When you read thru here, and other forums, many people have had the same problems with the Delphi Steering units. After going thru the information myself, I found out that Delphi is no longer building the 800 series steering boxes we have in the trucks. In fact, I tried to have PSC find me a new box from Delphi, but to no luck.
When Delphi cut back part of their business, they sold part of the rights, tooling and equipment to Boreston. In fact, Boreston is the only place to go if you want a manual sagnisaw box today. Moreover, you will find that you can only get seals, gaskets and hard parts of the boxes themselves today. If you doubt it, feel free to call your local GM dealership and ask them if they can get you a brand new zero mile steering box.
Part of the issue is how the units are rebuild. For instance, when you talk to different people, every builder has a different process that they do. Moreover, there's a lack of information available for you to make a good choice of where to get a box. For instance, GM, Autozone, etc. just have units cleaned, new seals and bearings put in along with pressure testing the units for leaks. Most of the time, the hard parts, castings and bearings are not checked for tolerances. In addition, many builders don't magniflux, polish or check the cases and hard parts for tolerances. This is why you will see people having to trade out 2 to 3 boxes until they get a box that works right. Lastly, it's important that boxes are balanced on a dyno tested to insure that the box is balanced from left to right to ensure that units work the same, pressure wise, as you turn your steering from right to left. Moreover, some builders will not reuse the old parts and replace them with brand new parts in order to get the tolerances correct because of this issue. It's important to ask the builder what process that they do when they get your box. When you talk with them, you can get a good feel if they know what they're talking about and how they will be down the road if you have an issue.
The other aspect that is over looked is having your power steering pump looked at during the replacement of the steering box to insure that the unit is tested and balanced to match your steering box. Sometimes, the steering box has to have adjustments made in order to get the box to work to your comfort. For instance, because of the hard steering, I had the T Bar in the steering box changed in order to assist with the feel of the steering to be easier. In addition, the steering pump was changed to a unit that has higher pressure and volume to meet my needs. The end result, is I have a steering system that works better than before. I can turn my steering wheel with one finger, from right to left, with the brake pedal applied with no hesitation.
From my own research, I found that there are only two to three people that do this work. Lee Power Steering, Howe Power Steering and PSC. Because of this, you are better off taking your box and having one of these people rebuild your box. They will be able to make the correct recommendations for your needs.
Personally, I found Howe to be the most helpful, they really know what they are talking about. In fact, before rebuilding my unit, they dyno tested everything before and after to see that the unit was working correctly. This involves running the pump and box for 45 minutes on their dyno with the pump running at 1800 rpm to see the output of the units. This ensures that you get a system that is in working order before it leaves them.
The last thing I will touch on is the power steering fluid and cooler. If you don't have a power steering unit cooler on your truck, it's important that you have one installed. In addition, it's important that you use a non synthetic power steering fluid. Synthetic Power Steering Fluids don't retain heat properly and result in power steering fade when the oil temperatures go up. Lee Power Steering makes their own fluids along with Sweepco and AC Delco fluids are the best choices. There is no API standards for power steering fluids like you see with API standards for the motor oil, etc. As a result, some people may have issues with the performance of the steering because of the fluid isn't match up well to your needs. With that in mind, it's good to flush your system every 24 mos/24,000 miles to ensure the system is in good working order. Because of the heat cycling, you will have metal from power steering pump and rubber from the power steering hose that contaminate the system. These by-product will damage the system over time if you don't change the fluid out timely.
In some cases, you will find that you're paying a little more for the rebuild, but you're getting a better end product. I hope that this clears up some of your frustrations with your steering so you don't have to go thru what others have here.
When Delphi cut back part of their business, they sold part of the rights, tooling and equipment to Boreston. In fact, Boreston is the only place to go if you want a manual sagnisaw box today. Moreover, you will find that you can only get seals, gaskets and hard parts of the boxes themselves today. If you doubt it, feel free to call your local GM dealership and ask them if they can get you a brand new zero mile steering box.
Part of the issue is how the units are rebuild. For instance, when you talk to different people, every builder has a different process that they do. Moreover, there's a lack of information available for you to make a good choice of where to get a box. For instance, GM, Autozone, etc. just have units cleaned, new seals and bearings put in along with pressure testing the units for leaks. Most of the time, the hard parts, castings and bearings are not checked for tolerances. In addition, many builders don't magniflux, polish or check the cases and hard parts for tolerances. This is why you will see people having to trade out 2 to 3 boxes until they get a box that works right. Lastly, it's important that boxes are balanced on a dyno tested to insure that the box is balanced from left to right to ensure that units work the same, pressure wise, as you turn your steering from right to left. Moreover, some builders will not reuse the old parts and replace them with brand new parts in order to get the tolerances correct because of this issue. It's important to ask the builder what process that they do when they get your box. When you talk with them, you can get a good feel if they know what they're talking about and how they will be down the road if you have an issue.
The other aspect that is over looked is having your power steering pump looked at during the replacement of the steering box to insure that the unit is tested and balanced to match your steering box. Sometimes, the steering box has to have adjustments made in order to get the box to work to your comfort. For instance, because of the hard steering, I had the T Bar in the steering box changed in order to assist with the feel of the steering to be easier. In addition, the steering pump was changed to a unit that has higher pressure and volume to meet my needs. The end result, is I have a steering system that works better than before. I can turn my steering wheel with one finger, from right to left, with the brake pedal applied with no hesitation.
From my own research, I found that there are only two to three people that do this work. Lee Power Steering, Howe Power Steering and PSC. Because of this, you are better off taking your box and having one of these people rebuild your box. They will be able to make the correct recommendations for your needs.
Personally, I found Howe to be the most helpful, they really know what they are talking about. In fact, before rebuilding my unit, they dyno tested everything before and after to see that the unit was working correctly. This involves running the pump and box for 45 minutes on their dyno with the pump running at 1800 rpm to see the output of the units. This ensures that you get a system that is in working order before it leaves them.
The last thing I will touch on is the power steering fluid and cooler. If you don't have a power steering unit cooler on your truck, it's important that you have one installed. In addition, it's important that you use a non synthetic power steering fluid. Synthetic Power Steering Fluids don't retain heat properly and result in power steering fade when the oil temperatures go up. Lee Power Steering makes their own fluids along with Sweepco and AC Delco fluids are the best choices. There is no API standards for power steering fluids like you see with API standards for the motor oil, etc. As a result, some people may have issues with the performance of the steering because of the fluid isn't match up well to your needs. With that in mind, it's good to flush your system every 24 mos/24,000 miles to ensure the system is in good working order. Because of the heat cycling, you will have metal from power steering pump and rubber from the power steering hose that contaminate the system. These by-product will damage the system over time if you don't change the fluid out timely.
In some cases, you will find that you're paying a little more for the rebuild, but you're getting a better end product. I hope that this clears up some of your frustrations with your steering so you don't have to go thru what others have here.
