My saginaw box is leaking :( Have some questions (1 Viewer)

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I need to know the best way to go about fixing my leaking power steering box.

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It's gushing fluid right past the center nut on the top of the plate. The nut is tight and I can't see a crack in the top plate but that doesn't mean it's not there. I took it to a steering shop and they wanted me to pull it off, they pay $169 for them to fix it. I'm positive I could fix it without pullin it off the rig, and it's leaking from the very top. Is this common? What do you guys recommend? Anyone rebuilt one of these before? How much is a new top plate and gasket(s)?
 
joey93turbo said:
I need to know the best way to go about fixing my leaking power steering box.



The 'best' way....


replace the gear.



Good luck!


-Steve
 
the steering gear....



it is your steering.......the word cheap should not be used at any time with this or brakes. :)



Good luck!


-Steve
 
Get some brake cleaner, remove all the oil, and identify where the leak is for sure. How can they tell you $169 when they don't even know what's wrong with it? Start it up, turn wheel and wait for the leak. Then you know what to do from there, either get a new top cover, remove the nut and add some sealer to that bolt, replace the gasket whatever.

Look at some suppliers for cost of parts, I don't have any price lists on hand :flipoff2: .

Cheapest way is do it yourself fo sho.

:beer:
 
Just picked up a reman 4 bolt-4.25 turn gear for 120.00....



:beer:
 
Thanks guys. I'm definately going to do it myself. I'll have to search around for a price for that top cover. I couldn't believe $169 to fix a leak!! I know I can fix it myself.
 
Hopefully you do not find after replacing the cap, that something else was the issue....


Good luck!


-Steve
 
HawkDriver said:
Find the leak first, then figure out what to do.

Well i can see when i start it up, fluid comes gushing out around that nut. I wiped it down with a rag and checked again, that's definately the source.
 
Then replacing the cover probably won't fix it. Back the nut off a ways, keeping the center bolt in place, again get some oil remover ie brake cleaner, make it nice and dry, put some silicone on it, tighten the nut, wipe it off and call it done.

Obviously check for damage too.
 
you could try a liquid power steering sealer, just pour it in and let it work. i had a slight leak around the o-ring thats on the pump (back of pump housing) because a line broke i had to switch housings and it dripped afterwards, so i tried the sealer worked great and its been over a year and no leak. just a thought, you wanted cheap and its only like $3.00 or $4.00 good luck!
 
lone gunman said:
you could try a liquid power steering sealer, just pour it in and let it work. i had a slight leak around the o-ring thats on the pump (back of pump housing) because a line broke i had to switch housings and it dripped afterwards, so i tried the sealer worked great and its been over a year and no leak. just a thought, you wanted cheap and its only like $3.00 or $4.00 good luck!


Sealer additives do work sometimes, just remember that all that crap is now flowing around in whatever system you put it in, and if it doesn't help the leak it's all still in there. An O ring is less than $3, so I think that it would still have been cheaper/"less expensive" to fix the problem right. :D Just a thought.
 
Cheap=pick a part 25 bucks.Poser put it best reman.But used will work to.
 
Yeah I'm starting to think instead of tackling this on my own I should find a good used unit or a reman. I really wish I could afford a reman but honestly I don't have the cash right now after paying tuition, I can barely afford to eat.

How can I figure out what the steering box came out of? Are there models that are better than others?

bustanutley: as in new, do you mean new to me for $30?
 
Do what feels right to you :D

But keep in mind that we are talking about a nut that was sealed from leaking at the factory. It's a nut that needs some silicone :eek: most likely, judging from what you said about the origin of the leak. One nut man, now granted there's prolly a reason why it's leaking but it could be due to old age, that's why I would check the area for damage.

Just keep in mind that if you were to replace it with a junkyard one there's no guarantee it won't leak either or have other probs you don't even know about. Also it will take you some time to remove the whole thing, pull the pitman arm with a puller, service the system and get the bubbles out, we're talking 1-3 hours or so, which is no prob. But when you could at least try to seal the nut you'd be saving yourself $30, 3 hours or so and potential future problems.

Just my way of thinking. I wouldn't think of it as so much of tackling a really big problem. Like 5-10 minutes to try it really. Then if it doesn't fix, then I'd go with a different unit. Good luck. :beer:
 

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