I am all prep'ed and ready to pull the leaky steering gear and install the rebuilt one.


Do I have to undo both ends of the pittman arm to remove and reinstall the steering gear or can I get the unit out and back in with the pittman arm still attached to the steering rods?


[ turns out the answer is ...no you don't ]


Everything is lined up and marked....any other tricks I should know?Edited by: glennb

 

I have the newer Trooper, but if you can get the pitman arm off without removing it from the linkage, I would say go for it. As long as you get the arm on the new gear in the same relative position you should be all set. You should flush the PS system of the old fluid too, while you are at it, before running the new gear.


Good luck. Edited by: atfdmike

 

Thanks for the response.


Looks like it doesn't really matter about removing the arm from the linkage so I used a pitmann arm puller (a must) while the gear was in place to break the pitmann arm free on the spline. [img]smileys/smiley4.gif[/img]


It was a little tricky getting the shaft from the steering wheel off of the small spline at the top but I could reach in with both hands and work it apart. What a mess with all that leaked ATF. It is a small puzzle to work that 20lb steering gear away from the frame and through the maze of tubes so it is free and clear - but it will eventually find a way out.


Now to flush the system and install the new unit.

 

Sounds like you have it well under control. You may even find that the steering is a lot tighter than it was. Isuzu gear boxes seem to suffer from wear more than most, resulting in loose steering.

 

Thanks for the comment...I did compare manual movement of the new (rebuilt) gearbox, while on the workbench, with that of the one I removed and was concerned the new unit was so "tight".........perhaps no reason for concern.


Two lessons-learned so far:


1. Remove the entire air filter housing and some of the air inlet tubing on that side of the engine. Easy to do and affords an almost complete/unobstructed access to the steering gearbox location.


2. Pittman arm retaining nut requires a 180 14 ft-lbs installation torque. Borrow a torque wrench or (like me) use it as an excuse to buy one of those1/2" drive models that goes up to 250 ft-lbs.[img]smileys/smiley4.gif[/img] </>Edited by: glennb

 

New gearbox is in, no leaks, very solid steering.


Lots of warnings in the directions to make match marks on the spline attachments on both ends of the gearbox before disassembly so that upon re-assembly everything lines up and the steering wheel is centeredwhen the wheels point straight ahead. Turns out this is only slightly important at the pittman arm spline because the arm hasone "double-size" tooth and the gearbox only has four double-size slots at every 90 degrees - if you don't move the front wheels while the unit is removed, it should be obvious how the pittman arm spline should mate. At the steering shaft end, if you miss by a tooth or two you can re-adjust by pulling the steering wheel and rotating it a tooth or two.


Since the power steering reservoir is the highest point in the system...you can fill almost the entire system prior to starting the engine and spinning the power steering pump. It helps to add fluid to the re-assembled system through the reservoir until it stops draining...then wrestle the steering wheel from lock-to-lock a few times with the engine off to start to bleed all air from the unit. Then add more fluid and turn on the engine to run the pump. Slowly turn the wheel from lock-to-lock again while running and add fluid as necessary.Turn the engine off and you may see some foamy bubbles in the reservoir - add fluid as needed. The pump and gearbox make some loud noises when they still contain trapped air. Once those sounds are gone and no small bubbles appear in the reservoir, the system should be bled.


I believe new gearboxes from Isuzu cost $1100. The rebuilt units are just over $500. and you get half of that back when you return the core. </>&lt; src="http://www.google-analytics.com/urchin.js" =text/&gt; </>&lt; =text/&gt; _uacct = "UA-939292-44"; urchinTracker(); </>
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It is great that you got the job done and are happy with the results. What is better for us is that you reported what you did and how you did it....many forum people fail to do that.


Thanks!!!!
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Thanks for your documenting your observations. you have been a help. Thanks.