FJ60 steering pump tips and Q's

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60wag

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Jun 25, 2003
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Speaking of power steering pumps....

I just swapped the pump on my 84FJ60 this weekend. I know there have been lots of PS pump questions in the past. Here are some tips that might help you do the job. It looks like you should be able to just unbolt the pump and be done with it. Unfortunately, several bolts just won't come out easily so I 'rec the following: Remove the intake duct hose, then the rad overflow bottle. Disconnect the steering fluid return hose and drain the tank. If you can get the steering pump pulley nut loose now, remove the pulley so you have clear access to the two bolts mounting the air pump tensioner bracket. If the nut won’t come loose, hit it with an impact wrench after the pump it out of the truck. Next remove the air pump. Take the time to dent the fan shroud so that the pivot bolt from the air pump can pull straight out. You'll be glad next time you have to get the bolt out. I also find it amazing how you can snake your right arm down through the emission hoses, past the EGR and just grab the end of the pivot bolt. When it comes time to put the lock washer and nut back on, I'm glad my arm is skinny enough to reach the bolt. Once the air pump is out of the way you have access to the three bolts and one stud holding the bracket to the block. Remove those four and the high pressure hose and then pull the pump and bracket out. I recently got a set of metric crows foot sockets. What a cool tool. The 17mm makes the high pressure hose but easy to loosen/tighten. The pump bracket makes it easy to hold the pump assembly in a vise without grabbing the pump itself. Remove the two small bolts on back securing the tank. Remove the front bolt on the pump holding the mount tab for the tank. Notice that this bolt has a small oring near the head of the bolt. The important thing is that this bolt is different than the rest. The other bolts holding the pump together have the oring closer to the head. If your replacement pump is from a minitruck, it won't have this bolt in it. My Cardone (POS) is. When you mount the tank on the pump make sure you use the bolt with the oring farther from the head or it WILL leak. Since my pump came with the mini truck hose barb on it, I used the seal oring from it to replace the one on the bottom of the tank. Assemble in reverse order. And yes, definitely put a key in the shaft. If the pulley spins on the shaft, it’ll trash the pump and the pulley. The cheap pumps don’t come with pulleys.

I like to fill the tank up and spin it by hand a bit to get some fluid into the pump - probably unnecessary. Put the front axle up on jack stands, start the engine and crank the steering from stop to stop at least 10 times. I can usually get the pump to stop growling or clicking at this point. Then after driving for a mile, it always starts groaning and needs a bit more fluid. Its seems like a really fine line between low fluid groaning and overfilled tank burping out the top. If the gasket in the lid is original, its probably squashed so flat that the cap always feels like it should fall off when you're wheein. I turned the gasket over and now it goes on snug and seals great. The gasket is pretty stiff, so use caution when handling it - its close to breaking in pieces - not sure if replacements are available.

“Why are you wasting you’re time with a Cardone rebuilt?” you’re probably wondering. I put one in three years ago that had a lifetime warrantee, so this one is basically free (just the install time.) Most pumps get replaced because they are leaking. Mine isn’t leaking, just isn’t producing much boost. I’ve been wanting to measure the pressure on the old pump but have been too lazy to make a gauge adapter and too cheap to have a shop do it. Now that I have an extra pump – until I return the old one, I might actually make the adapter. Anyone know what the hose end flare is? Any off the shelf fittings that would make this easy?

The “new” pump isn’t much better than the old one. Little boost at idle, a bit more at higher RPM – maybe its a little better. Anyone ever installed a pump that resulted in a noticeable improvement in power assist? I’ve driven a number of different 60s. None of them had what I would call “plenty” of assist, most were lame. Maybe they’re all worn out. I assume that a Toyota reman would be better than what I’ve got. I’d rather not spend the 400 odd $ for one unless I knew I’d have awsome steering for navigating boulder fields and one finger parallel parking. Ok, so I almost never parallel park around here but my wife hates driving the 60 because of the non-power steering. I’m wondering what parts wear out inside the pump and are they replaced with the Toyota rebuild kit? I want to take the old pump apart and check some of the measurements against the specs in the book. I might rebuild the old pump and return the new one. I’m also wondering if the real problem is in the steering gear and not the pump. A pressure test should answer than one.

I did monkey with the pressure relief valve on the old one. I put a 0.050” spacer under the stout little spring inside the valve cartridge. The larger spring that holds the spool up against the output fitting was as long as the book specs so I left that alone. The mod made absolutely no difference in steering performance. I made sure that the whole pressure relief assembly was clean and sliding smoothly in the bore so I don’t think its leaking.

The one thing that really irritated me on the “new” rebuilt pump (besides the lack of power) is the high pressure hose port. The old pump has a nice tapered brass seat in the hole. The new one has just a square bottom hole in the steel fitting. When you tighten the hose in there, the nut nearly bottoms out as it crushes the end of the flair into the flat steel surface. It seals but doesn’t feel right. The brass piece won’t come out of the old one. Am I missing a ferrule or tapered washer here? I went to swap the entire fitting of the old pump to the new one. But, sure enough, there are different. The spool valve in the hole is different also so they couldn’t be swapped. One looks like the one in the Cruiser manual, the other may or may not be a Toyota part. Also one is a C size and the other is a D. Maybe it’s a minitruck thing, or maybe it the rebuilder is replacing some parts with junk.

Sorry for the wordiness but I’m on a roll, HTHs someone, hope someone can answer some of my questions.

Bruce
 
great post, sorry i can't answer any ?'s, you're knowledge is far beyond my reach, i have changed my unit but couldn't get the new key from toyota to fit, what's the trick? sorry to answer ?'s with ?'s
 
The key should go in the slot with a tight fit. Make sure the slot doesn't have a burr knocked into it. A bit of light filing might clean it up a bit. Sometimes you seat the key by holding it with some needle nose pliers and gently tap it with a soft mallet and it will drop in. As a last resort you can sand it a bit until it fits - go for a tight fit, not a loose one.
 
Hi Bruce I just wanted to say that my pump works great and apart from a leaky reservoir 18 months ago,its always performed as it should including at idle.Not quite one finger steering but I can spin it with one hand while I eat a whopper

In answer to some of your your other points
The leaky cap seems to have been fixed on later models by fitting a spring to the new cap.
I just went and put a 1HZ cap onto my 3F reservoir and it fits perfect ,no rattle .Not sure if it is Toyota but it has some japanese writing on it.

The low pressure is usually attributed to worn vanes. My Gregories manual has notes in italics about how important it is to match up the numbers on the rotor,cam rings and vanes during rebuilds as they come in various sizes.
Id spend something on a pressure test,may save you pulling a good pump apart.
 
I've managed to answer a couple of my own questions.

I took the old pump apart to see if I could find any obvious wear. The front bushing was fine - no slop. The end plate had some galling from the rotor but not too bad. Then I noticed the rotor was set back from the stator a bit. The Toyota manual actually specs the diff between the rotor length and the stator length. Nominal clearance is 0.0012" with a max limit of 0.0024" Mine was at 0.040", no not 0.004" but 0.04" No wonder it wasn't making any pressure. I don't think think this thing is rebuildable but its worth $90 as a core return. I pity the poor guy who gets this one next. The replacement one is working better, not great but better. I had to fill it close to the hot high level to keep it from growling but it seems to be making some pressure. I also confirmed that there is supposed to be a brass seat in the high pressure port. Specter lists one 99-25K, I think. I called the Toyota dealer but he DIDN'T list it. I was able to pull the old one from the bad pump and install it in the new one. Now that I'm intimate with my steering pump, I hope I don't have to mess with it for a long time.
 
Steering pumps and stuff

FWIW

My old PS pump was pretty lousy, especially off road. Any force against a turning tire would cause fluid to fly out the cap all over the engine.

An unexpected positive side effect of my V8 swap was that the new Delco PS pump provided WAY more boost and truck is must easier to drive on and off road. So any way to adapt a Delco pump to the 2F bracketry and hoses would solve some of the problems with the weaker Toyota pump.
 
NAPA sells a Beck Arnley "NEW" not "reman" pump for both 60 and 62 for around $200 with either a 2 or 5 yr warrenty. I have had good luck with both but neither is quite as good as OEM. On a FJ 60 the changing of the pump sucks every time you do it. No matter how many you get for free it still sucks. Buy new or buy OEM. Both will give you a boost in power.

On a FJ 60 you also have the smog pump issue. Bad PS pump can soon kill a good smog pump.

60 series pumps, with stockish tires, should allow you to spin the wheel easily at idle. With 33" and over it is more of a power assist feeling but still easy.
 

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