[ElliottB]

1981 Toyota FJ-60 Steering pump rebuild

Power steering pump leaks are among the most common on these old Landcruisers. There are essentially 3 options when faced with the dilemma of a failing pump. A.) You can purchase a new (OEM or aftermarket) pump at the tune of $350-$400. B.) You can purchase a Saginaw pump which can be found in a TON of vehicles and will provide a more reliable lifetime of service. This usually requires fabricating a bracket of some kind. C.) You can purchase the rebuild kit from Toyota for about $40. I highly recommend going through Cruiser Dan at American Toyota. He is a great guy to do business with.

I chose the latter for several reasons. I didn’t want to spend all the money on a new pump and I also didn’t want to mess with fabricating a bracket for the Saginaw pump. Removal of the PS pump is fairly straight-forward, use the search function or your FSM for information regarding this. The rebuild kit arrived from Cruiser Dan along with my engine overhaul kit. It includes several O-rings of different sizes, a brass cup, a snap ring and a main-shaft seal.



Mine was looking pretty rough and had drained fluid EVERYWHERE on the truck. (See my buildup thread)




First things first, take off the fluid reservoir. There are two 10mm bolts on the back and one 14mm bolt on the front.



It may take a little prying to get off the reservoir off but it will come out. The tube that goes from the reservoir into the pump has an o-ring on it. So, replace it with the appropriate sized one and set the reservoir aside as you are done with it for now. Also the 14mm bolt has an o-ring on it, replace this as well.

Next, remove the remaining five 14mm bolts that hold the two halves of the pump together. Just as a note, these bolts are not the same size/thread as the one that holds on the front of the reservoir. The one that holds on the reservoir is 2mm longer.



Pull the two halves of the pump apart.



There a small brass endcap that is held in place by a screw and a snap ring. Remove the small screw and the snap ring. Use a 3/8” ratchet extension to tap out the endcap and replace the o-ring.





There is a ring that secures the shaft on the base that needs to be removed. This is where the little specialty (think dentistry) tools come in handy.



GENTLY tap out the shaft. I made the mistake of pressing on it with too much force and lost all of the springs and plates. Fortunately, I was able to recover them all. For reference, there is a flat plate and a C-channel that houses 4 springs EACH. The flat plate goes on the outer wall of the housing, c-channel on the inner, and springs in between them.



Use your seal puller to get the seal off where the main shaft passes through.



And install the new one.



Reinstall this half of the pump and set it aside carefully as to not lose all of the springs and plates.
Now onto the other half. First remove the inlet piece where oil flows from the steering box. I believe it is a 22mm.



A spring will pop up with a piece of hardware on top of it. This bolt looking thing has 2 o-rings on it so replace it as needed. There is also a mesh film on the bottom of it, check it for any gunk or obstructions.



When putting the two halves back together, use the largest o-ring. It will create a nice tight seal for the pump. Now you can clean up your leaky pump with ample amounts of degreaser and a wire brush and clean it with mineral spirits. Paint it an obnoxious color such as fluorescent pink or blingin’ silver.



And reinstall your pulley.



The parts I had remaining were the brass cup, 1 of the largest o-rings, and 2 of the smallest o-rings. I could not find where these should go and as you can see I had the pump completely apart. If I had to guess, it would be another couple of the brass endcaps but I could not find a way of popping them out. I expect plenty of feedback about what I did wrong but for going in blindly I feel like it went pretty well. Hopefully this helps someone out. Thanks for reading!

[ProwlerDriver]

Very nice write up, thanks!

[KayakPanic]

well, it isn't a true Toyota fix unless you end up with a couple of extra parts anyways is it???

nice job, how does it work for you now?

i need to do something with mine as well...

[fliphkd778]

Cool deal. Let us know how it works out

[ElliottB]

I'll definitely let you guys know how it works out. Looking to have it running by mid-July. Keep your fingers crossed for NO LEAKS!

[2mbb]

Nice write up. I have a couple of comments, though.

The brass cup is what the power steering hose seals onto. It goes inside the port that you screw the hose end into. Although I don't know how to get the old one out.

The six bolts that hold the body together are not all supposed to be the same length. The one that is used to hold the reservoir on is 2mm longer. The o-ring is positioned 2mm farther away from the bolt head to allow the o-ring to seal in the correct place with the addition of the thickness of the reservoir bracket.

I think the torque spec for the pump housing bolts in the FSM may be wrong (34 ft-lbs). I was twisting bolts apart using this spec. When I talked to someone at SOR, they said that torque was too high for that size bolt.

[Butt Ugly Chuck]

Handy write-up. Thanks!
Butt

[ElliottB]

Originally Posted by 2mbb

Nice write up. I have a couple of comments, though.

The brass cup is what the power steering hose seals onto. It goes inside the port that you screw the hose end into. Although I don't know how to get the old one out.

The six bolts that hold the body together are not all supposed to be the same length. The one that is used to hold the reservoir on is 2mm longer. The o-ring is positioned 2mm farther away from the bolt head to allow the o-ring to seal in the correct place with the addition of the thickness of the reservoir bracket.

I think the torque spec for the pump housing bolts in the FSM may be wrong (34 ft-lbs). I was twisting bolts apart using this spec. When I talked to someone at SOR, they said that torque was too high for that size bolt.

I knew I could count on you guru's for the right direction! I replaced the reservoir bolt with the same one, I guess at quick glance I thought they were the same size (I'll update the original post). I might check out the brass cup again before I reinstall the pump. Thanks for the heads up!

[lehiguy]

Well done. I did this years ago myself and it stopped the leaks, but the pump was still weak and noisy. I ended up replacing it. I hope you fare better.

[FJ40Jim]

What was done about the worn front bushing?
You know, the one that allows the shaft to move sideways and eat the seal.

[ElliottB]

Originally Posted by FJ40Jim

What was done about the worn front bushing?
You know, the one that allows the shaft to move sideways and eat the seal.

The bushing seemed to be in good shape. The mainshaft was nice and tight, I couldn't find any play in it.

BTW, I'm just waiting on my carb and distributor from you to get this bad boy up and running! I take it you didn't accept my artistic rendering of an FJ60 as full payment?

[toomanymachines]

I just rebuilt my front bushing and front seal. no leaks have appeared, but I find that I do not have the boost that I wanted at slow engine speed.

[ElliottB]

So.... power steering is not working. I drove it around the neighborhood tonight for the first time since the rebuild and no assistance by the pump. I'm running PS fluid instead of ATF but it's at the right level. Pretty sure it's assembled right.

Ideas?

[GLTHFJ60]

I'm pretty positive that the stock spec calls for ATF, not PS fluid. Would the PS fluid eat the seals inside the pump?

[FJ40Jim]

What is PS fluid? Is it glycol? Silicon? Petroleum? synthetic? 10wt? 5wt? 40wt?

Stuff that is sold as PS fluid is scary because it doesn't meet the PS standards for anything.

[ElliottB]

I'm not entirely certain. Regardless it shouldn't have made a DRASTIC difference in performance. I can drain it and replace with ATF but I doubt it will make a difference in its current operation.

[FJ40Jim]

I also doubt that it would make a big difference. But the manufacturere specifies Dexron (10Wt mineral oil w/ high detergency and good cold flow properties), so that's prolly a good choice.

Wesson oil would probably work also, but is not recommended.

[GLTHFJ60]

Originally Posted by ElliottB

I'm not entirely certain. Regardless it shouldn't have made a DRASTIC difference in performance. I can drain it and replace with ATF but I doubt it will make a difference in its current operation.

I wouldn't think it'd make a difference in performance so much, but the right fluid could easily deteriorate the seals. You've been running the PS fluid since you rebuilt it?

[BGarcia88FJ62]

Id'e read somewhere on this board that it may take several attempts at bleeding the system of air to get it all out which may be affecting it's performance .

[lehiguy]

Sounds about like my experience. I think you're headed down the Saginaw road, which is, quite honestly, an excellent pump and it's dirt cheap too.

[ElliottB]

Originally Posted by GLTHFJ60

I wouldn't think it'd make a difference in performance so much, but the right fluid could easily deteriorate the seals. You've been running the PS fluid since you rebuilt it?

I rebuilt it and it sat on my motor for 2 months before I was able to drive it. I just filled it up with PS fluid last night and tried to take it for a spin.

What is the method for bleeding all of the air out? I've cranked the wheel (painstakingly) fully left and right. Added more fluid. No help.

[D'Animal]

Did you jack up the front end and get the tires off the ground when you purged the air from the system?

[ElliottB]

Originally Posted by D'Animal

Did you jack up the front end and get the tires off the ground when you purged the air from the system?

I did not. Should I jack up the front end and crank the wheel left to right with the reservoir cap off?

[ElliottB]

I think I found my problem. Fairly certain I installed the springs and fins wrong. I'm going to pull it apart and swap it around.

[ElliottB]

The springs and plates WERE in there wrong. I pulled the pump apart and put them in correctly. I now have power steering but there is a violent vibration in the steering wheel. It becomes a softer vibration as RPM's increase but still obvious. Any ideas?

Thanks for all of the help guys!

[GLTHFJ60]

Could the vibe be a result of air in the ps system? I've got a vibe in my wheel from 27-34 mph or so, maybe it's because of the same reason.

[ElliottB]

Originally Posted by GLTHFJ60

Could the vibe be a result of air in the ps system? I've got a vibe in my wheel from 27-34 mph or so, maybe it's because of the same reason.

Good question. How do you purge the air from the system?

[Elbert]

I wonder how many people have good luck with rebuilding those things...?

[GLTHFJ60]

Originally Posted by ElliottB

Good question. How do you purge the air from the system?

Put the front axle on jackstands. Fill up PS res. Fire the engine up and turn lock to lock, slowly, a number of times. Fill up PS res. Repeat.

As I understand it, keep doing this until you can no longer put fluid in. Once that is done, it should be full of fluid, not air. Be careful not to fill the res up too high each time, or the bubbles coming up will spray fluid all over the place.

Oh yeah, and use ATF

Originally Posted by Elbert

I wonder how many people have good luck with rebuilding those things...?

Can't be any harder than rebuilding a front axle, or a transfer case. Just not as well known territory.

[crackdpot]

Thanks for your pain.
In the middle of my rebuild....I only let 2 of the 24 springs fly....
prayed and found'em both.

You said you ended up with a large O-ring left over....The housing comes off at both ends with the fixed ring between. The big O-ring you had left was the seal between the other end of the housing and the fixed ring. Found this out by accident actually, when I tapped the housing apart, I ended up with the fixed ring stuck in the other end of the housing than shown in your photos.....I thought for a minute and said...,"hmmmm.", decided I didn't break it and went to double check.
Looked in the manual and indeed, 2 ends and a middle thingy. Not gonna' be quite as easy tapping those (housing/fixed ring) apart, I'm afraid.

Thanks again for your pain.