TE72 Manual vs. Power Steering Gearbox

General information for parts interchange and modification.

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rolla_rage
Posts: 66
Joined: Wed Jun 19, 2013 11:29 pm
Location: SF Bay Area

TE72 Manual vs. Power Steering Gearbox

Post by rolla_rage »

So my manual gearbox on my 82 wagon has leaked all of its oil out - it stopped dripping out of the sector shaft seal several months ago. Now steering seems to be getting a little harder by the week... Anyway, I'm in the market for a new gearbox and it seems just about the only thing out there is for Power Steering - not manual.

I know power steering boxes still work manually (when belt breaks or engine dies, you don't lose steering), and also sometimes the power boxes have lower ratio gears (fewer turns to lock) than manual boxes, but does anyone have a reason a power box could not be used long term in a manual configuration (without a pump or lines)? At a minimum I think I would want to fill the box with PS fluid and connect a small line between in and out to loop the fluid.

My manual box does about ~3.5-4 turns to lock (hard to tell exactly with the wide wheels on ground and flex/recoil in the system). Based on Atsco 5920 POWER gearbox on RockAuto the it is 4 turns to lock - this would make me think I would at least not experience heavier steering with a power box...

Any experience with this would be appreciated. Thanks,

-J
Ecotec 2.0L LNF powered 82 Corolla Wagon daily driver. 314whp/344TQ
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rolla_rage
Posts: 66
Joined: Wed Jun 19, 2013 11:29 pm
Location: SF Bay Area

Re: TE72 Manual vs. Power Steering Gearbox

Post by rolla_rage »

Update:

I decided to mount the GM pump and just upgrade to power steering. I gotta say, man it's nice! The 0 offset 8" wheels have always been a pain to turn at slow speed. I ended up installing a Lares power unit I bought from Rockauto $155+core. BTW, Lares customer service is top notch, Dan was knowledgeable and helped with several specific questions. He wasn't put off by the fact I was hybriding the Toy box with a GM pump.

The box input is about 20-25mm longer, so the steering shaft has to be telescoped up into the column a bit - required a little persuading with a hammer, but no big deal. Other than that is was no drama. In order to fab the custom lines I bought two pressure lines from Rockauto - $18/ea along with a Solstice pump pressure line $25 and has a local shop silver solder up a custom pressure line. For the return (same M16x1.5 inverted flare fitting as Toy pressure) I used a cut off wheel to remove the flexible portion of the other Toy line and clamped on some generic 3/8" rubber transmission oil line back to the GM reservoir.

I'm not running any sort of cooler, although the return does cross the lower portion of the core support back to the reservoir. I'll have to keep an eye on it this summer, I heard above 250F is bad for pump life.

-J

FYI, Lares requires a $185 core charge, and they won't accept a manual box as a core.
Ecotec 2.0L LNF powered 82 Corolla Wagon daily driver. 314whp/344TQ
User avatar
rolla_rage
Posts: 66
Joined: Wed Jun 19, 2013 11:29 pm
Location: SF Bay Area

Re: TE72 Manual vs. Power Steering Gearbox

Post by rolla_rage »

Just an update:

Power steering mod has been working perfectly with no edits. Had some long roadtrips through spots with 90-100F air temps and no problems with operation of steering/leaks/pump noise etc. So far I would say no cooler is needed.

-J
Ecotec 2.0L LNF powered 82 Corolla Wagon daily driver. 314whp/344TQ
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