First, I've been led to believe that when the engine is off the power steering is going to have some play both at the wheel and at the ball that goes into the valve. The power steering system depends on the ball shaft moving within it's seat in the valve in order to variably direct the flow of the pressurized fluid and expand or contract the ram cylinder. When the car is off the ball stud still moves and may seem to move more because if the car were running the valve and steering linkage would move with it (I don't know about this last part).
Absolutely correct, in detail. I've run across professional mechanics who didn't understand this.
My steering wheel moves about as much as the one in the video. Previous threads here have stated that some movement is to be expected, but I'd love to see one of the expert posters chime in on whether that sort of play at the steering wheel is correct. Likewise for the ball stud.
Engine running, there should no perceptable movement of the stud.
Also, in the video there is certainly a problem with the stud that mounts the ram cylinder to the centerlink.
There should be zero movement there.
Second, there are likely a couple of additional parts you'll want to replace in this process. A number of people have lamented not replacing the seats/seals where the hoses connect. The issue is that the don't reseal nicely and then you have a leak. Stanger's site has some nice write ups on the system and the other steps you might want to take. You can buy rebuild kits from him or Dan a/k/a Chockostang. Dan has been more active here of late and may well chime in.
A complete parts kit is a must. No point in ripping into it if you're only doing part of the job.
Third, depending on how severe your steering problems are, you may need the steering gear itself rebuilt. Don't bother with the in-car adjustment and don't give much credence to anyone who says they can just tighten it up with a turn of the wrench or by adding grease. If you run a search you'll find this covered in some other threads.
Yeah, the "tighten it up a little" method is a good way to destroy the box.
Finally, no matter whether you need to mess with the steering gear or not, do not use a "pickle fork" to separate the ball stud from the pitman arm. The blow from the hammer can hurt parts in both the valve and the gear. You can borrow a proper tie rod end separator from an auto parts store that will do the trick nicely.
Yep. If you use a 'fork' on the ball stud or cylinder, you may as well throw them in the trash.
