Power steering Pump Leak: Rebuild or Replace

[Miilkman]

My PS seems to be leaking a bit from the rear end of the pump. It honestly doesn't leak a ton, maybe a few drops every week and everything else seems to be fine including the hoses. Is it worth fixing? If so, should i just replace the gaskets(Power steering pump gasket kit (04446-60080)), just rebuild or should i just replace the pump entirely? Any other suggestions would be appreciated too. Thanks

 

[Malleus]

It depends on how much you like money. It's the same amount of work to replace a leaking pump with a rebuilt pump or new pump. Rebuilding (actually, resealing) is a 15 minute job, IF...
you have a bench vise, and air wrench to remove the gear with. People claim to have been able to remove it without an air wrench, but I'm not one of them.

If you opt for a rebuilt model, don't cheap out and buy an aftermarket job. It'll leak before the year's out.

While you're at it, replace your high pressure hose; it's leaking too. Rein from RockAuto for $40 = OEM quality. One of the very few parts on my truck I didn't buy from Toyota.

 

[Miilkman]

@Malleus No bench vise, but was planning on buying this Wit Ends Power Steering pump gear handle to use along with my impact wrench to remove the gear. I think i'll just reseal if its only a 15 minute job and the pump works great overall. Do you have the part number for high pressure hose that you purchased from Rock Auto? I honestly thought my high pressure hose looked okay, but I'll just replace it since I'm down there.

 

[wpns4l]

I did the rebuild. No air tools or vice but I do have cordless impact I used to get it off. I used a towel and leather gloves to hold tight to get the gear off and back on. Worked fine.

 

[Kernal]

The engine looks very clean and the couple of bolts for the pump shown in the photo appear to have been turned in the past; has the engine been worked on, has the PS pump already been replaced??

How many miles on the engine?

 

[SpenserAK]

Whatever you do here for the pump itself, go OEM like most other applications in your cruiser. If the pump is working fine, a reseal is certainly cheaper & little extra work while you have it out. Agreed on hoses, though - a quality & properly fitting hose is good, and the rein HP hose from rockauto is good (part PSH0328 - you'll see it when you go to steering > pressure hose). Check all the other lines thoroughly - if they're original, they're probably hard and will crack when removing. If that's the case (or regardless) of course replace all of them while doing this job.

To clarify (apologies if unnecessary), working on the pump *after removal* is the quick part. You're doing the removal either way.

Consider Joey's complete OEM kit, which includes the extra necessary oring, high pressure gasket & bearing. Also includes links to great instructional threads on mud.

80 Series 1FZ Power Steering Pump Rebuilt Kit

80 Series 1FZ Power Steering Pump Rebuilt Kit (PSR-1K)

absolute-wits-end.com

A secondary option for now... with that light of a drip, you could try a splash of AT205. I think the vast majority of us prefer real long term solutions, but it's not going to hurt, and could stop the drip entirely in the meantime. Success depends on exactly why it's leaking, of course. I'm still putting off my pump rebuild after a leak a year ago, because 1oz completely stopped it overnight (same spot, but way more than yours). Still a bit amazed by it. That said, if you're going to do the job soon anyway, no need to use a sealer with that little fluid loss. Just keep an eye on the reservoir until you get to it.

 

[mudgudgeon]

Rebuild is not hard. There is a couple of gotchas

There some guides on YouTube if you search.
I think I found a decent vdeo on rebuilding a Hilux pump which was identical.

OEM rebuild kits are cheap enough via partsouq etc
You'll also need a new oring seal for where the pump fits into the timing case (not in the kit)

 

[Malleus]

The only thing needed to remove the gear is a socket; you can hold it with anything - it's not going anywhere while you turn the nut. The bench vise is for the pump ear.

 

[jht3]

i bought both a rebuild kit AND a new OE pump. threw the OE pump on and rebuild kit in my parts box

no vise in my garage, so i got after it w/ a gear puller, cordless impact, and heavy welding gloves. also used the Rein hose. a year+ later and still leak free.

 

[Miilkman]

Wow a ton of good info in here. Thanks y'all!

I ended up buying the rebuild kit instead of just buying a new pump. Gonna get the high pressure hoses too(Thanks for the tip @Malleus @SpenserAK @jht3 ) Might get some AT-205 as a short term fix cause I'm really not looking forward to getting greasy again...(just did a full brake service and knuckle rebuild 2 weeks ago)

@Kernal The PS pump has never been replaced, but it was pulled off when I was doing my engine rebuild. good eye

 

[Malleus]

IMHO, stop leak isn't a good idea. You can't get it out once you put it in, and you have no control over where it goes. Remember your power steering reservoir feeds lubricant to your power steering gearbox (yes, ATF is lubricant). Do you really want that stuff in your gearbox?

 

[Miilkman]

IMHO, stop leak isn't a good idea. You can't get it out once you put it in, and you have no control over where it goes. Remember your power steering reservoir feeds lubricant to your power steering gearbox (yes, ATF is lubricant). Do you really want that stuff in your gearbox?

Thats what i was originally thinking, but I haven't heard of anyone destroying their gearbox with some stop leak. I get what you are saying though. I suppose I have around 3 weeks to gather the courage and get my hands dirty again until my rebuild kit arrives in the mail...

 

[SpenserAK]

I don't disagree on stop-leaks. However, AT205 is a thin liquid that aims to chemically affect rubber seals, rather than jam a bunch of gunk everywhere like radiator or HG stop-leaks. A few basic tests show it to return some pliability to old orings, no gunk or debris involved. Certainly to each their own, and I do not use other stopleak products. With such a slow drip, I would leave yours alone.

 

[jaymar]

Consider Joey's complete OEM kit, which includes the extra necessary oring, high pressure gasket & bearing. Also includes links to great instructional threads on mud.

80 Series 1FZ Power Steering Pump Rebuilt Kit

80 Series 1FZ Power Steering Pump Rebuilt Kit (PSR-1K)

absolute-wits-end.com

Not anymore...

 

[Robert Duane]

Hello All
Happy new year....
I am in the same situation and would like to know if there are a few of you whom have refurbished the pump with the OEM seals kit from Toyota?

On my pump, it seems to be leaking out of the front sharft seal...which drives the pully.

Rob

 

[Kernal]

Robert Duane said: "On my pump, it seems to be leaking out of the front shaft seal...which drives the pully"

Which model/engine 80 Series are you working on (3FE, Diesel)?

Got a photo of the pump you can post up?

 

[Saito]

Not sure if anyone else has mentioned it here yet, but there’s a small plug at the back of the pump that has an o-ring on it and you’ll likely have a failure there if you get a re-man’d pump. My rock auto one dumped all of its fluid when this plug disappeared.