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382-6
1977 PONTIAC SERVICE MANUAL
of indentation. Check all ball guides for damage at ends where
they deflect or pick up the balls from the helical path. Any
parts that show signs of damage should be replaced.
Assembly
1. Slip the ball nut over the worm with the ball guide
holes up and the shallow end of the ball nut teeth to the left
from the steering wheel position. Align the grooves in the
worm and ball nut by sighting through the ball guide holes
(Fig. 3B2- 14).
I
NARROW END OF
I
T E E T H A T T O P
I
WORM SHAFT FACING
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Fig. 382-1 4 Positioning Ball Nut on Worm Shaft
2. Place two ball guide halves together and insert them
into the upper circuit in the ball nut. Place the remaining two
guides together and insert, them in the lower circuit. Count
25 balls into a suitable container. This is the proper number
of balls for one circuit (Fig. 3B2-15).
Fig. 382-15 Installing Balls in Circuit
3. Load the balls into one of the guide holes while turning
the wormshaft gradually away from that hole. When all 25
of the balls have been installed, the circuit is complete.
4. Fill the remaining ball circuit in the same manner as
described for the first circuit.
5. Assemble the ball guide clamp to the ball nut and
tighten the screws to specified torque.
6. Check the assembly by rotating the ball nut on the
worm to see that it moves freely. Do not rotate the ball nut
to the end of the worm threads as this may damage the ball
guides. If there is any "stickiness" in the motion of the ball
nut, some slight damage to the ends of the ball guides or to
other gear components may have been overlooked.
ASSEMBLY
After a major overhaul where all of the original factory
installed lubricant has been washed out of the steering gear
assembly, the threads of the adjuster plug, side cover bolts
and lash adjuster may be coated with a suitable non-drying,
oil resistant sealing compound such as Permatex No. 2 or
equivalent. This is to prevent leakage of gear lubricant from
the steering gear assembly. The compound should not be
applied
to^
female threads and extreme care should be
exercised in applying this compound to the bearing adjuster,
as the compound must be kept away from the wormshaft
bearing. ~ l s o , apply steering-gear lubricant meeting G M
standard G M 4673M (or equivalent) to the wormshaft
bearings, pitman shaft bushings and side cover bushing.
1. Place the steering gear housing with the wormshaft
bore horizontal and the side cover opening up.
2. With the pitman shaft and worm shaft seals, pitman
shaft bushings and wormshaft bearing races installed, and the
ball nut installed on the wormshaft, proceed tc Step 3.
3. Slip the upper ball bearing over the wormshaft and
insert the wormshaft and ball nut assembly into the housing,
feeding the end of the shaft through the upper ball bearing
race and seal.
4. Place a ball bearing in the adjuster plug bearing cup
and press the stamped retainer into place with a suitable
socket.
5. Install the adjuster plug and locknut into the lower
end of the housing (being careful to guide the end of the
wormshaft into the bearing) until nearly all end play has been
removed from the wormshaft.
6. Position the lash adiuster (with shim) in the slotted
end of the pitrnan shaft. check the end ciarance, which
should not be greater than
,002"
(Fig. 3B2-16). If clearance
is greater than .002", a steering gear lash adjuster shim unit
is available. It contains four shims
-
.063", .065", .067" and
.069" thick.
7. Lubricate the steering gear with 1 1 oz. of lubricant
meeting G M Specification G M 4573M (or equivalent).
Rotate the wormshaft until the ball nut is at the end of its
travel and then pack as much new lubricant into the housing
as possible without losing it out the pitman shaft opening.
Rotate the wormshaft until the ball nut is at the other end
of its travel and pack as much lubricant into the opposite end
as possible.
8. Rotate the wormshaft until the ball nut is in the center
of travel. This is to make sure that the pitman shaft sector
and ball nut will engage properly, with the center tooth of
the sector entering the center tooth space in the ball nut.
9. Insert the pitman shaft assembly (with lash adjuster
screw and shim but without side cover) into the housing so
that the center tooth of the sector enters the center tooth
space in the ball nut.
10. Pack the remaining portion of lubricant into the
housing, and place a quantity in the side cover bushing hole.
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