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Driving back up to the house from the pond, I heard and felt a new noise. Got Serenity back on the garage concrete and started poking around underneath. After some prodding I discovered the right side control arm race in the main flex end was shot. The arm could be moved back and forth where it attaches to the Rusty's cross member/transmission support. Called Rusty's and was able to eventually locate a new replacement and rebuild kits for the 3 others. I have the 6.5" HC long arm full kit. Kind of sucks that they deleted my account after all the $ I spent there. Something about it being too old and them not migrating older customer accounts to the new ordering system. Unusually pissy attitude from the CSR too. She acted like I was interrupting her break and that it was somehow my fault that I had ordered so long ago that my account wasn't deemed worthy of migrating to the new system. How sad.
Their tech dept came through though.
New Flex end and rebuild kits should arrive tomorrow.
Never thought I'd see Rusty's go downhill like that.
The new flex end and rebuilt kits arrived and I rebuilt the bad flex end instead of replacing it- mostly because I could NOT get the jam nut to loosen. The rebuild kit consists of replacement races for the bearing. I took an old flex end apart first to get a feel for it. After cleaning out the one on the Jeep, I pre-greased the bearing and case a little then put it all back together. According to Rusty's, there isn't a torque specification for the plate, but to tighten it until I am unable to swivel the bearing by hand.
Gutted flex end older flex end disassembled showing components Rebuilt flex end
Power Steering Reservoir leaking at connection to pump
Since I will also post this as its own thread, a bit of background...
We bought our 2001 XJ in 2001.
Lifted it in 2011. Went from the 29" stock tires to 33" BFG KM2's
The original OEM power steering pump functioned just fine until late fall of 2016.
Installed a re-manufactured power steering pump along with a Durango Steering Gearbox and a C-ROK Cherokee XJ Durango Steering Box Spacer Plate in January of 2017.
The reman pump failed immediately.
Swapped the reman a few times but they all failed immediately or within a couple of days.
Bought the PSC pump and used the o-ring they provided when mounting the reservoir. Everything worked great and there weren't any leaks (IIRC)
Recently, started finding power steering fluid on carport under pump/gearbox area. Everything soaked. Kept cleaning and looking for source.
Source appeared to be where the reservoir connected to the pump. This is a low pressure connection and it's nothing more than a plastic nipple on the reservoir plugging into the hole on the side of the pump. The only seal is a single o-ring that fits on the nipple. The assembly is held together by two metal fittings, one at the top and one at the bottom. There is no way to "tighten" the reservoir to the pump. The o-ring supplied by PSC was crushed and in pieces.
So far I have replaced the reservoir. The one I bought from Rock Auto came with a nitrile rubber o-ring.
It leaked.
Swapped the original back on (aftermarket one felt weak and flimsy). Replaced the o-ring with a fresh one. It leaked.
Replaced the o-ring figuring that I had somehow goofed it up installing. It leaked.
Replaced that one with two new ones, thinking perhaps stacking two on the nipple would create a seal. It leaked.
Contacted PSC to ask about buying one of their o-rings since that one worked for years.
PSC would not sell me one but gave me the part number (05205254) they say they use to get them and referred me to MOPAR
Learned that the MOPAR part is made of Vitol as nitrile rubber will fail quickly due to heat.
MOPAR does NOT provide the OD, ID, or CS of the correct o-ring and that part number seems to confuse the MOPAR website.
Estimates gleaned from research place the cross section at - 2.8-3.0mm with an inner diameter of 14mm
Not a single Jeep/Chrysler/Dodge/Ram dealer in this area has that part. They say there isn't a way to order one that I must buy over $75 worth to get one and they have to buy them from Dodge.
NAPA, Autozone, O'Reillys, Rock Auto, etc. do not stock or sell this o-ring. They do not have one with those two measurements.
I have reached the unfortunate (?) point where I'm teaching more to the employees of these places than they teach me.
Every time I have to mess with this it takes hours and is incredibly messy. I'm reaching the end of my chain here. it's a stinking o-ring. A $0.50 part. The pump is fine. I just need the correct o-ring.
Any suggestions??? nipple on reservoir that plugs into the side of the pump. Note the step/shelf receptacle on side of pump that reservoir nipple is inserted into. pump/reservoir assembly showing two metal clamps that secure reservoir to pump. They clamp around the area on the pump that the mounting bolts pass through
It would be nice to see the same picture of another pump to see if that step/shelf area is the same way.. If it is the same I would assume that larger bore above it is what needs to be sealed.
When I used to work a tractor dealership we would often have to find O-Rings for odd applications where the info had been lost to time or discontinued manufacturing. O.D. and I.D. measurements of the two pieces needing to seal are necessary. If you can get those measurements that would be a great start. Viton orings would handle the temps fine.
It would be nice to see the same picture of another pump to see if that step/shelf area is the same way.. If it is the same I would assume that larger bore above it is what needs to be sealed.
When I used to work a tractor dealership we would often have to find O-Rings for odd applications where the info had been lost to time or discontinued manufacturing. O.D. and I.D. measurements of the two pieces needing to seal are necessary. If you can get those measurements that would be a great start. Viton orings would handle the temps fine.
The necessary tool arrived today. I hope to get measurements soon. New calipers purchased to try solving this issue. Arrived this afternoon.
I was reading on the PSC site - (One day I'll buy there stuff) - And the inlet was listed as 19mm (on SP1205C) and if your 14mm is correct (was that the nipple on the reservoir?), the cross section of the needed oring would be 2.5mm. Which seems an odd or custom size. McMaster Carr has a lot of options based on size ands style - maybe going to a square oring would help?
Rusty's Flex ends and declining CSR attitudes.
