leaky manual steering gearbox

[Ken Haase]

The steering gear on my '65 Chevelle is leaking at the front between the casting and the large end cap(nut?). as far as I know there is no gasket or "O" ring that goes there. Or am I wrong?
It's just a few drops per day, but it needs fixed. Any opinions?

Also, what's the correct lube for these manual boxes?
Thanks

[gnicholson]

theres no seal for the end adjuster. you could mark it and remove the adjuster and apply some rtv. theres a drag adjustment for the input shaft and another for the pitman shaft. i would have to look up the specs. i think total is 16 in lbs. use 90 weight gear lube

[ss3011]

You are right, there is no seal on that adjuster , which is screwed into the casting and then a large jamb nut retains its position . The lube is EP grease, which is pretty thick , so I guess eventually can work through the threads on the adjuster. I would use a thread sealer if I were doing a rebuild , but since your box is together then I think the best try would be to remove the Jamb nut , clean and degrease the threads and casting area , then put a thin layer of Ultra RTV on the threads and reinstall the jamb nut . Note that the jamb nut keeps the adjuster from turning , so it maintains the adjustment of the steering shaft . Don't allow the adjuster to turn , when you remove the jamb nut . This will then maintain the factory adjustment.

[Ken Haase]

Thanks guys. I'll give that a try. It's always leaked since I've had the car, which is about two years. I also think it may have had too thin (viscosity) of lube which allowed it to leak past all those threads. IIRC one of my GM manuals said to use chassis lube which seems to me would be less likely to leak out.
Thanks again.

[Bill Bogues]

My manual steering box started leaking out
past the seal on the bottom. Changed seal, put 90/140 gear lube in it: it still leaked. Some people said put Stp in it but I couldn't find any. Finally went with John Deere tractor lube which looked like Stp. No leaks, steering works great.

[FED 387]

Lithium based chassis grease only fill box 1/4-1-3 full to allow for expansion caused by proximity to exhaust-- do not overfill you need space in there for air pockets to allow grease to move around moving parts--- any type of "oil" will cause leaks which is caused by internal pressures from the steering box heated up and being forced out the end of the box oil you will have leaks grease no leaks---Fed387

[T Ames]

Also had this issue and used John Deere Special-Purpose Corn Head Grease - AN102562 . No more drips. ~$4 a tube, and nothing runs like a Deere.

http://www.greenpartstore.com/John-D...-AN102562.html

[Eman]

I can't remember the spec for the grease but it's the same as the grease used in CV joints on the frt. of front wheel drive cars. You can buy a cheap boot kit or a good parts store might have the grease separate.

[Fatman]

Lubriplate #105. White lithium based grease works great.

[Eman]

I can't remember the weight rating of the grese but it's the grese that you use to pack CV joints on front wheel drive style axles. Most parts stores can sell you a bag or a cheap joint boot with a bag of it.