a lot!

I will clean up the engine compartment and monitor things closely. If the spray persists I'll go for the additive. The car will be out of my care in a couple of weeks, so that might make me lean towards doing the pump if things look bad.

I have another related question. When I pulled the pump I noticed that the pulley had a little play in it. How much play is too much? Could this be contributing to my leak?

Thanks for your help,
Spencer

That is good that I could help you, thanks!

About your question of play, the answer is yes!

The shaft is supported by a spiral grooved bushing or plain bearing. The fit up of clearance should be of course small. That is why the groove is there to sneak oil in between the surfaces.

If the shaft is wobbling around the clearance opens up a little there is more oil quantity available.
Normally, the seal can hold the oil back seepage as the spinning of the shaft packs oil around it in a whirling motion. While it is doing this, it does not flow through it but become static by nature of clinging and gravity. Technical name is hysteresis, found under the study of fluid mechanics.

Excessive clearance or other physics will change things.
If the pump was mounted on there as crooked as most are, that has caused the bushing to wear elongated and might be what you feel.
Now that you have straighten the pump up the shaft is now riding in a new zone in the bushing.

It may wear in some and stop hopping, bobbing or sliding and the oil might stop pulsing. MIGHT or MIGHT NOT!

In this case, dirt it not the issue for the seal but how much will it keep leaking and if its acceptable.

In your case the oil viscosity might change a little with an additive and the seal might swell. The seal may become softer and more pliable. It may conform better to the movement of the shaft and cease for the most part.

It worth a shot of juice unless you feel the pump is worn out by it making an excessive amount of rattling noise? Does it sound like a can of ball bearings, rattling?

There is not much to these pumps. There is just the shaft with a hub on the end. A concentric hub that has slots with phenolic slats in them. It all spins in a elliptical chamber. Like a Wankle or Mazda rotary engine but the vanes swing in and out, not the hub.

If the vanes get sticky or the bushing gets to loose it rattles!
Not much to do but use clean fluid, to free the vanes or renew the clearances, with new parts!

It's a nice automotive science project to learn on as they are an inexpensive item or at least from junkyards. Pop it open and let it do one more thing for you before you junk it.

You get thirty day warranties at junkyards or a lifetime one at car parts houses, for five times the money and you sell the car before that gets used.

Usually, if you carry good wrenches, shop well by looking for ones mounted on straight and you will come out ahead.

You might find one of those some that other knuckle head sprung for! ~(:-)
Phil

Thanks again for another excellent response.

I drove the car for about 2 hours last night and PS leak has not continued. So I guess maybe the seal has sealed itself or the leak was somehow just residual fluid from me torquing on the pulley.

No additive required!

I let the car idle this morning and put my ear to a screw driver on the power steering pump. The pump seems to hum pretty smoothly. There is a very slight rattle, but it is not audible without the screw driver.

Thanks for all your help. Your patient explanations of low level mechanical workings are really great!

Spencer