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97 power steering pump "rebuild"


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This is a work in progress. I still need to find the torque specs for the bolts, and a couple part numbers.

 

 

PARTS LIST

 

Gates power steering repair kit Gates 348414

Skf bearing 6203-2RSJ (from napa)

tank o-ring (subaru part number ????)

washer gasket (subaru part number 34443AA010)

2 tasty beers

 

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Remove the pulley and snap ring.

 

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Remove bolt inside of the tank, you will need a ratchet extension. Replace sealing washer.

 

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Remove the six bolts on back of pump and pull off tank. On the bottum of the tank you will see the first o-ring you need to replace.

 

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With the back of the pump facing up, CAREFULLY remove the rear pump cover. Here is the main gasket that needs to be replaced. Now Carefully pull out the vanes raceway ect.

 

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You will now see two o-rings that will need replaced.

 

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drive out shaft using vice, hammer, and a piece of wood. be careful, you can easily distort the pump hosing.

 

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now drive out the old bearing using the same method.

 

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drive on new bearing.

 

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Pull out old shaft seal and drive new with seal driver or socket.

 

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here you will find the last o-ring hiding.

 

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Reassembly is reverse of disassembly.

Edited by sario
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how much did you spend on the parts? not counting the beers.

 

how long did it take?

 

It's pretty easy. It took about three hours from the time i started taking the pump out to the time i put it in. But that's only because I had to drive to the dealer to get the tank O-ring and washer, they are not included in the repair kit. Now that I've done it once, i could do the whole thing in under an hour.

 

 

My total cost was total cost was $34.81. you could save $4 if you ordered the bearing from rock auto when order the gasket set though.

 

Gasket kit from rock auto $ 19.21

Bearing from Napa $12.31

O-ring and washer $3.29

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If anyone in the local area is willing to let me rebuild their pump I'll get some better pictures. I'll even use the press at work to do a more "professional job." It would be $30 if you let me use your pump, $68 if i have to get one from a local yard.

 

please?

 

I live near eugene oregon.

Edited by sario
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  • 2 months later...
  • 2 months later...

Yeah he didn't replace the bearing. Which is silly not to do as a 6203-2RS is only like $5 and you can't replace the front lip seal without pulling the shaft/bearing assembly.

 

Don't really need a press - totally overkill for such a tiny little thing. I use a vice with some soft-jaws and some carfully selected sockets. I have a 20T shop press and I wouldn't even consider using it on this. If I had a whole assload of them to rebuild then I would setup an arbor press to do them. Just too small and the forced involved are trivial.

 

I have done about half a dozen EA and EJ pumps - note that there is quite a variety of kits and they aren't the same from Legacy to Impreza even in the same year.... nor are the EA pumps quite the same. Some don't even have the same size bearings - some are 6202's and some are 6203's. So you want to verify what you have - especially if any junk yard pumps have been involved.

 

GD

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I'd be happy to send you 1, 2 or more pumps that could use a rebuild. I should be up in Portland in December, near the airport. If you are near by, I could get them from you then.

 

Larry

 

 

I live a couple hours from the PDX airport. I really appreciate the offer though. I think i'm going to see i can find one on craigslist for cheap, if i do I'll sell for like $25 on here.

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  • 2 months later...

I thought I'd add this to hopefully save some time. After completing my p/s pump rebuild I put may car back together and had some problems. Where I started it I heard a grinding/poppy noise coming from it and I had trouble bleeding it. Was worried that I had bad bearings or there was dirt in the system. I was hoping it was just air so I continue trying to bleeding it for hours. I waited a half hour between tries. IT SHOULD NOT TAKE THIS LONG! It turns out the sound I was hearing was air coming in making a cherry colored milkshake in my reservoir. If you see any fluid collect on you engine even just a small amount, there's a good change it's leaking out while the cars off and air is being in air while it's running. My problem turned out to be the back plate seal alignment.

 

In addition to the seal kit I ordered new bearings, a new spring for the spool value, a new hose and clips for the return into the tank, and a new gasket for the banjo bolt.

 

*** IMPORTANT REBUILD NOTES

 

- I put the front of the car on jackstands in order to raise the wheels of the ground and had to take my radiator fans and the air intake duct filter cover to get at things.

 

- Crack the intake spool valve before removing the pump from the car. Mine was really on there and I didn't feel comfortable tightening it down so much on my vise to crack it. I had to bolt it back on the car and use a breaker bar.

 

***** Make sure you have all the parts exactly the same as when you took it apart. It's a good idea to take pictures. I was mislead by an illustration for the back-plate metal seal in the manual. Make sure the this seal is lined up properly and in the same direction as the old one before torquing it down! I torqued mine to 13ft/lbs which is a bit more then the spec but still in the grace listed in the factory manual. (11.6ft/lbs)*****

 

- Order a new hose and clips for the return. If your seals are shot the hose is probably hard too. Just another place for air to come in.

 

- Order a new gasket for the banjo bolt. It fits on both side of the high pressure line coming in through the bolt. It's much easier then trying to get a good clean surface on the old one. I also tightened this bolt a bit tighter (28ft/lbs) then factory spec(25.3ft/lbs) but still in it's allowance.

 

- Prime the pump before putting the tank on. This will save you time bleeding the system. I left the reservoir tank off and installed the pump on the car and connected the lines. I poured fluid in until the pump will not take anymore while turning the pulley wheel to release any air. While installing the tank I had some problems getting to the bolt on the back with my 3/8 socket so I used small 1/4" drive socket/socket wrench.

 

- Make sure you change all the seals including the one on the tank. I couldn't see this at first because if was so flat and hardened to a tank which was the same color.

 

- It may be a good idea to order a new spring for the spool value. They compress over time.

 

I hope this helps and save someone some time. It done correctly I think this job can be done in 3-4 hours including car dis-assembly and reassembly. I took me much longer.

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  • 1 year later...

Why does the ps pump need two filters? You have the one that you pull out, and if you stick your finger down in the reservoir you have what seems to be a round filter.. anyways I think I have air in my system.. my pump still leaks but now the steering has been much harder to turn, while I did refill it I still have a hard time getting it feeling normal again.

 

I assume I need to prime the pump again?

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