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power steering fluid leaking

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Old Aug 1, 2012 | 07:19 PM
  #1  
dilljeepo's Avatar
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Year: 1996
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Default power steering fluid leaking

Hey this is from my T.J, what the heck is leaking? Any info would be helpful thanks guys.
Attached Thumbnails power steering fluid leaking-img_0300.jpg   power steering fluid leaking-img_0303.jpg  
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Old Aug 1, 2012 | 08:19 PM
  #2  
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it looks like your steering box is leaking from somewhere and the fan is blowing the fluid all over the place; clean it all off with brakecleaner, and then run it for a few minutes and recheck for leaks. a heavy leak like that should be easy to pinpoint once its clean.

common leak point is the pitman arm shaft seal; the seals are replaceable and fairly easy to change.

Last edited by rompnXJ; Aug 1, 2012 at 08:21 PM.
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Old Aug 1, 2012 | 10:12 PM
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Is there a seal where the shaft goes into the steering box? I've never done any work on power steering before, if I decide to do it myself and do it wrong would it affect my steering at all? Or just keep leaking and not affect anything? I'll look into seals tomorrow at napa, have a haynes manual that should show me how to fix it
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Old Aug 1, 2012 | 11:46 PM
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Originally Posted by dilljeepo
Is there a seal where the shaft goes into the steering box? I've never done any work on power steering before, if I decide to do it myself and do it wrong would it affect my steering at all? Or just keep leaking and not affect anything? I'll look into seals tomorrow at napa, have a haynes manual that should show me how to fix it
There's an input shaft seal and a pitman arm seal. It can also leak where the pump hoses attach. It isn't too difficult to disassemble the box and re-seal it except you usually wind up with the "While-I'm-In-There" syndrome. The bushings are probably worn too...
That's a Saginaw box, one thing that can make a big mess is not getting the preload adjustments reset correctly if you open it up. There is one for the worm gear and another for the sector shaft. You'll need a torque wrench capable of measuring in inch-lbs.

You might try Lucas PS stop leak as a temporary fix. It's one of the few that actually work.

Last edited by Radi; Aug 1, 2012 at 11:48 PM.
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