Power Steering Pump Leak

[Jordan]

Found a leak under the power steering pump.  I've determined that the leak is coming from behind the pully (see first pic).  The drip forms on the inside edge of the pully, no where else.  Looking at the parts diagram, am I correct in assuming it is probably seal #93 that is leaking (see second pic)?  How difficult is this seal to replace?  Can it be done in-situ?  Is it possible to replace this seal without removing the rad?  I'll no doubt have to drain the power steering fluid as a minimum so will likely replace the filters in the bowl at the same time.  Has anyone had to replace just this seal and what am I looking at procedure wise.  Many thanks for the continued assistance.

[rwmastel]

Marcus,

Is that called a seal in the parts catalog?  Wondering if it's a spacer or something else, and the leak needs to be stopped from the inside with part 98 and/or 99.

[MikeSimon]

The power steering pump has a shaft seal. It is a standard design (not dimension) lip seal. Back then, Vickers used single lip seals to seal against pressure from the inside. later they became double lip seals. The pump has a bore that connects the inlet area to the area behind the seal to help draw oil away from there into the inlet area. I think the seal is still available out there. The pump has to be removed, the pulley has to come off.

[mdsalemi]

Found a leak under the power steering pump. 

Marcus, you can purchase the rebuild kits for the PS pump readily in a number of places. It is an easy fix, not in situ but out of the car.

I simply opted recently to exchange my PS pump for a rebuilt. But it's (according to many) not that big a deal to change the seals.

https://www.authenticclassics.com/mercedes-Power-Steering-Pump-Seal-Conical-p/auth-008400.htm
https://www.authenticclassics.com/mercedes-Power-Steering-Pump-Seal-Cylindrical-p/auth-008399.htm

I got my rebuilt pump from Autohaus AZ. https://www.autohausaz.com/pn/1154600980

[Jordan]

Thank you Mikes and Rodd.

Rodd, yes part #93 is listed as a radial seal ring.  I thought because it is an external seal I could possibly do it in-situ but I guess not.

Michael, did you replace the pump yourself?

Is there some way to determine if I have a straight shaft or conical shaft without removing the pump first?  My car is an October '66 build, about 1000 before the last 230SL.

Lastly, can I remove the pump without removing the radiator?  It looks tight but I am hoping so.

[mdsalemi]

Michael, did you replace the pump yourself?

Is there some way to determine if I have a straight shaft or conical shaft…

Well, I just looked at my shaft and said that looks conical to me and sure enough it was…

Since I was replacing the steering gear as well, (I don’t really have the working space or Lift to do any of this) I let my mechanic take care of it. He did a perfect job. And yes, it was easier for him to remove the radiator to get access to the pulley from the pump and removing the pump. When you have a lift, these things are relatively easy. I can barely move in my garage when the car is in it so working on it is out of the question, At least anything serious.

[Pawel66]

I am not a mechanic and I managed to remove the steering pump without removing the radiator. But
- you have to have a way to lift the front the way that ensures comfortable access
- there is a risk of damaging the radiator; place some cardboard on it to protect it
- a lot depends on how cooperative pulley will be
- v belt is easy to remove (cut) tricky to put back

There is a lot of threads about removing the pulley and working with v-belt there, good to study them.

My conclusion is: since I have Quick Jack now and I can lift the car high enough to remove radiator from the bottom - if I were to do it again, I would remove the radiator.

[Jordan]

Thanks Pawel.  I have a 4 post lift so can get under the car pretty easily.  I will try removing the pump without removing the rad since it sounds like it can be done.  If I run into difficulties I can always take out the rad but hopefully it won't be necessary.

[Pawel66]

Keep in mind you have a couple of standard (not metric) bolts there, holding the pump.

There are more threads there, I found this one: https://www.sl113.org/forums/index.php?topic=30276.msg219254#msg219254

[miked_md]

I recently did this repair on my 67 230SL.  The seal kit was $4.95 from Pelican parts.  It included the shaft seal and two O-rings.  I removed the pump and bracket together without removing the radiator.  The pulley came off without too much effort once it was out of the car.  Almost no room between the pulley and the radiator.  If you remove the radiator you can replace the shaft seal without removing the pump, but not the internal O-rings.  Replacing the seal and O-rings was the easiest part of the job.

Classic case of a $5 part and five hours of labor!

[VikDasor]

I recently did this repair on my 67 230SL.  The seal kit was $4.95 from Pelican parts.  It included the shaft seal and two O-rings.  I removed the pump and bracket together without removing the radiator.  The pulley came off without too much effort once it was out of the car.  Almost no room between the pulley and the radiator.  If you remove the radiator you can replace the shaft seal without removing the pump, but not the internal O-rings.  Replacing the seal and O-rings was the easiest part of the job.

Classic case of a $5 part and five hours of labor!

What method did you use to remove the pulley. I have been fighting with it for few days and soaking it up repeatedly with wd40 and plus gas. Also have tried 2 different pullers and few ways that are shown in the forum but no result.
The only thing I have not tried is heat.

The shaft is conical.

[rwmastel]

Other posts make it seem like this should be the easier part of the job.

I've found Liquid Wrench and PB Blaster to work betthan WD40, but I'm sure we could have 100 posts just on that topic!

Tapping around the perimeter of the back of the pully hasn't worked?  If it's out of the car, I assume you could get a puller on it.

If you have a way to heat it, then proceed.
Heat may be your best bet.

[Kevkeller]

I made a puller but I have a lathe and mill. The tool you need pulls it from the center area so you don’t damage the rest of the pulley. Do not pull it from the outer edges.

It did take a lot of torque for it to finally pop off.

[miked_md]

My pump had the straight shaft so maybe it was easier.  I loosened the nut and then held the pulley and gave the nut a few taps with a hammer.  Not hard enough to damage the threads or nut.

[Jordan]

So I am in the process of removing my power steering pump and the bracket and have run into a problem.  My plan was to loosen the pump in the bracket and then remove the bracket with the pump attached (thanks Mike for your description and procedure).  I got the belt off pretty easily once I loosened the pump from the bracket and slid the pump back.  I removed bolt #116 and was going to remove bolt #100 so I could rotate the pump enough to get access to bolt # 114.  These are the 3 bolts holding the bracket to the engine.  My problem is a PO installed bolt #100 in reverse, so the head is between the pump and bracket.  I cannot extract the bolt so I am unable to rotate the pump to get to bolt #114. 

I then thought I could remove the pump by itself (there are 3 bolts holding the pump to the bracket) by removing the pully so I could get at the two bolts holding the front of the pump to the bracket and then slide the pump out that way (the 3rd bolt has been removed).  These 2 bolts cannot be pulled out because they are behind the pully.  I loosened the pully nut and backed it off.  I can slide the pully maybe 1mm along the shaft of the pump before it stops.  I can move the pully in and out that 1mm so I am assuming it is free?  My question is what could be stopping the pully from coming off?  I can wiggle it a bit and slide it back and forth that 1mm but it won't pull off.  What am I missing?  There is a woodruff key but I figure that is just to prevent the pully from rotating around the shaft of the pump.  I'd appreciate any insight on this.  Thanks.

[VikDasor]

Hi Jordan,

I had been running in to the same issue few days ago as I was to struggling to get the pulley off. The 1mm movement was the same on mine but the pulley would not come off no matter what I tried bought 3 different pullers too but no luck (I did not want to use the heat method at all) it’s just the pulley that’s tight.

I was going to do a separate write up on the forum regards to this as it’s just an another method which I found easy.

So I basically did this on the bench but it can be done in situ but the radiator will have to be removed.

I came across this inexpensive puller on Amazon which did the trick with no hassle but you have to hold the puller in the Vice while you tighten the center bolt and it will pop right off. These damn pulleys are tight.

Also when the puller is held in the vice make sure you have a helper holding the steering pump as the pulley will come off with pressure and the pump could fall.
See the link below for the puller. It’s on UK site but I am sure it’s available every where.
Also see photo of my pump with woodruff key (ignore the white stuff on the pump as that’s just a rust preventative)

This tool fits really snug over the front end of the pulley and it holds it well.

Zoomtools Bearing Puller tools Set, 5 Ton Capacity Bearing Separator, Pinion Wheel Bearing Removal tools Kit with 2" and 3" Jaws, Wheel Hub Axle Puller tools Set, Heavy Duty Bearing Splitter Tool Kit https://amzn.eu/d/8MnNIXD

[Jordan]

Thanks Vic for the link and the explanation.  So is it the woodruf key that is holding the pully in place?  I figured that my being able to pull the pully back and forth meant that it was already free of the pump body.  Or is the pully held on somewhere else?  I'm sure I'm not visualizing correctly.  What does the inside of the the pully look like?  Thanks again.

[rwmastel]

So I basically did this on the bench but it can be done in situ but the radiator will have to be removed.

I came across this inexpensive puller on Amazon which did the trick with no hassle but you have to hold the puller in the Vice while you tighten the center bolt and it will pop right off.

How does one hold a puller in a vice when doing this process "in situ"?

[VikDasor]

The woodruff key is there to help the pulley in rotation and not to slip while functioning   
The central rotor on the pump is  conical shaped and the pulley is pushed on very tight.
Being on there for years it could be minor built up of rust that holds it even tighter.

[VikDasor]

How does one hold a puller in a vice when doing this process "in situ"?

You cannot hold it on a vice while in situ but you will need to work out a way to hold the puller when its on the pulley because as you tighten the bolt on the puller then the pulley starts to rotate.
Large vice grips or a stillson wrench will do the job.
 

[Jordan]

I thought I would follow this up as I have replaced all the seals but haven't run the car yet to see if there are any leaks.  I did not remove the radiator.

I ended up spraying penetrating oil generously behind the pulley before leaving for holidays.  When I returned on Wednesday I tapped the pulley with a large wrench and then it just slid off by hand, no puller required.  With the pulley off I had access to remove the two front bolts holding the pump to the bracket.  To get the pump out I just unscrewed the bolt holding the drivers side horn and bracket to the chassis.  I just left it hanging from the wires.  This gave me enough room to pull the pump out from under the car around the sway bar.  I then removed the last bolt holding the pump bracket to the engine and pulled that out.  What a lot of grunge on the pump and bracket.  Upon cleaning everything up I discovered the Vickers pump has a date cast into the pump (see below).  At least I think its a date.  The October 5, 1966 date would be the same month my car was completed.  I also discovered that the pulley must have been balanced, because there were two weights attached to the inside of the pulley (see pic).  I see from Vic's pic that he has what looks like a weight on the inside of his as well.

It turned out the long bolt I thought was installed backwards at the back was not.  I installed it in reverse but found that the pump could not get past the nut when I tried installing the pump in the bracket.  So I reversed the bold so the head was on the inside and the pump fit past the head no problem.  Putting everything back is in the reverse order.  I used grease to hold the woodruff key in place when sliding the pulley back on.  It's worth mentioning that if you look at the pump pulley from the back you can see the woodruff key and the slot on the pulley to get them lined up.  Trying to do it blind would take forever and you would constantly be picking up the key as you push it out.

Question about refilling the power steering cannister.  Is the front end raised solely so you can turn the steering wheel back and forth easily?  Or is necessary for the wheels to hang?  I wasn't going to lift the front end but just park the front wheels on some cardboard so the wheels will turn easily on the steel ramp.  Maybe put a bit of grease under the cardboard so it slides easily.