You'll never be done.


Its the nature of the XJ. Lol.

 

Was going to say the same thing. There is always something else to be done.

 

Oh, I know. It's a labor of love that never really "ends". That's why I said I just want to be done with it "for now"

 

I re-read this thread and have to make a correction-

The original OEM pump actually did work. I was tired when I posted that it didn't.

It's just WEAK and leaking (worse than ever). I had some power steering at just above idle. It was hardest when the wheels were straight ahead, right where the grinding occurred in the gear box. It got a little easier after getting past that area. It was hard to notice because I was wiped out when I tested it.

The rebuilt pump didn't work at all, not anywhere in the gearbox range.

So I interpret that as meaning the gearbox had an issue (new one on the way as I type) and the rebuilt pump was faulty.

on a somewhat crappy note:

When I went in to purchase the pump from the local NAPA, they told me that I had to pay an additional $20 transfer fee because "those pumps are warehoused in Texas".

They refunded the cost of the pump, and the core charge, but REFUSED to refund the $20 fee to get the pump here in the first place.

Hooray NAPA. Never experienced that with any other parts place, including online ones.

 

Get the new box? Which MFR did you end up going with?

 

Haven't been able to get on here to respond because I've been swamped with stuff.

Returned the bad gearbox and swapped for the same "brand"- AC Delco. This one was apparently rebuilt by a different company as it had different fittings to block the ports was much cleaner.

Put the new PSC pump with an under drive pulley in, put the "new" rebuilt gearbox in - bled it (during which it puked out fluid so violently that it almost cleared the fender).

Got 1 finger steering during bleed, 1 finger steering during short test drive. That was Saturday night. Haven't had a chance to take a longer drive in it yet, but hope to get that done today.

Steering felt weird - very different from the original setup. Have to get used to it - hard to predict curves, suddenly find myself over/under steering.

Now if I could just find someone to buy the core from the original pump - LOL

 

UPDATE:
Got nice, tight steering. Almost no play in the wheel. Turning radius may have been altered but just slightly.
Put new steering stabilizer and front shocks on and it's like new!
Still "learning" the new steering on it. Rather different from the progressive steering of the original XJ box- still tend to under/oversteer in curves.
Straightened the steering wheel, but a day later it is cocked badly again. Checked the bolts on the drag link and they are TIGHT. Will have to straighten it again.

 

Glad you got it sorted out, seems to be the general consensus with reman boxes, some of them are good, some of them not so good.

Ive heard of a few people trying 3 different boxes before they found one that worked properly. Not sure if you tried this or anyone suggested it, but there is some adjustment on the steering box, the allen bolt with locking nut. Did you try adjusting that to get rid of the dead spot on the previous box?

 

So far, kind of good...

Learned that the PSC pump had a problem. It whined like a pump what was low on fluid and under load from the word go. I wrongly assumed that this had something to do with running an undersized pulley as the whine was tied to engine RPM and not to steering input.

It would also routinely puke power steering fluid out from under the cap. Initially, I thought I had overfilled the reservoir and that this would self-correct. However, the problem continued and I would frequently have to add more power steering fluid as the reservoir got too low.

Then I assumed that perhaps it had something to do with the fact that the pump was spinning at a higher rate due to the undersized pully and thus was heating the fluid up and boiling it out.

Eventually gave in and called PSC tech support and in the space of a few seconds learned the pump should NOT whine like that, and without any prompting from me, PSC sent a brand new replacement pump.

I installed it about a week ago and initially it was very quiet, like a stock pump on a stock XJ. Yesterday, I started to hear some whine again.

The steering is still very easy, only struggles a little when turning at very low speeds or when stopped.

Now on to replacing the transmission cooling lines, where I think the transmission fluid leak is located. Took the XJ to TWO different mechanics and they could not identify what the leaking fluid is (they were able to rule out engine coolant and oil) or where it was coming from.

The forward end of one of the cooling lines is soaked, but I thought that was power steering fluid as it sits directly underneath the reservoir.

 

UPDATE: The power steering is working well. Still get a little whine from the pump but nothing like before. Turning radius with the Durango box is not quite as tight as with the original one but still good.
I didn't replace the transmission cooling lines as several other things in life popped up. I'm about to replace them, do a basic tune up, and see how it runs. This past week, we hard a strange clicking noise when driving it to the house from back on our property. The weird thing is that the sound is directly influenced but engine RPM, but only manifests when in gear. If I'm in drive, the clicking matches the RPM of the engine. If I switch to neutral or park the noise disappears.

 

I initially tried with parts store rebuilt components. Everything went to hell...
The reman steering gear had more slop than the old one with 250k miles on it, second one leaked at the sector shaft. The reman pump sized a bearing at 70mph and shredded a belt, and blew the impeller shaft out the front of the pump!

Got a junkyard Durango steering gear and XJ power steering pump. Had a highly regarded local power steering rebuilder do a full rebuild on both. When I installed everything I had no power steering pressure. He said don't worry (had my old core), come by in 3 hours and will have another one ready. At the same time, he double checked the steering gear backlash and made sure it was all perfect.

10k miles later and I still have 1 finger, smooth quiet steering and almost no steering gear play.

Idk why power steering components are so damn finicky...
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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

 

Talked to someone at PSC and they sold me 5 of the o-rings that came on the pump that I bought from them a few years back. They should be here soon.

 

Any update on the Oring solution?

 

Have had allot happening. Am trying to get on it today. Looked at the tech manual again but the instructions for remounting are ultra basic and no diagram (thinking perhaps I'm putting the o-ring in the wrong spot/way)