I'm no pro at this so if I did something wrong, please tell me. I also have question to ask after the write-up so hopefully you guys can help me with that.

I ordered my power steering box from WabFab.

First I removed the bolt holding the coolant reservoir. The bolt snapped in two, pretty much a bad omen for what was yet to come.



Took off the air cleaning assembly. I didn't know how to unplug the VAF so I just set the whole thing aside to prevent anything more from breaking.




There it is, even though I mistakenly put power steering fluid in it since high school, it still never let me down. Now it's finally time to let it rest.


So I slid the cover up the steering column


Removed the bolt connecting the universal joint to the worm shaft. At first I thought I was rounding it, put after some persistence I finally was able to loosen it.


Now here's the most stressed out part of this write-up, the power steering lines. My flare wrenches just couldn't do the job and I felt like I was going to round off the edges. So I stopped before I could do any damage.


I needed a better tool, but since I couldn't drive anywhere and my roommate was at school, I just waited. So I went over to the Pitman Arm. Here's my setup to remove it, works everytime.



At this point though, I was stressed out and frustrated having know idea how I was going to get those power steering lines out.


After some time passed my friend got back from school, and drove me to the auto parts store where I found this thing called crows feet flare wrenches. It worked perfectly. It's basically the end of a flare wrench with a square hole for a ratchet.


After having my roommate help me wrestle the old gearbox out and put the new one in, I threaded the fittings back in.



Everything back together and torqued.


I had my friend help me flush out the old power steering fluid. It's all ATF now.

 

Now my problem now is that when I turn all the way to the left and start to turn right, I feel some resistance. It just does it when I start to turn right, but after a short point it will be smooth again. Doesn't happen the opposite way though.

Maybe I didn't bleed it right? Can anyone tell me an easy fix for this or what my problem is?

 

Air trapped in the system.

Looks good

:wabbit2:

 

Thank you, I'll see if I can find an easy way to bleed the air out.

Edit: After some reading I guess it is easy, just a long process. I tried turning the wheel lock to lock, not jacked up, and that was only 10 times. I'll jack it up after school, and keep trying.

 

Great job. That is the easiest way to jack the front end up and get the air out. You will get it. You got the worst part done.

 

Looks like I'm gonna need a bigger jack. The stock jack barely gets both tires off the ground.

Oh and also if you guys were wondering what I did with my coolant reservoir since the bolt broke....

 

Is that the stock air cleaner assembly, or where did you get that from / make it fit??

Cheers, and great swap!

khany2002

 

I'm 100% sure that's the factory Air Cleaner Assembly and thanks.