Power steering moaning at low speeds

[davidguthrie]

Ah. I did wonder. Is it much of a job to fix? I'll be getting my mechanic to do it unless it's somethinjg I could readily do myself.
Thanks aerojon and sgould!

[sgould]

I've not done the job myself, but it seems easy.  Remove return hose.  Unplug the level sensor.  Two bolts to remove the pump and see the O ring.

[davidguthrie]

Cheers, sgould. I shall have a look.

[Audax]

It's a very simple job, except removing the old seal is awkward and pressing the new seal in is also a pain, I wouldn't bother buying the genuine Saab part as it's expensive and you can buy a better seal for £6 from ebay (I may actually have a couple sitting in the shed as I got spares before I did the job).

I did mine in a rush one morning before work as I was off to Scotland the following week and the oil level in the power steering reservoir was getting higher and higher, the repair was good but the plastic reservoir started dripping power steering fluid onto a coolant hose a couple of months later as I think I must have damaged it when doing the job. It meant I needed to get an entire brand new pump which was about £200 from saabtech on ebay and replace the coolant hose underneath it had dripped on.

[davidguthrie]

Sounds as though I should give it a try, Audax And exercise caution regarding spills!

[Max Headroom]

We have dental-type picks  at work for removing awkward o-rings. They work a treat.
You can get plastic ones in case youre worried about scratching a metal surface but they tend to fall to bits and just arent strong enough.

These kits are brilliant because you can also use them to save a fortune on dentists fees to do DIY dental surgery

[aerojon]

It's the shaft seal that fails..17x30x7mm Double lip Viton shaft seal..SKF HMSA10V

[Audax]

We have dental-type picks  at work for removing awkward o-rings. They work a treat.

The trouble is that the O-ring swells and sticks in the recess having lost plasticity and because of the contamination causing the lost plasticity it won't come out cleanly, I was using a set of picks to remove it and in the end had to carefully chisel it out in big hunks of degraded material!

[Max Headroom]

in the end had to carefully chisel it out in big hunks of degraded material!

OMG!  I can't recall ever finding any O ring that had gone like that. I can see why a dental pick or even an ear spoon might not work

[davidguthrie]

All sounds very daunting. I think I'll leave it for my favourite garage! No fun doing delicate orthodontics at the roadside, where I am obliged to work, having no driveway. Had to cringe at Max's mention of DIY dentistry!
Many thanks for the guidance though.

[Audax]

in the end had to carefully chisel it out in big hunks of degraded material!

OMG!  I can't recall ever finding any O ring that had gone like that. I can see why a dental pick or even an ear spoon might not work

I think that the issue is that they used a seal made of material that is not compatible with the power steering fluid, hence why it fails in the first place. Anyhow, one trick I read of after doing the job was that you can drill a small hole in the seal and put in a small self tapping screw and use pliers to pull it out.

[Max Headroom]

Anyhow, one trick I read of after doing the job was that you can drill a small hole in the seal and put in a small self tapping screw and use pliers to pull it out.

Nice one! I do like the sound of that method!