C6 with PS leak...

[rkvons]

Hi,

I have a 2006 C6 that has a power steering leak. Goll Dangit! Only 3500 miles! Dag Nabbit! I'm going to have to put a floor jack under her and take a look. The poor girl... I just got done processing my recall for the targa top and noticed it when I was putting her away. Sheesh...

[rkvons]

It appears to be coming out of the ends of my rack. A re-maned rack is about $850.00. What a pain.

[Blt2Lst]

If i were you, I would try some Lucas power steering stop leak, that stuff works wonders.. You may need to siphon some fluid out of your reservoir in order to add some.

It's worth a try, 3500 miles on a rack, should last longer than that.

[rkvons]

Originally Posted by Blt2Lst

If i were you, I would try some Lucas power steering stop leak, that stuff works wonders.. You may need to siphon some fluid out of your reservoir in order to add some.

It's worth a try, 3500 miles on a rack, should last longer than that.

It's definitely worth a try. I did not think of anything like that. I will try it. Thanks!

[rkvons]

Originally Posted by Blt2Lst

If i were you, I would try some Lucas power steering stop leak, that stuff works wonders.. You may need to siphon some fluid out of your reservoir in order to add some.

It's worth a try, 3500 miles on a rack, should last longer than that.

I did exactly this yesterday (Sunday). I sucked the reservoir down and refilled with Lucas. When I first started it, it whined really loud for about a second. Don't know why. It was never empty. Anyways, I then drove it around for quite a bit. There were no problems. I parked back into the garage and peeked under the front where I normally see the fluid leak and it was still wet, but it was not red. The Lucas stuff was dark red. I'm thinking it was from before. I was going to drive it today, but the roads were wet. I think it may have fixed it. By suggesting this to me, you enlightened me. My previous mindset was that this would make the car impure. But as I was pouring the Lucas in, I was walking over to the Lucas camp, and it was good. Plus, if I saved myself $850, that is always good. Thanks!

[Blt2Lst]

I don't usually suggest (mechanic in a can or bottle) to fix problems but in some cases it's worth a try.

[Schrade]

If the leak is due to a fault in a rubber seal, try Trans-X.

I don't believe in magic-in-a-can snake oil, but if I know what's wrong, and it's $1k to fix, I might try a can.

I had a Ford (first problem) '89 Tbird, with bad valve bore seals in the tranny. A Ford tech told me it was common, and Trans-X might swell the rubber to seal the bore. Yeah - right. I had tons of chemistry in college, and you can't 'restore' dried-out organic solids (so I thought). I drew off some fluid, and dumped in a can.

I drove through a few shift cycles, and went home. The next day, it shifted perfectly, and kept on till I sold it the next year.

Since then, I've seen this stuff swell rubber injector O-rings, TB gaskets, and rubber V/C gaskets so much that they almost didn't fit (as they had when I did the dry-fit just an hour before ).

I'm still skeptical of any magic-in-a-can...

[batvette]

I can't help but agree with the mixed feelings. I've always put most of this stuff in the same catagory as people putting sawdust in their crankcase to quiet an internal knock before they sell a car. Sure it's a way to deal with the problem, might even work somewhat but likely just creates more problems.
The radiator stop leak always made me cringe the most. That stuff is now all over the cooling system, in the heads, thermostat, heater core...
Since the system he's introducing this to only includes the potentially bad part of the rack, and the pump, I'd have tried it too.
My 86 had the "morning sickness" problem in the steering rack for years, really scary to drive. Basically no power steering at all for about five minutes, you really had to lean on the wheel. then unexpectedly at a certain temperature a valve breaks loose and it operates normally. If you were not expecting it and leaning on the wheel you could instantly smash into anything near you. I learned to keep my knee braced to the wheel when I anticipated it. In time reman racks got cheap ($178) and I fixed it.
In fact I got a deal where a shop let me bring in my own parts. All told I got a new rack, both lower ball joints, all 4 axle u joints, both front wheel bearings and full alignment- for just under a thousand bucks parts and labor. Beat that! It might be noted the night before I took it to be worked on I fully degreased the whole undercarriage, everywhere the work was going to be done on. This way the mechanic likes to work on it because he's not getting filthy. It's easier for him to spot additional bad or damaged parts. He is going to be more consciencious about his work because he knows you take care of your car. Moreover he also figures if you keep it this clean you just might jack it up the next day and check his work. Your car is more clean down there than 99 out of 100 he's seen and you just might be crazy enough to do that.
Or post about it 10 years later on teh internets, LOL.