steering system leak! What to do?

[gustavohuber]

So I was changing the gear oil out of my diff to see if it would get rid of the NYYYRRRRRT! noise I've been having while starting and turning.. and while i was down there I noticed that it was really remarkably oily.. and.. whoa.. little red drips just hanging off stuff.. SHIT! So I wpied up as much as I could, but still have no idea where the leak is coming from.. might be a line, might be the piston.. but sure enough I checked the steering fluid and it was below the dipstickable level. I'm sure this also accounts for how squirrely my car has felt lately, and I feel stupid for not having checked it earlier.. so how do you figure out what part of the steering system is leaking, and even then.. how do you fix it? Or do i just have to look into a whole new pison/lines from a JY?

[gustavohuber]

well, i poured in a bottle of Lucas steering stop-leak, and it put me back to the "full" mark, or actually a little over, hopefully that will help, and not clog anything its not meant to. If only someone made a pour-in rod bearing replacement!

[professor]

the squirrely part is more likely tie rods or ball joints

[dzx]

None of that stop leak stuff as ever worked for me but you might get lucky.

[gustavohuber]

it's fixed!! the steering leak isn't, but that NYYYYYRRRT! noise is! WHEE! no more worries about my diff! it must have just been the mostly-empty pump struggling to keep pressure on the piston when the wheels were pushing back pretty hard (like starting at a turn).. sure glad my steering never failed! I need to inspect for leaks more often from now on.
/G

[gnuman]

Glad you got that noise fixed. where exactly was the fluid dripping from, if you know? the lines from the pump are on the right side of the car. I would take it and a pair of ramps to a "spray N wash place and hose the piss out of it to clean everything up under there. (I have the ramps you can borrow, if you want), then look for where the oil builds up. that will tell you if you actually need a new rack, or if you may be able to get away with tightening some connections/replacing hoses. . . Was the car "squirrely" when you brought it to me or was that my imagination?