Steering: Leaking Bendix power steering control valve

[1953champcoupe]

Trying to bring back a car that sat for over twenty years ain't easy for me. The current issue is a leaky control valve, I purchased and installed a rebuild kit, followed a decent YouTube video on how to do it as well as reading the instructions. Finally fired the car up after refurbishing the fuel system and the power steering works great except for the leak around the boot.
I pulled it off and looked it over but.....what could it be that I missed in the rebuild? I would have guessed that the power steering fluid stays in the cast iron housing and none would migrate to the ball stud area. I was wrong.
When I disassembled it (because it was leaking) the internals were all nice and...well not clean but well oiled from the leak, I guess, no rust at all which is evidently a problem in some cases.
On another forum I received this in response to my query

"If found a guy on e-bay who sold “quad” seals for each end of the spool and my leaks were solved. If you ever watch that car show from England, the tall guy Ed China, repaired a 55-56 T-bird on the car by changing to the quad seals. Mine has not leaked in 9 years now. The guy was in central California I’ll look and see if I kept any info."

It is evidently a common malady. I've searched for "quad seals" with no good result.

any ideas???
Thanks!!

[64studeavanti]

When you reassembled, did you make sure the lips on the spool seals faced each other?

[doofus]

Did you inspect the lands inside the spool valve housing? if they are pitted or worn its gonna leak. i use a bit of 3M scotch brite pad on a split rod and chucked in a drill to clean it up. i also chuck the spool valve in a drill press and polish it up. Luck Doofus

[Jeffry Cassel]

My daughter has a '66 Mustang and my son has a 63 1/2 Galaxie. They have power steering . The same as a Studebaker. They do not leak--at all. When you put this same system in a Studebaker, it leaks. my 61 an 64 leak. the 64 has been rebuilt --twice and it leaks. What Doofus says seems to be wise. Anyone ever used a cylinder hone?

[1953champcoupe]

Did you inspect the lands inside the spool valve housing? if they are pitted or worn its gonna leak. i use a bit of 3M scotch brite pad on a split rod and chucked in a drill to clean it up. i also chuck the spool valve in a drill press and polish it up. Luck Doofus

I am not familiar with the term "lands inside the ....housing", do you just mean the surface inside the housing where the spool valve slides?

To be honest I didn't do a close inspection, just a good cleaning. What I had read was that many had rust and corrosion in them which in turn creates "no" seal. This was (to my failing eyes) not a problem because everything was well oiled during disassembly. The vehicle had been in dry storage on concrete since 1997. I will probably end up buying another kit and use magnifying lens to fully inspect the interior. I was just sure that new seals would resolve the problem. The ram with new seals doesn't leak at all.

My hope was that someone on this forum would be able to ID the whereabouts of the "quad seal" so I could purchase them.

[bezhawk]

The "lip" of the seals should face inwards towards the center of the valve. Make sure it's the correct kit you are getting. The valve you have looks to be a non Stude valve. They don't have the cage, and rubber pitman ball stud seal but have a sponge rubber with a hole in it. The valve sizes are different between a Stude, and a Ford valve. Stude seals will not work on a Ford valve, and visa-versa. Also, make sure it's not a hose leaking onto the area looking like a leak where it isn't. I do notice the hose seats in the picture you show are deeply grooved. They do come out, and you can dress them with a file on a drill press and a spindle. then press them back in. Under the largest fitting seat ,( return hose) , Is a screw in valve that often gets overlooked and has dirt in it. That alone is reason to remove the seats and do a through cleaning.

[1953champcoupe]

The "lip" of the seals should face inwards towards the center of the valve. Make sure it's the correct kit you are getting. The valve you have looks to be a non Stude valve. They don't have the cage, and rubber pitman ball stud seal but have a sponge rubber with a hole in it. The valve sizes are different between a Stude, and a Ford valve. Stude seals will not work on a Ford valve, and visa-versa. Also, make sure it's not a hose leaking onto the area looking like a leak where it isn't. I do notice the hose seats in the picture you show are deeply grooved. They do come out, and you can dress them with a file on a drill press and a spindle. then press them back in. Under the largest fitting seat ,( return hose) , Is a screw in valve that often gets overlooked and has dirt in it. That alone is reason to remove the seats and do a through cleaning.

You were correct, it isn't a Studebaker valve, the fittings were all dry as the desert, it looked a lot different than when I started, there was so much grunge on the assembly that I had to chip the dirt and grease off. Since the car has been in my wife's family since new (1964) I am sure none of the components were changed. Can I assume that the leak emanates from the seal that faces the ball stud??

[bezhawk]

No, there is no fluid there IF the shuttle valve seals are holding. The ball stud seal is only for the grease.

[1953champcoupe]

No, there is no fluid there IF the shuttle valve seals are holding. The ball stud seal is only for the grease.

I'll restate*** as my statement may not have been clear, the fluid leaks past the seal on the spool into the cavity in the sleeve/ball stud. I assume your reference to the shuttle valve is what I call the spool.

[bezhawk]

Are all the parts there? You have to have the steel spacer ring behind each seal, as well as the stop washer, and the rubber cushions. If they are missing then the seals will just blow out on the ends.

[1953champcoupe]

all of the parts are in the correct sequence with no evidence of seal "blow out". The one error I made was not polishing the sealing area prior to reassembly, following are pictures of before and after I polished with 2000 grit paper.
On another forum a participant shared his experience of failure in getting a good seal and ultimately got a "quad seal" from a vendor in California and this was in 2014. He was able to find the name (well the initials) and the return address of the vendor. I went to Google maps and found that now it is an electrical repair facility, I called them and they remembered the company and referred me to them. I called them and it turned out it was a person that they shared/rented space to, They had an acrimonious parting of ways. I am now going to attempt to find a quad seal or Xseal from McMaster Carr.

[bezhawk]

The outside larger diameter of the valve is inconsequential. The seals run on the smaller ends. They do not see any metal against metal.

[64studeavanti]

I have rebuilt several and they do not leak. As has been mentioned, all parts need to be assembled correctly with the lips of the seals facing each other. If you have a leak after this, your cylinder must be way oversize or very badly pitted, in order to leak.

The only other source of leaks are the seats for the various hoses. They can be removed and dressed and/or replaced with new. IIRC, the Ford uses different size seats than Stude, so hoses could be problematic.

[64studeavanti]

Here is a link to Bob Jonhstones Studebaker site. It is more comprehensive than we may be able to get parts for, but will give a good idea of what needs to be done and the various pieces and how they fit.

https://studebaker-info.org/Tech/Psteer/pscvr/pscvreb.html

[64studeavanti]

Looks like most of the parts are still available from cjponyparts.com.