1974 Ford 3000 blowing power steering fluid out fill opening

[roadpacker]

Hi Roadpacker,

I recently had the same issue on a '67 Ford 3000 and everything Harry in Ky says matches my experiences. To further the explanation, air is sucked into the pump, likely thru a shaft seal and foams the oil, increasing the volume until it spews from the filler.

My reading and observations found that the double seal was to allow the inner one to seal the oil and the outer one to exclude dust. My kit also lacked a double seal and I could not fit two in the space provided, so I installed one with lip facing inward only. It works fine.

Hardest part of the job is the cleanup before opening it. The orings will become self explanatory. Beware of scoring the shaft seal seat getting the old seal out as I did. Luckily it still sealed.

Thanks for the information. I got the old original double seal out pretty easy,but I don't think I will find a double seal to go back with. My local NAPA store found a seal for the Ford 3000 with the Plessey pump, but won't know if it is a double until it gets here tomorrow.I am relieved to know that just one seal worked fine for you. I may have to do the same thing.Would putting one seal with the lip toward the pump, put the snap ring behind it, and then putting a second seal with the lip facing the drive gear work like a double seal?I think there is room to do that but the second seal wouldn' be captured by a snap ring. Maybe a drop of Loctite on the seal o.d.? I will measure the seal well tonight to see if 2 seals and a snap ring will fit. Thanks again

 

[FordnMassey]

Hi,
That second, outer seal facing outward is intended as a dust seal. Mine of course lacks that now, so time will tell what that means. I reckon if you can get a seal facing outward placed anywhere, I'd go for it. I wish I had considered that.

 

[roadpacker]

Hi,
That second, outer seal facing outward is intended as a dust seal. Mine of course lacks that now, so time will tell what that means. I reckon if you can get a seal facing outward placed anywhere, I'd go for it. I wish I had considered that.

Got the pump rebuilt and back on the tractor today. The re-build kit seems to have done the job, as the pump is now no longer spewing fluid out the fill opening while the tractor is running.Power steering works fine, with little effort to turn left or right-so far so good.The o-ring kit was a bit confusing to figure out, as the pump had 3 sealing rings in it and the kit only came with one, I used o-rings in place of the sealing rings and they seem to work.The shaft seals were a hard plastic outter and softer seal ring. I had bought a NAPA seal and the outter was metal so I put it facing the pump and the plastic seal facing the drive gear. It would only go about 1/8" into the seal well so I put 2 drops of Loctite on the metal seal and pressed the plastic one to it.That may have been a mistake, as after seating both seals I read the Loctite directions and it said don't use on plastic.It seems to be holding tight so only running the pump will tell the tale. Much thanks to Harry and FordnMassey for the help and advice. Y'all got me going in the right direction and Harry's sage advice to not worry about going into the steering column probably saved me from making a big mistake as well as saving me a lot of time and work in stripping the sheet metal off. Thanks again guys.Appreciate it.