Any Recommendations for power steering leaks

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Nov 4, 2002 | 01:52 PM

adamdinat

Thread Starter

Burning Brakes

Joined: Oct 2002

Posts: 1,228

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From: lancaster ma

Any Recommendations for power steering leaks

The PS in my 79 is just dumping fluid and needs to be rebuilt. The receipts which came with the car show this stuff is less than 4 years old with less than 4000 mi on it. I would like to do better than that. Does anyone have any recommendations on whether to use new or rebuilt or OEM parts? How are the rebuilding gasket kits I have seen on line? Do corvettes require a specific type of power steering fluid or do they use the regular auto parts store stuff?

Nov 4, 2002 | 02:00 PM

Cajun99

Le Mans Master

Joined: Aug 2001

Posts: 6,213

Likes: 1

From: South Alabama

Re: Any Recommendations for power steering leaks (adamdinat)

So what's leaking?? The pump, hoses or the control rod?

Personally I'm not much on rebuilding things. It's easier for me to just go buy a component and replace it with the original getting saved. It's pretty easy to replace any of the steering components.

I'm sure someone who enjoys rebuilding stuff will chime in but we need to know what exactly is leaking. :yesnod:

Nov 4, 2002 | 02:08 PM

adamdinat

Thread Starter

Burning Brakes

Joined: Oct 2002

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From: lancaster ma

Re: Any Recommendations for power steering leaks (Cajun75)

I looks like the cylinder and control module, the hoses are covered as well. so it is not just a weeping drip. I have wiped it down a couple of times before driving and everything is wet again when I check it.

Nov 4, 2002 | 02:28 PM

Tominator

Drifting

Joined: Jun 2001

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Re: Any Recommendations for power steering leaks (adamdinat)

I bought one from this web site, under Restoration store. Got the rebuilt one for under $200.00 and it came with valve, Ram, 4 hoses. Been good so far.

[Modified by Tominator, 12:29 PM 11/4/2002]

Nov 4, 2002 | 02:54 PM

Marks69BB

Melting Slicks

Joined: Jun 2001

Posts: 3,281

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From: NC USA

Re: Any Recommendations for power steering leaks (adamdinat)

Have you checked the back of the pump? They can leak and make a big mess since the fan helps spread it everywhere in addition to leaking down on the hoses, valve, and cylinder.

Nov 4, 2002 | 03:00 PM

gmcclurg

Racer

Joined: Jul 2002

Posts: 254

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From: Crofton MD

Re: Any Recommendations for power steering leaks (adamdinat)

I went with Zip and bought their rebuilt kit - valve, ram and hoses. It has only been in aobut 6 months, but OK so far. Make sure you flush out the pump pretty good. I think I ran two quarts of fulid through it to get the old crud out. The grit in the old fulid won't do the new/rebuilt seals any good.

Nov 5, 2002 | 01:30 PM

adamdinat

Thread Starter

Burning Brakes

Joined: Oct 2002

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From: lancaster ma

Re: Any Recommendations for power steering leaks (adamdinat)

The back of the pump may be the problem. I am going to check that out tonight. It does not seem likely that everything is leaking this much. It also leaks overnight when filled. Thanks for the help.

Nov 5, 2002 | 05:00 PM

PRNDL

Team Owner

Joined: Jul 1999

Posts: 26,545

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From: Huntersville NC

Re: Any Recommendations for power steering leaks (adamdinat)

You may save yourself a lot of grief if you can find out where it is leaking. That is not always easy. Also, do not overfill. As mentioned above, if you have a split in a hose up near the pump, the p/s fluid will drip down the hoses and pretty much cover the hoses before dripping down from the lowest point. I had to wrap strips of towels around my p/s hoses and encase them in aluminum foil before I could identify the source of my leak. I ended up replacing a couple of hoses - an easy fix (Normally I would have replaced all of the hoses for good measure, but they looked new). I also had to crawl under the front of the car while it was running and have my son turn the wheel to try to see where the leak was coming from. Surprisingly this didnt work! It was also fairly uncomfortable but I had the front up on ramps, then jacked it up a bit more with stands under the front, and rear wheels well chocked. MJ