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!
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!
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