Steering Box Disassembly Question

[its55]

Hey all, before I screw something up royally, I'm attempting to remove the worm gear from the steering box.  The manual says to tap it with a plastic hammer, however in doing so its not budging.  Read somewhere else that it may need to be pressed out.  I'm not entirely clear what's supposed to happen, i.e., it the entire diameter of the large circle on the opposite side of the splined shaft going to come out, or just the gear / bearings going to come out of the smaller hole?  Sorry for the ignorance however search as I may I've been unable to find a picture or description of what exactly to do and expect here.

[AceAndrew]

Wack it harder (if you've got one of those rubber/yellow plastic 2 sided hammers, hit it with the yellow side).  "big circle" comes out.  

 

Yours just has a bit of extra crust that needs to be overpowered.

 

Never needed anything close to a press.

[jgerock]

Do you have a shop manual? Details are in there.  

[bergie33]

Not SUPER detailed, but maybe some useful info and pics on my blog:

 

 

[its55]

All apart, ready to clean😁

[Mike Self]

If it helps I did a column on disassembly/reassembly of an '02 steering box--you're welcome to a copy; pm me.  The worm gear literally fell out of my housing when I removed the access panel.  Amazingly I found little or no wear on anything except the seals--after 260K+ miles.  Found the seals at a local chain auto parts store for $8 or so...

 

mike

[mac]

Critical spots to inspect:  Bushings, one in the cap, other in base of housing. 

Galling, metal cavities in the roller bearing  and worm gear. 

Rust on the shaft of the worm gear that is exposed to the elements. 

 

Mac. 

[its55]

27 minutes ago, mac said:

Critical spots to inspect:  Bushings, one in the cap, other in base of housing. 

Galling, metal cavities in the roller bearing  and worm gear. 

Rust on the shaft of the worm gear that is exposed to the elements. 

 

Mac. 

 

I'll inspect it, but, does this stuff really matter if parts are NLA?

 

 

[jgerock]

Be careful with one of the bearing cages.. it might be plastic.

[its55]

34 minutes ago, jgerock said:

Be careful with one of the bearing cages.. it might be plastic.

 

thanks, it does all appear to be metal but I will be careful