Posted this in “How did you screwup your Buick today” Steering gear box TOTAL reseal. I did the pitman shaft seals last summer, it sealed that but pushed oil out at the other old seals and leaked like a sieve. This will be a learning experience, pretty simple, but the balls are gonna be tough I think.
That’s what I’ve heard. I’m going to consult my Buick bible in the basement for pictures and such. You Tube vids irritate me on certain things, guys talking about his wife, kids, projects, his new roof etc. GET TO THE POINT!
Looked in my service manual, putting the balls back in seems pretty straightforward according to Buick, hope it’s that easy!
Mark . Take a piece of heavy paper about 2 inches wide and 4 inches long . Fold the 2 inch side in half and use as a trough to guide the balls into place . Remember 1 shiny ball then 1 black ball and so on . Grease will work for the last couple that go in the tube . That is how I was taught in GM school in Moorestown NJ in the 70's
It's easy. Just be careful if you use any parts from another donor gearbox, left and right do not interchange too well. Jim
Just to be a nerd, I’m going to mic the balls and see if they’re different diameters. Got it all disassembled, took my time and looked at every part, not for wear so much, but just to get an idea how all this works mechanically, quite interesting, using the recirculating balls to engage the three teeth on the pitman arm. I have the bare housing soaking in lacquer thinner, lotsa schmoo from the worn O rings.
Got it 90% back together, found a couple balls had fallen out of the worm gear thingy, my fault, I was turning the shaft without the end screw in thingy where the steering shaft attaches and over extended/turned the shaft So I learned tons how it works mechanically. The only place I needed grease for my/ the balls was in the transfer tube, that’s pretty cool how that works! Guess that’s why it’s called “recirculating ball” steering.
Mark . Did you Mic the balls ? Interested to find out if you found a difference . I've only seen the Black balls and the silver balls .
No I forgot to, sorry But in hindsight, it’s probably better I didn’t as I’m SURE I would of had EVERYONE of them all over the garage floor What I was thinking tho, being my box had all silver balls, they must all be the same size, and the black balls were over/under sized. I don’t understand if you have a total of 24/25 balls, how would 6 balls of different size affect the operation with a 18 or 19 balls of a larger/smaller size
