Sick of Leaky Steering Boxes!

[stevenr]

Just want to rant for a second... I have owned my Discovery for 12 years and have had 4 steering boxes; 2 original and 2 remans. Mine is leaking sooo bad right now that I can't stand it. :banghead:

I currently have an original (non reman) in there and I am contemplating my options.

So...

Should I replace output seal myself in place/on vehicle and see how that goes? I don't have a front axle under the truck right now so this would make it less of a challenge to work around. That is if the pitman arm will come off nicely.

Or....

Try another reman

Or...

Completely rebuild one of my spares

Buying another new OEM is outta the question. That is almost the price of my truck's worth.

 

[p m]

In increasing order of height of the fruit:
(1) dump a bottle of Blue Devil into the p/s tank
(2) Try another reman box (despite the bad rap, I only had one short-lived from Meridian - others lasted for a while)
(3) rebuild one of your spares, and, finally
(4) find a way to use a 76-series GM steering box. Out of two I had (one still have), none leaked a drop.

 

[scottsdalerrc]

meh...keeps everything under and nearby nicely lubed. i'll leave it be

 

[p m]

meh...keeps everything under and nearby nicely lubed.

... until it runs out of juice and you don't know it. These weeny p/s pumps don't live very long without it.

 

[Nomar]

... until it runs out of juice and you don't know it. These weeny p/s pumps don't live very long without it.

But if it's a seal that is leaking and not a hose; that's not likely to happen too quickly.


.

 

[singingcamel]

Change the hose from the resevior to the box, and from the pump to the box ,sometime the clamps wear thu the hoses.

 

[stevenr]

It's outta control. You have no idea how much time i have spent cleaning the muck and steering fluid off of the caliper, brake pads and rotor...

Over the past 5 or so weeks, I have been rebuilding everything under the front of my truck from redrilled swivel balls, high steer conversion, new bearings and such for swivel preload, removed and redesigned Safari Gard 3-link... etc... etc.

During this process every part, bolt, washer... everything has been cleaned, degreased and repainted.

I have no other leaks except this God forsaken steering box. It is not any of the hoses, however a tranny or oil cooler line is a bit "wet" looking, but that is not a real concern like the steering gearbox is.

 

[ERover82]

I got a new box, S10 pump, and lines from Will over a year ago, and filled it with PS fluid and Lucas. Still no leaks.

 

[pdxrovermech]

I reman the remans before i put them in. I take the top off and get rid of that garbage square seal, replace it with a proper o-ring and backing seal. then a light film of 518 on the machined surface. then i put a bead of right stuff around the ring on the on the nose of the box. and of coarse center and adjust accordingly.

 

[stevenr]

I have a modified P38 pump in mine.

 

[adriatic04]

im in the same predicament right now. what fluid is recommended for keeping topped off, is there something really special I should know about?

I am going to try the blue devil, whatever that is, in combination with topping it off. Likely wont be a long term fix but I cant stand it anymore right now and dont feel like messing around with it at this point.

 

[p-dawger]

I think hoses are largely the culprit here...have replaced hoses twice on my box and I have 250k on my original OEM box, that is bone dry.


Remanufactured - waste of money. When mine goes are leaks beyond repair I will pony up for the OEM.

 

[MM3846]

is it really that hard to find out where the leak is coming from? degrease everything, let it dry, start the truck and have a buddy turn the wheel while you look for leaks. my truck was pissing PS fluid for two weeks and i figured it was the box bc thats what everyone assumes here.. turns out it was just a hose. i replaced the hose and the steering box is bone dry.

 

[p m]

I got a new box, S10 pump, and lines from Will over a year ago, and filled it with PS fluid and Lucas. Still no leaks.

I thought that S10 pump was a cat's meow, until it blew in Utah. And I found that that pump only came on 2WD, 4-cylinder S10s that no self-respecting person would ever buy - and there aren't too many government fleet vehicles in the boonies. No parts store within 300 miles had it in stock, neither did the dealerships.
Beyond that, the price and delivery times for S10 pump weren't much different from Land Rover ZF unit.
Fuck that.

 

[stevenr]

is it really that hard to find out where the leak is coming from? degrease everything, let it dry, start the truck and have a buddy turn the wheel while you look for leaks. my truck was pissing PS fluid for two weeks and i figured it was the box bc thats what everyone assumes here.. turns out it was just a hose. i replaced the hose and the steering box is bone dry.

I have narrowed it down as I stated before. It is coming from output shaft. All of my hoses are bone dry. The top of the box is bone dry. The sides of the box are bone dry. The splines of the shaft and pitman arm are dripping. That, I believe is pretty clear cut. The truck has not moved in 5 weeks and the puddle continues to grow.

 

[ERover82]

Point is I think the new box from Will and preventative Lucas did it for me.

 

[MM3846]

Point is I think the new box from Will and preventative Lucas did it for me.

agree since all remans suck.