Power Steering Question

My 76' has a lot of front end noise, and I have slowly replaced any questionable parts, ball joints, bushings etc... I noticed that the PS Control Valve was loose at the joint to the Pitman arm.

I bought a rebuild kit (budget restraints) and rebuilt the Control Valve and replaced the return hose which was leaking. Now, I have new problems.

1.) When I started the car the PS took on a life of its own, the wheel went wildly to the right. After warming up, this seemed to stop.

2.) The steering almost feels like there is no Power Steering, and it pops and jumps to the right when turning right.

3.) It has a slight pull to the right.

4.) Before the work, the steering was hard to the right, easy to the left, now it is consistent, but does not feel like PS.

What else would it be?

 

Sounds like your control valve is shot!,Leaking by to the slave cylinder and truning your wheels. Not a good thing at all! Buy a control valve and adjust it as needed. Auot Zone on line has them for $90.00

 

Thanks for the info, what adjustments are there on the Control Valve?

 

There's a couple of adjustments to be made, I take it you made no adjustment at all is this correct?

 

The only real adjustment you can make is centering the valve. This is done by removing the two screws that hold on the end cap and tightening the nut under there to a specific value(something like 15 inch pounds, but I can't remember exactly!) and then turning it back a quarter turn or something. I think the Chilton's manual may have the exact procedure. I agree with Tom though...this sounds like a control valve that is shot. Years ago I put in a rebuilt valve in my Mav and it used to to what I began calling "auto steer" I would turn the wheel in either direction and it would continue on it's own. The wheel would not return to center after the turn either. I messed with that thing for months and could not fix it. As a last resort I got a new valve and whaddaya know..it worked fine after that.

Another thought...are you sure you put the two small hoses between the control valve and the slave cylinder on correctly? I seem to remember I once accidentally crossed them and it made the wheel zing all the way to one end when I first started it...

 

The other adjustment is made while you install the valve.The distance between the center of the grease plug and the center of the connecting rod stud must be correct.This made by turning the valve sleeve in or out untill you get it at 5&5/8", then you install the roll pin, then put it in the pitman arm and tighten it down.

After that fill the system and work the steering back and forth a few times, then adjust the centering spring. Make it snug (100 in lbs) then back off 1/4 turn.

Thats it!

Oh and i looked at Auto Zone again the valve is no longer on sale, up to $204.00 ouch!

 

Heh..at least I remembered it was in inch lbs.

 

One of these days I will learn to be more patient. I made none of these adjustments. I have not been able to work on it since Sunday, I started it and it is doing basically what has been described here.

I am going to adjust the end rod and grease it again, if that does not help I will replace it. The Control Valve is available for $100 from Advance Auto, I have more luck with them on parts for this car than any other store.

Thanks for all the input.

 

I never rebuilt one of those valves but I did replace the hoses one time and got them backwards when I installed them.Man, I never seen anything like that,almost broke my hand when I tried to stop it from turning.Switched hoses around and everthing was fine.

 

Okay, I have a question; how difficult is it to rebuild the control valve? I have a rebuild kit but haven't done it yet. Been waiting for Spring...

 

It's not too hard to install the kit, jusy make sure it's as clean as you can get it before putting in the the new "o" rings etc. Do you have a spare that your going to do or are you doing the one on the car?