I jacked my van up and noticed quite a bit of fluid on my steering gear box. I then checked my PS resevoir and there was hardly anything in it.( i could see fluid in the bottom of it but nothing touching the dipstick) i havent heard the PS pump whine at all and my steering is very easy. Im wondering if i should get a new gear box or try and rebuild this one, it just blows my mind i havent noticed any side effects!?
Are you referring to the components on the power steeringrack? I have leaking seals on my 85 and the fluid was disappearing from the reservoir.Also no noise from mine except when it went bone dry. It was collecting in theboots. I put Lucas power steering stop leak in the reservoir and it has seemedto slow the leak down if not completely stopped it. I am going to put a newseal kit in the rack sometime soon.
I uploaded a picture with red dots showing where the rackcan leak. Hope this helps.
Regards,
Blake
1985 vans have recirculating ball steering, not the rack and pinion of 86 and later models. I don't know if rebuild kits are available, but rock auto has rebuild options.
I wiped it all down, then drove it and i saw it was leaking out of a hose connection so im gonna start there and keep checking it. I thought i saw a rebuild kit for it on rockauto, if not ill have to figure something out hah
Originally Posted by technocj
My bad. My oldest van is actually an 86 and has the rack.
Best regards,
Blake
Here are some pics of what i was talkin about and i noticed it is leaking still, looks like from the top of it, im assuming prolly just a gasket up there but im still not sure what this is, from what i was looking at on rock auto i thought it was the steering gear box?
Unfortunately, it isn't "just a gasket".
When steering boxes start to leak, its usually past the seal, the shaft and bearings wear, allowing slop that will eventually exceed the seals ability to flex.
You might slow it down for a bit with some of that power steering stop-leak.
You won't know if yours is rebuildable, until you get it apart, if the shaft is worn, the rebuild gets a LOT more expensive.
Finding used or rebuilt would involve the least down time, but keep the core and have it rebuilt and ready for the next time around.
BB
Deng. It isnt leaking too bad right now im not losing too much fluid at least. Thanks for the response though im probably just gonna end up getting a rebuilt one eventually but they are not cheap hah. gotta love it.
So im pretty sure my altenator is shot now from a power steering leak out of the top of the pump which i saw is a common problem. However is it common for the power steering system to leak from multiple spots, because as of now ive notoced leaking there, near the resevoir, and at the steering gear. Needless to say my mind is a little blown hah.. With all this being said im surprised at how little fluid im actually losing too. Not that a response is even necessary im just curious if anyone rlse has run into this problem.
Yes,
My van(s) were also leaking from all of those areas and more. The leak in the reservoir on mine was from the area where the cap and top of the reservoir mate to the reservoir body. One of the previous owners removed the top and poked a hole in the screen filter and never sealed it back up correctly. I found a used one and replaced it. The leak near the alternator usually is caused by a bad O-ring where the fluid enters the pump. It can be deceiving because it looks like the line is leaking. The fluid is creeping back up on it, giving that appearance. Sometimes the alternator can be salvaged by taking it apart and clearing the internals and reassembling, but if your going to do that, just buy the alternator rebuild kit and rebuild it. There is a write-up on this forum for doing that.
Best regards,
Blake
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