Anyone have any info (pictures) of how to check and fill my power steering box? Grease or other? I have seen info and pictures about removing one of the cover bolts to check and refill if needed (NOT TOO MUCH !) Mine has never been checked in the 35 years I've owned the car. No problems or leaks just a bit of play in the steering wheel. I'm thinking check the lube then adjust the screw (1/4 turn at a time) on the box.
Thanks,
SW

 

Many will say to remove 2/3 cover bolts and pump in grease until it shows up in the opposite hole. This is shooting in the dark since you can't see the state of the old grease, pump in too much and it will leak out the seals once hot. Use a grease that separates easy, like Mobil 1 and it will leak out. If you have play in the box you might get some adjustment out of it but the bearings are most likely worn and there won't be any preload on them. To correctly set the preload you have to remove the sector but I wouldn't bother with that if you just trying to tighten the box. Grease is not going to tighten it up. Be sure to adjust it on center.
Good luck

 

Is there a specific grease you'd recommend?

 

Some say Mobil 1 is great, you state that it is not the best choice. Ditto on adding grease to the box if needed. Some have gotten great results as their grease was old/dry or not much left at all . I'm really confused now. How can I check the level on my POWER steering box and add grease (not TOO much) if needed? There are no "check level" casting marks on the cover so I assume the photos showing same are on a STANDARD steering box only? Is this correct?
Thanks,
SW

 

I bought this tool off eBay for $15 and used it to lube my steering box.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?m...2F173548241800

It did tighten up my steering noticeably, and it was $20 we'll spent including gease. It did not make things perfect and one of these days when I get bored I'll pull my steering box and have it rebuilt. But until that day comes I'm happy with what $20 bought me.

YMMV

 

Couple of things.
I stopped using Mobil 1 years ago due to it leaking out of everything I pumped it in- some boxes, ball joints, tie rod ends, etc. The grease will not completely liquefy and leak out, just the oil separation.

I moved on to Coastal and really liked it until they changed the formulation of it , then discontinued it. If it's back on shelves I have not used in it in over 1.5- 2 years now. I now use Lucas HD green grease, you can buy it anywhere. Pull the cap off and see if there is any oil separation in it from sitting on the shelve. So far I have not had any issues with it.

With 63-82 corvette steering boxes there is no difference between manual and power- the box is the same. Adding grease to a worn box will aid with lubrication but it will not address worn parts.

Attempting to adjust the box lash on the car can result in tighter steering or too much. There has been a lack of understanding on the correct way to do an on the car lash adjustment here for years. One thing is it does not affect is the bearing preload, that is what the large adjusting nut with large lock ring is for. To correctly set the preload you should take the sector out.

To adjust the lash on the car, center the wheels. If the car is correctly aligned the box should be at high lash- not true center- make note of that. The only way to know if the lash is at high lash is with a dial torque wrench and the box out of the car. So assuming the high lash is at 12 o'clock when on center with a fine spline (63-E69) or with the D-Flat at 12 o'clock,(L69-82) - loosen the jam nut and turn the screw CW until you feel it snug up, this may be 1/4 to1 full turn, tighten the jam nut while holding the screw. DO NOT BACK OFF THE SCREW A 1/4 Turn. That defeats what you want to do, adjust the lash. Test drive the car.

Ok so here is the problem, if the high lash and true center are off, and many - if not most are, then you could be adjusting the lash off high center, it will then be too tight through high center and will put extra loading on the center tooth of the sector and over time will wear it out much faster then it should. For this reason I don't like to recommend on the car the adjustment but you can try it and see.

 

Mine is a power steering box, 3 bolts +adjustment nut/screw which bolts to remove and check and fill?

 

Factory original so I know any in car adjustments will never be perfect. Just hope to make it better without damage .Never checked this in 35 years of ownership,25 in heated storage driven almost nil. Thanks

 

Mine is also power steering but that makes no difference as it's the same steering box. It should not matter which bolts you pull as you are going to pump in grease and completely fill the steering box, mine required almost a full tube of lube. But just to be accurate, I placed the lube bolt in the bolt hole closest to the firewall, and removed the bottom bolt on engine side.

I understood this is somewhat of a magic pill fix, but for $20, and 10 minutes time what ya got to lose? It improved the play in my steering.

YMMV

 

I checked the oil level using a q-tip on my 69. I am sure the steering box has never been touched since leaving the factory. Looked to be a quarter inch below the forward bolt hole and was fairly clear dark brown with a faint gear oil smell. I pumped in 4 pumps of the Lucas grease GTR recommends. Put the bolts back in. Turned the adjustment screw 1/4 turn clockwise. The slight bit of slack is gone now.
Also, I removed the rubber end links on the sway bar and replaced with energy suspension black poly bushings, leaving the rubber frame bushings (which looked great) in place. Really improved responsiveness. No noise, no harshness.
Hope this helps you out.

VS

 

10 years ago, I removed one bolt, drilled and tapped it for a grease zerk on top . ..simple task to pump grease in with gun.[ remove a second bolt to see when its full. ] I check it every couple years.. the High-Temp grease [ because its right next to the header] I put in it has not leaked out at all.

 

On C2's, the cover on the box had " Check Lube" embossed in it (same box). Hole closest to the inner fender.

 

 

The box on my 69 would ooze a bit out of the bottom after I installed headers that were real close. So close that I had to dimple one of the pipes. I put in thick grease instead of runny gear lube and it helped a lot. But not stopped. Then I read about venting the box. Apparently, when it got hot it built up a bit of pressure and would pass oil/gear lube past the bottom seal. It did not happen while sitting, only while driving. So, I drilled a small hole through a soft/grade 2 replacement bolt and installed it in the highest hole. It puked out a little grease until it found a level that it liked--about 2/3 full. No more oozing/leaking and works fine.