Just bought my second ever Toyota truck for light use/fun, a 1990 SR5 4Runner 4x4, 3.0. Formerly owned a 2012 2wd base Tacoma. So I’m new to the classic trucks.

This runner has several fixable issues, but the most annoying one is the power steering is very hard and heavy to turn to the right (normal to left), and there is also a power steering leak on the front of the drivers side somewhere which I assume is related. There is a medium sized red puddle under front drivers side in driveway.

When changing an oil filter I got the chance to see under the vehicle a little more and some fluid was still leaking down at the time and it looked as if it could be possibly be coming from the steering shaft itself?? But I don’t know because I am no mechanic.

It also has a totally ripped cv boot on drivers side that I bought a replacement cv axle for that could possibly be adding to the problem of heavy steering...but again, I’m no mechanic and it could be not part of the steering problem at all.

Anyways, looking for input from seasoned 80s and early 90s Toyota truck owners.


Im sure many more question threads to come to as I troubleshoot this amazing vehicle.

Thanks!

 

Welcome to Yotatech Jhayes!

Folks here like to help folks that help themselves mainly by reading what is already on the site (which is A LOT, pretty much EVERYTHING) and searching before posting a question. A good place to start is this thread:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...k-3vze-187741/
Also, putting info on your signature about your truck will inform folks of what kind of rig you have.

As far as your question, I have the 4 cylinder but some components are the same and just having changed the steering gear, I would think that the leak is coming from the input shaft seal which is common in these 30 year old trucks. Pictures are worth a thousand words and this site is user-friendly in regards to posting photos. Think of it like when guys look around in the engine, they would rather do that than you describing the problem.

I hope you have a bit of disposable income cause working on your own vehicle is rewarding and fun but can cost $$.
Good luck and get wrenching!

 

thank you so much for the help!!

and that sounds like what is wrong because where it appeared the leak was starting was where the shaft was connecting to the rest of the power steering assembly. Would that entail something high dollar like a new shaft or steering gear or would a worthwhile mechanic be willing to just put a new seal on?

 

clean the area as well as you can and dry it then run it and see where the leak is coming from.
As a former mechanic I found that rebuilding power steering gears is a pain and can be difficult to insure good seals. I always replace them instead, but it gets spendy.
the fluid leaking out one end of the steering gear is why it's harder to turn one way than the other.

 

thanks for the excellent info! Looking more and more like it might be replacing a steering box, but want to double check the leak today and of course ask a mechanic around here. Thanks all for your info

 

So I got home and started trying to track the leak from underneath after wiping much of the underneath down. It didn’t seem to be coming from the shaft, but still was hard to tell, hoping it is a hose, but that is a big HOPE.


HOWEVER...

i watched a Scotty Kilmer video recently where he used Seafoam Transtune as a last ditch before people replaced their power steering racks (in our case a gear box I guess).

I decided to try the treatment myself as I bought a can of Seafoam Transtune and it actually worked amazingly!
I took it for a drive when I got home and steering was harder than ever, parked it and removed any leftover fluid from resevoir, and replaced it with about 8-10 ounces of the trans tune treatment. I let the car idle for about 20-25 minutes and turned the steering wheel back and forth to the lock position for about 1 minute, in 5 minute intervals during the 20 minute idle period. You could instantly feel the Seafoam product working its way through the system cleaning out the fluid passageways. I then went and took about a 15 minute drive taking as many hard turns as possible including col-de-sacs and every single turn was incredibly easy and smooth going both directions. Literally the stuff seemed to fix the heavy steering without a hiccup. Seriously am amazed by the product.

I got got home and basted whatever Seafoam was in the reservoir out and replaced it with the ATF the 4Runner calls for. Now to see how the treatment holds up. Sure seemed to get rid of all kinds of crud in the steering system.

Now I still need to figure out the source of the leak and get that repaired, lol...but just want everyone to know if you are skeptical of Seafoam, at least know it absolutely works for heavy power steering.

 

Let us know if it KEEPS working. some fluids will cause the rubber seals in power steering systems to expand and it will blow out seals through the WHOLE system. Sometimes this is a very slow process and it could be days or weeks later.
This does seem to prove me wrong, I was sure convinced that the fluid was leaking out when pressure was applied to one side of the slider inside your steering gear causing it to lose assistance in one direction only.

 

like I said, I still need to find the source of the leak, as it still leaks for sure. But the Seafoam absolutely unclogged whatever gunk was clogging the system...my hope is that it continues to allow proper fluid flow throughout the whole system and it keeps turning very smoothly as it just did. In the meantime before taking it to a mechanic I will have to keep adding fluid as it does continue to leak.

I have have a feeling the previous owner either neglected the system or used regular power steering fluid.

 

have also heard a lot a lot of good things about Lucas Stop Leak for power steering. Scared to put it down there but maybe it has properties in it that helps to recondition rubber?

 

I wouldn't know if Lucas works or not, but if the previous owner put regular power steering fluid in it there is no "reconditioning" for the rubber, all the rubber parts will literally expand and distort permanently.

 

If a former mechanic thinks it's a pain to rebuild steering gears then I can attest that it definitely should be left to the pros! I tried & ultimately failed rebuilding mine here's the thread
I went with sending in my gear to RedHead steering gears and although it was pricey (with shipping, still cheaper than a NAPA one) I'm stoked on their product and their customer service was excellent.

It's a good idea to check (and replace if necessary) the fluids since the PO seems like they neglected the rig and it's a good way to learn basic mechanic-ing

 

Hey resurrecting my own thread as I have another question as we’ve located the problem.

The leak is is coming from the steering gear box which is a remanufactured one, Cardone I believe and I’m assuming well past it’s warranty.

I have found a steerign gear box gear box on car-part.com (national junkyard site) that is OEM for $95 plus shipping with 127000 miles on the truck it was pulled from, seller says no leaks and it looks like this...



just wanting more expert input from someone who has changed these out on these old Toyota trucks before.

Is 127000 too many miles for a used OEM one with no leaks? Should I expect a leak sooner than a reman one? Price for reman seems to be in $250-$350 range.

Price at the shop that diagnosed the leak was $500 for part (which I believe was also a reman) plus $300 labor.

Just wanted some better advise advise from those who have dealt with this issue.


also, Seafoam trans tune is still doing well with smooth power steering 300 miles and almost a month later. Definitely recommend if your steering starts to get heavy.

 

The mileage may seem about 1/2 for as old as a 1990 4Runner would see. But the other issue your dealing with here is time. A 30 year old set of seals if they are OEM will not have much life left in them because the compliance of the seal is on borrowed time at this point.

If you get to rebuilding, the Pittman arm can be a bugger to remove from the sector shaft even with a decent puller. If you buy a seal kit they are quite inexpensive and getting the seals off and on the piston is not trivial. To get to the input shaft seal the whole unit has to come apart so that the shaft is pulled and the seal then is pressed out but into the steering gear housing as it is the first thing to be put back in when you rebuild it.

For Both my son's 1990 and my 1991 we have rebuild both the PS-pumps and steering gears over the past 3 years as it is the time. Having a well secured bench vice and some decent tools are needed to complete these rebuilds and a FSM is a must.

 

would love to get into rebuilding but have pretty much no mechanic background as well as little tools. I am fairly mechanically minded however.

All my tool expenses go to carpentry tools lol

 

Want to give an update on power steering leaking situation.

Existing reman cardone gearbox has been leaving a leak spot about 3 pancakes big everytime the car is parked for a day or more, leaving the reservoir at or near empty needing to be refilled every couple days.

As a last resort I saw some ATP-205 reseal on the shelf at autozone when picking up oil for our other car. Had very good stopleak reviews, claimed to not have any harmful seal swelling chemicals, and actually had seal conditioners of some sort, also was promoted by the ever honest Scotty Kilmer on YouTube (who used it for a rear main seal leak). Bottle says it works for oil leaks, transmission leaks, main seals, and power steering, so I figured it would be safe with ATF fluid in 4runner power steering.

Well I put it in on Saturday (about 1 1/2 to 2 ounces with reservoir refill) and have driven the runner over 100 miles since and I’m glad to say that a triple pancake sized leak spot is now down to only a couple very small drops after sitting for over a day (so not totally sealed yet but MUCH MUCH better). Hoping it keeps it sealed and still have plenty in the 12 ounce bottle left if it needs more down the road to keep the bandaid on lol. Also I will say that it helped with the little bit of play in steering column as well, feels stiffer in a very good way. Overall I recommend this product, and apparently any “snake oil” Scotty Kilmer decides to endorse as his Seafoam Transtune also did wonders for heavy power steering as well.