sterring gear box leaking????

[JBrookshire]

Where the steering shaft enters the gear box it is leaking. Is there a fix out there or what is every bodey else doing???? Thanks Justin

 

[Old Smoky]

Mine leaked a little for a while. I put some power steering stop leak in and it did eventually stop leaking. It hasn't leaked since. I couldn’t believe it.



Mike

 

[BushWakr - RIP]

Me and Case5000D have had the same thing. DC up here says they don't even attempt a repair, they just put on a new one.

Ya right... .....

I bought the seal repair kit from them and after some prep. did the repair and it turned out just fine so far. That was about 1500 mi. ago. I also put the Borgeson shaft on at the same time.

The repair kit comes with the seals for the pitman arm and the stub shaft, plus one or two other minor items so you can do either/both if need be.

The cost was about $40. 00 Canadian, and the job took me about 2 hrs. since I was real careful and had never done it before.



Try the repair first, its way cheaper than a new 'box'.





edit: I'm convinced that the cause or major contributor to the seal failure was the bagged steering coupling. When I took it off to replace it, it looked real good from the outside. I had put a small cable tie around the rubber boot, at the steering shaft end.



Once I had it off I was shocked to see just how fried it really was. It was full of ugly, dirty brown grease/oil contaminated with silty/sandy crap, and not much else.

There was effectively No lubrication remaining inside.



bob.

 

[JFitzgerald]

Mine leaks too. About a nickel-size puddle overnight. I put in two bottles of Lucas PS fluid that is "guaranteed to stop leaks". Thick, red stuff. Just kept adding it as the level went down. Been topping it off with regular PS fluid since then. Still leaks. Guess you got lucky, Old Smoky. Haven't gotten around to fixing it yet, right now I just keep a sheet of cardboard on the shop floor where it's parked, but will repair it like Case500D and BushWakr have done. A replacement box from NAPA cost around $200.

 

[ETOBICOKE]

Power steering

I had three power steering boxes replaced under warranty, all of them leaked around the input shaft. Funny thing is that the last one has been going for 7 years, never had to top up the power steering fluid once. I think given the cost of a steering box, that trying a replacement seal would be worth while. If the shaft is damaged where it comes in contact with the seal it may need to be fitted with a speedy sleeve. I have a Chicago rawhide catalogue at home and can help you with part numbers for the seal and speedy sleeve if need be. Also use the correct power steering fluid, part number VU1280.



Neil

 

[MMiller]

I've had bouts with my steering gear box too. It ususally starts leaking after I drop the front end in a large hole while four wheeling. I have tried to reseal it but inevitably the input shaft is bent and a new seal won't fix it. I have had four steering boxes on the truck in the 7 years I've owned it. The way I keep it from leaking is don't four wheel it very much and the gear box doesn't get ruined!

 

[BushWakr - RIP]

MMiller, ETOBICOKE,



I don't know if either of you are aware of this but the 4X4 trucks are known to break the steering box mount were it attaches to the frame rail.

My brothers 92 did this and that would explain why going 4 wheeling might cause this to happen since the box would be flexing alot. It would take alot to bend one of those shafts, they're pretty heavy/short and there isn't alot of room to flex.

Like always, he went 'dog nuts' on the repair. Now, the darn mount could be used to hold the whole blessed engine up.



Anyway, if you've not checked into this item yet you should have a look. BTW, you can't just jack up the front end and wiggle it. You need to run the truck and take the steering from 'stop-stop' and load it some. If its cracked you'll see the box mount separate from the frame rail or atleast open the crack up a bit. Usually its on the rearward side of the mount.

Just a thought.





Bob.

 

[MMiller]

Buchwacker:

I too have been down the broken mount road. When I ruined the first box the mount had a crack in it. I tried to reseal the input shaft on a couple of the different boxes to no avail. There is something about dropping a nose heavy dodge cummins into a 10 inch deep hole that just puts too much strain on the box.

When I went to the stealer a couple of years ago for a new mount the part number had updated 7 times or somthing like that and amazingly enough the mount was only 12 bucks:--) I also have upgraded to new Caterpillar bolts with lock tite on all of them. Now they don't work loose, and start making popping noises when I turn. I, too, have installed the Borgeson shaft and relieved the wandering steering headaches 3 or so years ago.



MMiller