61 Galaxie power steering turns right!

F

Fleck

Junior Member
Over the weekend my buddy and I rebiult the power steering control valve for my 61 Galaxie. We rebiult it because the ball/ stud that connects it to the pitman arm had alot of play in it. The power steering worked great before the attempted rebiuld. Now as soon as I start the motor; the steering wheel turns right and I can't turn it back to the left with the motor running. Any insight on what we might have done wrong would greatly be appreciated. Thanks
 
It's been a long time, but I think I had that happen once on a GM car. We'd replaced the pump on the back of the gen set with a more modern pump. We'd hooked the hoses up backwards. Don't know if that's possible in your case.
 
Sorry I couldn't help, but I called my buddy who owned the car. We had a good laugh about him frantically trying to shut it off when the wheel spun. Hopefully, someone who knows will chime in.
 
You still have a line in the wrong place. My 69 Torino did the same thing when I rebuilt the control valve. I had the cylinder lines hooked up to the wrong ports.
 
Definitely have a line hooked up wrong. On a car with a column mounted ignition switch it would just about break your arm if you just reached in the window to start the car. Don't ask me how I know.
 
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Low rider you are right about how it spins. I switched the lines back around on the control valve and slave cylinder. Now it spins to the right again. I tried to turn it back the other way while it was running and it must have blown out one of the seals. Not only does it turn on its own now it pumps fluid out of the ball and socket. Guess I'm converting to manual till I can get the control valve looked at/ rebiuld by someone that knows how to do it correctly.
 
You've got a problem with the centering in the control valve. It's an assembly problem. Switching the lines is merely sending the fluid in the other direction. The same port is being pressurized and is being run up against relief pressure. That's why the seal went.
 
Be careful! I worked as a forklift mechanic for 32 years and I've seen hydraulics do weird things. Always mark all line during disassembly, take photos with a digital camera if you can. I had a mechanic come and ask me why the pump exploded when he turned a truck on. The truck was an 8000 lb. capacity electric lift truck, with a 9 gallon per min. pump being run by a 36 volt DC electric motor. The mechanic was installing a new 3 spool control valve. After checking it out, we discovered that he had hooked the pressure line from the pump to a cylinder port on the valve, instead of the pump port that was protected by the relief valve. When he turned the pump on, the pressure had no where to go and could not return to the reservoir. The pressure built up until the pump fractured and oil went all over. Thankfully no one got hurt.
 
I think the assembly problem is correct. I talked to my buddy, and we lost some fluid, but our seals were ok once we did the lines right.

I don't know about a later model, but I took the pump off my 55 'bird to have it rebuilt, and drove it into town (no other wheels). Seems to me it was real loose on center, something to do with the way the linkage hooked to the ram. Got in and back ok, but be aware. And 30+ years is a long time to trust my memory.
 
Step 1: connect your hoses in the proper ports.

Step 2: Start engine. If wheels turn, remove the centering spring cap (while engine is running) and slowly turn the centering spring nut in the opposite direction of the of the pressure flow to get your wheels centered.
TURN that nut SLOWLY and stop immediately if she starts turning too fast. May need to back off some. If you turn the nut too much it will blow the seals and you gotta fix it. Be careful and go real easy when adjusting.
That all there is to it. Once you know your hoses are right it is just a matter of getting the centering spring adjusted properly
 
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