Hi All,

Long time no hear. I have a 1966 Dodge Dart GT /255 with power steering. Relatively new PS pump, gear box, and hoses (within past 18 months).

The problem: Cars tends to wander in the travel lanes. Too much play from side to side in the steering wheel. Rutted pavement and semis makes for tense driving.

My valliant attempt at a solution:

Round 1: Tried adjusting the PS gear box- jack up front end so tires move freely, start engine, loosen top nut on the gear shaft adjuster and turn clockwise until tight, move sterering wheel side to side a few times and turn adjuster clockwise a litle more. Rinse, wash, repeat. I also bled the gearbox via the control valve body per the instrucitons in the shop manual.

Round 2: Given that Round 1 didn't solve ths problem a few months back, I decided to try to tighten the adjuster screw even more this time around. As I was tighening the gear shaft adjuster, I heard a "pop" and evidently blew a seal in my PS pump when moving the steering wheel from side to side. As of this writing, I have another one on order. Should be here in a few days. What's up with blowing the pump seal by doing this? The thing that still gets me is that I couldn't get all of the backlash to disapper before blowing the seal.

I must be doing something wrong. Any ideas? I want to get this fixed soon as I have a little one (4 months old) and I'd like have a safer ride.

Thanks,

Tom

There are three adjustments on the steering box, none of which should be changed with the engine running.

There's the sector mesh preload adjustable at the input face of the box, and the cross-shaft preload adjustable on the same axis as the pitman shaft (this is your top adjustment you've been changing). Upon first installation and then once in awhile, these need adjustment to take up the free play that develops with normal steering gear wear. The adjustment sequence is important; first do the sector mesh preload, then do the cross-shaft.

There's one additional adjustment, that is to the position of the outlet valve just below the return nozzle (where the clamped-on fluid return hose connects to the box). This valve plate can be shifted upward or downward relative to the box. It needs to be centred correctly or the steering will pull to one side or the other.

Once you've got your steering box adjusted correctly, if the vehicle still wanders it'll be due to faulty/worn front end components and/or improper alignment.

All this stuff is covered in the Factory Service Manual, which is a mandatory tool (the aftermarket non-Chrysler books don't get the job done).

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Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Don't forget to look at the steering column coupler and have someone turn the wheel back and forth while looking for play in it. It seems unlikely, but I've seen the little steel sliders inside there broken clean in two. I don't know how it happened.

The little metal cap is a royal pain to get back on, but I've recently read that someone makes a rubber replacement boot.