Steering Box Grease

[Jon Pike <jhpike@xxxxxxx>]

While reading this, I remembered saving a post about this in my growing 
batch of pertinent Digest posts, that even had the size of oil seal to buy..

Ahem..  Deja Name..  ;-)

So, I'll save Erik some typing:



> RE: Steering Box     Erik Wood
>  Aug 10, 2002 15:39 PDT 
> Just thought I'd report on the steering box seal replacement in the
> event anyone else has one "weeping". It was incredibly easy! No more
> than an hour total. These instructions apply to the Burman box. But
> the other box used on GTV's should be pretty similar. Here are the
> instructions.   
> First, order a 28x40x7 oil seal from your local bearing wholesaler.
> Pick up a bottle of gear oil. After putting the front end solidly on
> jack stands, grab a gear puller, screwdriver, pliers and a 32mm socket.
> Before you crawl under the car, make sure the key is in the ignition so
> the steering won't be locked. Use the pliers and screwdriver to remove
> the cotter pin from the nut on the splined shaft. Remove the nut with
> the 32mm socket. Use the gear puller to remove the steering arm from
> the shaft. My car had a reference mark on the arm and shaft to aid in
> reassembly. If yours doesn't, mark the position of the arm on the
> shaft. You may have to turn the front wheels slightly to get the arm to
> drop completely. Crawl out from under the car and clean the greasy dirt
> particles out of your eyes.
>
> Go back to the toolbox and grab a 13mm socket on a long extension.
> Remove the 2 bolts holding the small plate on the top of the box.
> Carefully remove the plate being careful to not lose the adjustment
> shims between the plate and the top of the box. Withdraw the small
> spring from the hole. Next, remove the 4 bolts holding the top cover of
> the box. The two inner ones have nuts underneath. Pull the top cover
> off. Put a pan under the car to catch the oil as it exits the bottom of
> the box. Next, carefully pull up on the steering shaft. As the shaft
> pull up in its bore, it will separate from the block through which the
> worm gear passes. On top of this block is a small round piece with a
> grove on the bottom. Don't lose it. Mine fell into the box, which was
> still full of oil. I was able to retrieve it with a magnet. Fully
> withdraw the splined shaft (to get clearance, you may have to turn the
> steering wheel fully in one direction and make sure the block hasn't
> turned to one side). The oil has now landed in the pan. You did put it
> under there, didn't you? With the shaft removed, grab your new seal, a
> screwdriver and your large socket set and go back underneath. Use the
> screwdriver (or seal remover) to remove the old seal being careful not
> to damage the bore. Use a rag to clean everything really good and then
> press the new seal til it starts to seat by hand. Since I don't have
> seal drivers, I use a suitably sized socket and a block of wood to
> carefully drive the seal home. It will seat just past flush with the
> housing.
>
> Reassembly is the reverse of what I described above. You might have a
> little trouble getting the slotted round piece back between the splined
> shaft and the block as you put the shaft back in. So just be patient.
> As long as you put the steering arm back in the same position on the
> splined shaft, it's hard to mess anything up. You didn't even have to
> take any tie rods loose. No realignment needed. BTW, it was easier for
> me to fill the box most of the way with oil before putting the top cover
> back on. Top it off when you are done through the small rubber plug on
> top.   
> I hope no one considers this a waste of bandwidth! But I have often
> benefitted from others' descriptions of their projects. Fortunately,
> this is one of those that is probably easier than you would expect!
>
> Erik Wood
> '74 GTV
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