Kaiser Frazer Owners Club Forum
General Category => Kaiser Forum => Topic started by: Logan on March 25, 2011, 09:32:24 PM
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My power steering pump is leaking severely from the reservoire somewhere. It leaked constantly into my generator, and now I have to have that rebuilt. But I don't want it ruining another generator, so I need to fix the power steering pump and I don't really know where to begin. Are parts available? Is it easy to fix this sort of thing by one's self? If I take it to someone, who? a transmission shop? Never really dealt with these before. By the way, it's a 53 Dragon.
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There is a 16 page power steering shop manual... Do you have that manual??
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Yes, I do. It shows how to rebuild the pump. Who would have parts for it?
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The power steering pump and slave cylinder were made by Monroe. I've been told that AMC...specifically the Rambler...used a similar unit. That might be a good place to start looking for replacement parts like seals, etc.
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Check with club member Dale Hammon in Beloit WI on the power steering pump connection to AMC. When I was living in Wisconsin, sometimes we would go to junk yards off the regular salvage radar looking for useable parts off K-F or Willys cars that could not be restoreed, and he would pick up the occasional late 1950's Rambler power steering units. He said they were the same as the Kaiser.
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Thanks, I'll check with him. I looked through Hemmings and didn't find much in there, but I'm going to make some calls tomorrow and see what I can come up with.
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I called around and it looks like most places want around $200 to rebuild the pump and $400 to rebuild the valve/cylinder.
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Logan,
The LARES Corporation will rebuild your power steering unit. Contact 1-888-280-6386 or www.larescorp.com They guarantee their work and are a bit spendy but I've had good experience with them. JSP
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Thanks. I talked to LARES and they sound good, so I'm glad to have an endorsement for them. At first I was planning on sending both the pump and the slave cylinder, but as far as I can tell, it's only the pump leaking (profusely). The guys at LARES did say that it was better to have both rebuilt at the same time, but said they could do whatever I wanted. The pump would cost a little under $200, but the cylinder/valve would cost over $400. Is there any reason I should have the cylinder rebuilt too if only the pump is bad? BTW, my hoses are very bad--when I took them off, I noticed several bulges in them, and LARES doesn't have/rebuild hoses. Anyone know where I could get new hoses?
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About the hoses...look for a shop near you that builds hoses for snow or farm plow pumps...they should be able to fabricate new ones by using yours as patterns. There's a NAPA store near me that does just that. It's worth a shot!
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I'll give it a try.
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Lucas Power stearing stop leak worked good on another old car the other Day. I have been lucky with My Dragon with no leak yet... http://www.lucasoil.com/products/display_products.sd?iid=28&catid=2&loc=show Best, G.B. LM # 4307
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I got the rebuilt pump back from Lares, installed it and......leak leak, knock knock. It's still leaking from the the seal around the pulley as well as out of the top, which I think is the fault of the loose fitting lid, and in addition, when I accelerate it makes a knocking sound, similar in sound to a rod knock. And if that's not all bad enough, the steering is really stiff when the engine is at low rpms, which was never the case before. Needless to say I will call Lares and they are going to have to look at it again, but if anyone has experience with Kaise power steering and has had similar problems I would like to hear it.
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Hey Logan, could you post some pictures of your PS pump and hoses on the engine? I have a 53 Dragon with power steering and the pump vibrates a bit while idling. I am wondering if I am missing a bracket possibly but don't know for sure without comparing to another.
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There's just one bracket with two bolts. Here are some pictures--pretty new pump, too bad it doesn't work right!
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3567/5697115173_08f8f18e44.jpg)
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2737/5697690254_c1980284d0.jpg)
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3499/5697115307_ea6f50589a.jpg)
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Guess I am not missing anything. I do experience harder than I would think steering at low rpm parking type manuvers, but I think the hoses may have something to do with it. One of them has multi pieces that neck down to real small at the control valve, Are your hoses one size top to bottom?
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Thank you Logan for posting pictures of your PS installation. We have a big problem in that we lack available images of mechanical details of our cars.
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Logan,
LARES guarantees their work I would contact them regarding the problems you are experiencing. John
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Stroker70, one of my hoses is one piece and the other is two pieces, with a very small neck at the control valve. I had new hoses made off patterns of the old ones, which I am almost certain are original, comparing hose and fitting styles with pictures in my power steering manual, so it sounds like your hoses are correct. As far as the hard steering goes, I looked in the manual and it suggests that a too-tight nut on the pitman arm may cause hard steering, and I did take that off because I had originally planned to have the slave cylinder rebuilt at the same time, but decided it didn't need it. I am going to re-check that within the next few days, but I will definitely call Lares, because the pump is leaking and they need to fix that at the very least.
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I sent it back to Lares and they fixed the leak and sent it back to me. Also, I realized that I had overtightened the nut that links the power cylinder and the pitman arm, so I took it back off and retorqued it and the steering works great now. The only problem is that there is still a clacking sound when accelerating. I have told Lares about this, and they seemed to think it was air in the system, but I have bled it and driven around with it for a few weeks now and it's still present. I don't remember it doing that before they rebuilt it.
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Logan, What type of fluid are you using in your PS system? Also wondering if my hoses are a bit too short as they hit the oil filler tube when turning left. Have you watched what your hoses do when turning hard left and right? Thanks for the tip on the pitman arm nut, I will give it a try.
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I'm using dexron-mercon atf. Is that the correct fluid? I think my hoses hit on each side, but that doesn't interfere with the turning radius. In other words, they hit at the same time the steering mechanism has reached its end. I can go out and check or even take pictures if that will help. When I took it apart I noted positions and took pictures, and had to fiddle with it a little to get the hoses not to interfere, because you can position them at a number of different angles depending upon where how far you rotate the fittings that go between hose and cylinder.
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A picture would be awesome
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I took a picture of the hoses' position relative to other items in the engine compartment with the steering wheel: straight ahead, full left, and full right.
Straight Ahead:
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5024/5821469906_517d125f56.jpg)
Full Left:
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2191/5820907837_ffa5d2fd51.jpg)
Full Right:
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5263/5820908051_0954142d4e.jpg)
Notice that the rear hose never touches anythign else in the engine compartment. When the wheels are turned full left, the front hose touches the oil pan, but only slightly, no pinching, etc. When the wheels are turned full right, the front hose slightly touches the frame member, but again, there is no pinching. It's important to get the brass fitting between the hose and cylinder in the correct position for the front hose. Hope this helps, and let me know if you have any questions.