Two tercels with leaking power steering, wrong fluid?

[xirdneh]

Last week my friends tercel was leaking steering fluid. The fluid in pump was clear so i asked if he added fluid. he said he had added power steering fluid (PSF) instead of the required automatic transmission fluid (ATF). I do not know if the PSF caused the seals to go bad.
Yesterday I began work on new 83 Tercel project by pulling engine. The power steering rack was leaking and when i checked the fluid it was clear, probably meaning previous owner used PSF instead of ATF.

I am in process of converting the car to manual steering
This is what i have discovered so far and i plan to make a video in the future
"I am working on an 83 Tercel with power steering, after I pulled the engine I found the steering rack was leaking. Looks like someone used power steering fluid instead of automatic tranny fluid and the seals went bad. I decided to switch it over to manual steering. Note: 83-85 models or so have a different steering rack to steering column connection than 86-88 models so conversion may not be possible without some cutting and welding skills. As far as I know that is.
The shaft that attaches to the steering column at firewall needs to be longer than the power steering, 13.25” vs 10.5”, I had a spare one. Also the splined shaft on the power rack has a different diameter than the manual .681” vs .557” so lengthening the power shaft would not work.
The cross member the rack attaches to is also different. The rack mounts at two points on cross member. Driver side is same; passenger side is different because rack diameter is different at that point, 1.765” (45mm) for power rack and 1.259” (32mm) for manual. I did not have the proper cross member so I plan to wrap two layers of .125” thick rubber sheet around the manual rack to increase its diameter .5” then use the power rack rubber mount over that spot. Have not done it yet but am pretty sure it will work.
Note: converting manual to power would require the correct crossmember made for power steering."

[marlinh]

I have converted manual steering to power steering and have not had to change the cross member. The hold down bracket and bushings on the driver's side are different for the two racks. I swap the complete steering column from the donor car to match the rack. I have had no problems.

[helipilot77]

I'm just curious, but why would you want to convert from power steering to manual steering.

[xirdneh]

I am switching cause I do not want to fix the power seals

[xirdneh]

I have converted manual steering to power steering and have not had to change the cross member. The hold down bracket and bushings on the driver's side are different for the two racks. I swap the complete steering column from the donor car to match the rack. I have had no problems.

I assumed they are different cause small manual bushing would not be a snug fit in cross member
Power bushing is 2.1" dia of vs 1.7" dia for manual bushing

[marlinh]

If you have the correct bushing for the rack, it fits snug.

[xirdneh]

If you have the correct bushing for the rack, it fits snug.

I'm missing something here
I have several manual racks with their bushings along with several power racks and their bushings
The manual passenger side bushings are all the same size and smaller diameter than the power bushings. The manual bushings at 1.7" dia do not fit snug in the crossmember that had power rack cause it was designed to fit tight with larger power rack bushing at 2.1" dia.

[marlinh]

The driver's side bushings and brackets are different for manual and power steering racks. The spacing of the holes on the cross member are the same. I have not done this conversion on an 83 or 84, just 85 and 86. I know the steering shafts are different from the earlier models.

Are you saying the cross member is different on the 83 to 84?

[xirdneh]

Must be something different between early and late based on our differences here. I know the rack to column connection is different. Can't say I have ever encountered a late model with manual steering.
On early models I see no difference on driver side crossm. bushing between manual and power racks

[marlinh]

I will try to do some measuring here.

[rer233]

I think the difference between early ('83&'84) and late ('85 and up) is that starting in '85 the cars had adjustable tilt steering columns as opposed to the fixed ones previously used (at least all the Terc wagons I've had over the years have conformed to this formula.)

Also I'm pretty sure all the subframes are the same- I converted an '84 FWD wagon from manual to power steering- strictly bolt-in job. If I remember correctly, the manual rack mounting bushings and brackets were the same left and right and the power rack left side bushing had a bigger ID but the right side was the same as the manual rack. Just use the bushing (and mounting bracket) for the power rack and it will all bolt up.

Another indication of the subframe interchangeability is I put the subframe out of an '84 PS car into my '87 PS "good" car- same result bolted right up.

I'm pretty sure there 4 different steering shafts however- manual and power steering; fixed and tilt column (provided they ever made a tilt column manual steering car- I've never seen one.)

Hope this helps.

[xirdneh]

ok , i finally got to look at a manual rack to see how it was installed
the thing i was missing was there to see
on the passenger side the manual rack has a metal strap that bolts over the top and so does the power rack
the difference is the manual rack also has a "metal bracket under the rack" that allows it to be centered on the crossmember.
it compensates for the oversize recess on crossmember that is made for power rack