I had a leak from my PS pump that was progressively getting worse. Once I reached my limit on driveway spots I went ahead and ordered the Kotek seal and gasket kit. I figured while I was at it I would take care of the hoses, belt, tensioner and idler pulleys as well. In the process, I discovered that the viscous fan clutch wasn't very viscous any more so I added that to the list. I was psyched to learn that my '04 had the 1 piece fan/clutch combo as I clearly wasn't dropping enough cash on this project in the first place.

I was able to get the fan off using a length of heater hose jammed in the pulley to keep it from spinning. By the way, I "borrowed" a fan wrench from Autozone for the job. What garbage. It was spread when I took it out of the box and spread again after I closed it up once I tried to use it. I was able to get it with a large adjustable I had.

Once I pulled off the PS pump and tore it down, things went pretty smoothly. The main shaft presses out the front with the bearing still on it so you can replace the front seal. Then you install the figure-8 looking gasket, then the wear plate, then the rotor with the rollers which is locked to the shaft with a tiny index pin that is tapered at both ends, then the backing plate with the bushing, then the rear cover. It all seemed to go fairly smoothly except the rotor didn't seem to sit flush. I had tried to squeeze everything together but it didn't seem to want to sit flush. I pulled out the rotor and saw a little burr on the indexing pin. It must have slid down a little when I was installing the rotor and gotten cocked over a little bit, jamming against the base of the rotor. I tried to file it down as best I could but the thing is so tiny it was almost impossible.

I put the whole thing back together and it appeared that the rotor was flush so I slid on the back and bolted it up. I set a torque wrench to 15 ft.-lbs. and started tightening everything down when heard a "pop" and one of the ears on the back plate broke off. Apparently, the back wasn't sitting as tight against the pump body as I thought.

Since it was about 7:30 on Saturday night and I had just rendered my wife's car useless, I was a little panicked. I called Autozone and they actually had a reman in stock for $213. I went and bought it and although it didn't look the same it bolted right in. They install a different shaft with a pulley that is held on with a single nut in the center. The pulley has 4 holes in it so you can install the pump mounting bolts. The back is different as well, but the main body is the same. I managed to get it all back together and the thing works perfectly. Silent, smooth and dry. I didn't even have to bleed the steering box. It has a lifetime warranty which I hope I won't need. So the slow Mexicanization of my Rover continues! As with other activities in life, you settle for what you can find late on a Saturday night.

I would encourage anybody that is considering this project to be very careful with the pin and rotor on reassembly. I suggest using a generous blob of grease in the keyway on the shaft to hold that pin in place. Also, make sure that the rotor doesn't move on the shaft when fitting the back wear plate. Everything should basically fall in place. One more thing - make sure some local parts store has a unit in stock just in case.

 

Well, the pump has been in for all of 4 days and appears to be wet with fluid from the front seal. Not dripping, but leaking just the same. Good thing it has a lifetime warranty. Funny how it is leaking from the one place I have never heard of them leaking from. I wonder if it is related to their different replacement shaft design.

I looked online for another option and A1Cardone offers a reman pump too. Advance Autoparts lists it for $70 less than what I paid for the Duralast one but has none in stock. Parts Geek has it for $90 less, but the core shipping is on me as would be any returns for warranty claims so looks like I get to stick with what I have. Well at least with the regular replacement my fluid will always be fresh and the fan threads won't get a chance to rust together.

 

04duxlr

power steering pumps seem to be one of the biggest pita on discovery's.
There are tons of post from people who rebuilt them, most without success. Also quite a few from folks that went with box store remanufactured pumps only to have continued problem with them as well.
It sounds strange but I think that is one of the few things you are better off going used with.

 

Unfortunately a lot of the auto parts store's house brand components that have a lifetime warranty only means you will be replacing it for the rest of your life.

 

The basic unit seems pretty well designed and simple inside but the rear gasket is a piece of crap. If I hadn't been in a hurry during my rebuild I would probably be just fine but instead now I get to look forward to a limited lifetime of pump swaps.

 

Your only mistake in all of this was going with an Autozone replacement part. Their QC is non-existant, or they get the QC failures from larger reman houses, which get rebranded as Duracrap... er.. Duracraft parts.

See if you can find a BeckArnley version of that pump. Chances are, it's a reboxed OEM pump.

 

Hey, the only mistake I made was buying a Rover! I ended up with a Duralast pump because it was what I could get at 7:30 on a Saturday night. There are plenty of sources of new pumps for these trucks but they are either manufactured by someone nobody has ever heard of or they are OEM for an obscene price.

 

When replacing P/S pumps and steering gears, go with new if you can. Reman pumps and boxes suck. I had a dodge I did a steering gear on. I had 3 bad remans in a row! That was from partsmaster which is garbage but all remans are about the same.

 

Thanks for posting your experiences with PS Pumps. Looks like we'll all be shopping for something that works.

 

I swapped out the new leaking pump with another reman under warranty. The latest one looks like it's supposed too and doesn't leak, plus it actually lines up with the belt and doesn't squeak.


The first reman came with a different style shaft and had a pulley held on with a center nut. It worked but the pulley wasn't in line with the accessory drive so it squeaked. While I was removing it one of the mounting bosses fell off and as it turned out it was a tube welded on to the housing! I'm not sure what this pump fit originally but it wasn't a Land Rover. I can't imagine how this level of effort can be a cost effective way to "remanufacture" anything.