60 series leaking steering box (1 Viewer)

[Eyjafjalladylan]

Hello all, i have a 60 series power steering box on my 66 land rover with a 2.0l vw tdi. It was leaking when i installed it, as i wasn't sure of its previous life and wanted to try it before getting it rebuilt. It definitely leaked so i brought it to a reputable shop and it was rebuilt. I got it back in may and it's been great until this week, its puking fluid out the bottom by the Pitman arm. Its on warranty so they're going to fix it but i want to see if you guys think my setup caused the failure or if it was just a fluke.

Im not running atf, im running the fancy vw ps fluid because the pumps apparently do not survive long on atf, do you think the fluid may have caused a premature gasket failure? Also these pumps on the tdis run at approximately 1390-1500 psi, could that pose a problem? It has been working flawlessly until now so i assume if the pressure was too high it would've blasted the seals out within a few mins of operation. Looking forward to seeing what you all think. I live up north in the bush and it's a 6hr drive to the shop to have it rebuilt again so hoping to not do this again haha. Thanks!

 

[OSS]

The minimum operating pressure of the Toyota power steering pump that works with that steering gearbox is 1067 psi. That’s the minimum given in the manual. There’s no reference to a maximum pressure but I’d think your 1400 psi pump would still be in the ball park (guessing).
Maximum operating pressure in the system only occurs when pulling hard on the steering wheel when the wheels are stopped and you’re trying to get out of a tight spot. When you’re rolling, not much pressure is needed at all to steer the wheels.

The bottom O-ring in the steering gearbox can blow for a number of reasons. Maybe it was a dud oring or maybe not installed perfectly or maybe it’s not the exact correct size or the sealing surfaces weren’t perfectly clean and burr free.

The fluid used in the system (ATF for the Toyota pump) is called out for the pump. The gearbox shouldn’t care, nor the O-rings.

 

[pithicus]

Bit of info here Fj60 steering box fluid - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/fj60-steering-box-fluid.1248853/
I would have thought the box should cope ok with 1500 psi. And the vw CHF 11S Hydraulic Fluid [if thats what it is] would be ok for the box too.

 

[Eyjafjalladylan]

The minimum operating pressure of the Toyota power steering pump that works with that steering gearbox is 1067 psi. That’s the minimum given in the manual. There’s no reference to a maximum pressure but I’d think your 1400 psi pump would still be in the ball park (guessing).
Maximum operating pressure in the system only occurs when pulling hard on the steering wheel when the wheels are stopped and you’re trying to get out of a tight spot. When you’re rolling, not much pressure is needed at all to steer the wheels.

The bottom O-ring in the steering gearbox can blow for a number of reasons. Maybe it was a dud oring or maybe not installed perfectly or maybe it’s not the exact correct size or the sealing surfaces weren’t perfectly clean and burr free.

The fluid used in the system (ATF for the Toyota pump) is called out for the pump. The gearbox shouldn’t care, nor the O-rings.

Excellent info, thanks. At least I know for the most part its not my setup thats caused it and likely rebuild error or faulty seal etc. Thank you!

 

[cps432]

There’s a large o-ring with a nylon ring inside of it that seals the box. There are several of these. I recently rebuilt my gear box and found that the replacement nylon rings were likely not the exact replacement. When I was installing the large one in the housing it hung up and ripped the o-ring and nylon ring clean. I had to order a new kit and it was a struggle to get them to fit correctly. They will break easily. It’s likely they didn’t use OEM Toyota parts and things aren’t fitting exactly as they should. This was my problem and I’ve read others in similar situations. If at all possible get real Toyota seals for this job. I suspect my job will leak prematurely given the fact that I used aftermarket parts.

 

[Eyjafjalladylan]

Bit of info here Fj60 steering box fluid - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/fj60-steering-box-fluid.1248853/
I would have thought the box should cope ok with 1500 psi. And the vw CHF 11S Hydraulic Fluid [if thats what it is] would be ok for the box too.

Thats the fluid, almost 40 bucks a litre

There’s a large o-ring with a nylon ring inside of it that seals the box. There are several of these. I recently rebuilt my gear box and found that the replacement nylon rings were likely not the exact replacement. When I was installing the large one in the housing it hung up and ripped the o-ring and nylon ring clean. I had to order a new kit and it was a struggle to get them to fit correctly. They will break easily. It’s likely they didn’t use OEM Toyota parts and things aren’t fitting exactly as they should. This was my problem and I’ve read others in similar situations. If at all possible get real Toyota seals for this job. I suspect my job will leak prematurely given the fact that I used aftermarket parts.

I was thinking about getting an oem seal kit and bringing it for them, as im really not sure what parts they're using. After reading that i might give em a call and see what they think. They want to test it first and see where it failed then they're gonna tell me if it was 'user error 'or a part failure and determine if they're gonna fix it for free i imagine. Unfortunately its the only place that'll do it aside from me shipping it out of the country to somewhere that specializes in Toyota stuff. Which will cost me a fortune. Doesn't seem like there's anywhere in Canada that does that. Cheers

 

[cps432]

Thats the fluid, almost 40 bucks a litre

I was thinking about getting an oem seal kit and bringing it for them, as im really not sure what parts they're using. After reading that i might give em a call and see what they think. They want to test it first and see where it failed then they're gonna tell me if it was 'user error 'or a part failure and determine if they're gonna fix it for free i imagine. Unfortunately its the only place that'll do it aside from me shipping it out of the country to somewhere that specializes in Toyota stuff. Which will cost me a fortune. Doesn't seem like there's anywhere in Canada that does that. Cheers

Defiantly use OEM seals. I wish I had the cash at the time to splurge on them. If I were to do it again, and I might have to, I would. If you have a basic shop setup you can do it yourself. You just gotta be careful with compressing the rings and follow the order of operations which are a bit vague at times. My biggest headache was getting the BBs back into the worm gear and breaking those seals with a heavy hand… which may have been due to a beer or two after dealing with the BBs… lessons learned…

 

[pithicus]

Another s/h box would be an option. I have a good one, but I am half way round the world from you.

 

[Eyjafjalladylan]

Defiantly use OEM seals. I wish I had the cash at the time to splurge on them. If I were to do it again, and I might have to, I would. If you have a basic shop setup you can do it yourself. You just gotta be careful with compressing the rings and follow the order of operations which are a bit vague at times. My biggest headache was getting the BBs back into the worm gear and breaking those seals with a heavy hand… which may have been due to a beer or two after dealing with the BBs… lessons learned…

Ill have to look into a good source for the seals, ill definitely be bringing those along with me for the second rebuild. As for the bbs i know that game, did that rebuilding the original land rover box... Pain in the arse to say the least haha.

 

[Eyjafjalladylan]

Another s/h box would be an option. I have a good one, but I am half way round the world from you.

I was thinking that too, wondering if maybe the sector shaft is slightly bent or something, but still wouldn't make sense if it stayed sealed for months of use until now. The boxes are hard to come by and expensive too. Hard to decide. Since the next rebuild is covered by warranty ill see if that fixes it but if not it'll be a new box next.