Thanks I got it out finally, I used the other puller in the kit that someone else had basically broken but it had sharper teeth to get in between the rubber boot.

Looking at it with everything out of the way brings more mysterious leaks and more questions, looks like I also have a front main seal or front cover seal or whatever it is leak:

So it really really looks like I have a power steering fluid leak (especially likely since I just changed the pump) by looking at these pictures:



The drops on the bottom of the hoses almost look like they are red from power steering fluid, but using my UV dye I can see the characteristic yellow glow on the drops of the bottom of the hoses and also on the steering linkage as well. I was almost 100% positive this was still a power steering fluid leak, but I guess my UV dye stuff can't lie? I can really only see the drops under the UV light, wet areas don't show the glow, so either the area is still wet from a previous power steering leak, or the UV dye has to be above a certain concentration to show up, I'm not really sure, I just know either my kit is cheap parts store kit and I need to buy a better more professional one, or either UV dye isn't that great as I thought it was.



The pictures above are pretty clear thats from the oil pan gasket I hope, I am just really confused by the leaks near the front, especially that there is drops of oil on the power steering and oil cooler lines, and also what looks like the front cover seal. On the bright side if its the front cover seal, that sounds like a very good excuse to change the cam haha

Thanks everyone for the help, I really appreciate it and it has helped me a lot and makes it easier to keep going even when you drop all kinds of money and time and effort and still don't fix problems.

 

It's pretty common for the oil cooler lines to leak. I'd bet that's what you're seeing. The OE ones fit the best, but dang it, they are unreliable. This isn't my thread, but I'll confide in you that I haven't 100% solved my oil cooler retrofit leaks on my own truck yet. AN bungs and bending my own hard lines is next

one of your PS lines has a crimp in it,
looks like it got crushed a bit; may want to consider replacement

front cover sweating could be the oil pan gasket or the main seal. If you're pulling the water pump and crank pulley to do the front cover seal, you better add a cam and a pick up ring to
the to-do list 😂😂

 

So I got it all back together but I did something really dumb. I was almost positive you had to have a puller tool to press the steering linkage back on, I had already returned it to the parts store, so I just put the nut back on and tightened it up some and with barely any tightening on it it stripped on both of them, I thought something else was going on since they seemed to strip so easily. So I guess I have to get a whole new pitman and idler arm, and then I got to go under there again in the grease and pull the steering box I guess to get the pitman off, I am wondering if its safe to drive haha I don't think I want to trust it not falling off.

Also I looked back at my lines but I don't see a crimp you were talking about?

 

 

On the drag link, if I have to move it I just unbolt the idler arm bracket from the frame instead of popping the link off the idler arm. And I'll pull the pitman arm off the steering box if it's easier than pulling the drag link off the pitman. I use either sledgehammers to pop the drag link off the idler/pitman or a pickle fork or a pitman arm puller like you have pictured.

 

I can't believe I didn't think to just take it off the frame, but then again I would have had to unbolt the steering box from the frame which might seem a little harder and not to mention you have to hold both the nut and bolt which makes it more difficult.

I am about to go look at it again, I guess I can't use a sledgehammer to get the steering linkage back on to the arms can I? I can go get the tool again, I think it comes with some way to pull the steering linkage back onto the pitman and idle arms. The service manual says there is a steering linkage "Installer" but it looks like a coupling with a hex on the outside with internal threads, I'm not sure how that is supposed to help you press the linkage back onto the arms?

 

So the kind of good news is after using a jack and putting a lot of pressure against the steering linkage, I guess it got enough friction on the studs and let me tighten up on both the idler bar and pitman bar nuts.

The bad news is that the same leaks are still there after driving it around. I was almost relieved after I looked at the leaks under the UV light and glasses and saw that they were a dull yellow, which I thought meant that means its fresh undyed oil, but apparently not, I looked at the new oil I just changed on the dipstick and it is the exact same dull yellow glow. So this means that the leaks I am seeing are fresh. It also means that what I thought was dyed oil when I looked at it before may have not been? Or maybe the residual dye left over from the last oil before I changed the pan is enough to dye the new oil? I have no idea at this point, it is looking like this may all be wasted effort and money unfortunately, although looking at the oil pan gasket I took out it sure does look like it wasn't sealing anything.

 

It's not wasted time. The seals you've done so far are common leaks and it's good they are done now to help you continue your leak diag.

Keep at it man. I know it's frustrating.

You did the joints the way I do them, if the nut won't tighten you need to put pressure on the linkage or arm to provide friction/holding of the stud so that the nut can go on. I use jacks or pry bars to apply pressure to keep the stud from spinning while trying to tighten the nut.

Drive it for a week or two and see if the leaks are still the same. You may have residual oil in there. Sometimes I pull that large inspection plug out of the bellhousing and spray a bunch of degreaser in there and then stick a water hose in there and put a ton of water through there to help flush out any residual oil.

 

You think its possible maybe I didn't put enough RTV on the corners? Or either I did but when trying to maneuver the oil pan on maybe it got scrapped off, that's the trouble with RTV its not so hard to put it on but its really hard to put in on parts then try to maneuver the part around wiring and other stuff in the way without hitting the part on something and having all the RTV scrape off, I mean as long as there is some on the surface I would still think it would seal.

 

Hard to say, I always put the rtv on the stationary item (in this case the engine/block). And the rtv in my opinion likely doesn't do much of the sealing. If your covers meet flat across the block surface and the seal ends don't stick out/in then the gasket will seal pretty well even if the rtv isn't perfect. I prefer it to be perfect but **** happens. So man I just don't know.

Did you do anything with the front or rear covers or just the oil pan gasket

Oh and earlier you said something about unbolting the steering box, I was talking about unbolting the idler arm bracket off the frame, I wouldn't unbolt the steering box, that's a pain in the *** to mess with, just pop the pitman arm off the steering box and leave it in the drag link, then unbolt the idler from the frame and the drag link will drop.