Hi guys, I recently acquired a 1984 GSL-SE with a little under 40k miles. Unfortunately, the car has a bit of a steering issue, as the steering is extremely stiff despite the car being equipped with power steering and having the correct amount of PS fluid. It's almost to the point I can't turn the wheel when maneuvering to park! I don't hear the pump struggling, or any noise correlated with the steering of the car. I've seen in the FSM that there is an SST for testing the pump, but it seems to be long discontinued and unavailable everywhere. Where should I start diagnosing this? Would it be a better idea to just convert to rack and pinion with the T3 kit? I have experience working on cars, but am new to cars of this vintage. TIA for the help.

 

Look to see if the preload adjuster is wound all the way in on the steering box. It's a slotted threaded rod with a large lock not on it. Loosen the lock nut then loosen the 'bolt' by half a turn or something to see if it changes anthing. If it does - and even if the steering is now super sloppy - you've found the culprit. This is often overtightened to compensate for a worn out recirculating ball and screw.

 

Most US bound SEs came with factory installed Power Steering. These used the pump to provide pressure on each side of the standard Recirculating Ball mechanism which all FBs were equipped with, but the lock to lock ratio was smaller for faster steering, given that it was hydraulically boosted. That said, the pump is equipped with an electrical solenoid valve that bypasses pressure when the speedometer is above a certain preset threshold. This dampens the steering at speed, and allows for more boost at low vehicle speeds like when parking.

Questions for you; what tires and wheels are on it now? Have you checked the PS Fluid reservoir to be sure it has PS Fluid? Does the pump make noise at all? Is the belt from the Eccentric Pulley installed with proper tension?

These PS pumps don't have a good reputation for longevity, as there's a steel split ring which sets the drive axle depth against its seals, and when that rig wears, the axle eventually allows blowby and the pump won't hold pressure. You can rebuild the pump seals and flip the ring over so it sets the correct dimension again, but it'll eventually fail in the same way. Without PS working, the SE has wider tires which present significant force because of the faster steering ratio. This may be what you're feeling if you're used to modern cars with PS that works.

Personally, I gave up on the PS years ago after rebuilding everything and it still wouldn't function correctly. I keep it full of fluid and just deive it as a manual steerer, get into the habit of ensuring the car is in motion before you try to steer it, and it works fine. At highway speed, the lack of PS isn't even noticeable, and even when new there was almost zero boost at speed, anyway.

 

I'm also planning to run an unpowered power steering box. I modified mine to ensure there wouldn't be any extra resistance from the piston pushing fluid around. I machined grooves around the periphery so the fluid could pass freely. I also made a retaining ring tool because mine wasn't budging otherwise.

Are you running PS fluid or something thicker?