Steering Box Leak

[michael bowen]

Hi folks,
I restored my 1960 Roadster in '03, and the shop installed a "good used" steering box with a new worm gear. However, it has ALWAYS leaked and the shop here told me it's leaking too much to be acceptable. I agree. What is my best option? Rebuild, NOS etc?...thanks. This is a concours level car, so I want it to look and work correctly.

[Ned Gorski]

Drain and pack with grease.

[Mike DeJonge]

replace the gaskets

[Bob Forman]

Last time I used STP oil treatment 100%. Seems to work fine.

[Steve Harrison]

Not sure if the 60 would have the VW box still or the ZF by then. I don't know when they changed over.
If the VW one, then I know there are two seals in that unit, an upper and a lower. The upper one is often the one that leaks and if so you might find that the box is overfilled possibly? (In reality I don't think it's a "seal" in the sense that we usually know them,..more of a dust seal) Clean it up really well and then check the next day to see where the oil is running from. Lower one,.then it's got to come out for a reseal,...upper one, you might just fix it by lowering the oil level a little. Or,..you could do like Ned suggested and pack it with grease. Lots of people do that.

[michael bowen]

Thanks. Are there any disadvantages to packing with grease?

[Geoff Fleming]

The last VW steering boxes were used on cars through the middle of 1957, after that, the ZF was used.
Even when the cars were new, some owners began using light grease, or a grease/ 90wt hypoid oil mix in the box. While it would be best to replace the seals, it is a laborious job at best.
Not sure if lowering the oil level would be advisable, since it would then not provide enough lubrication to the worm gear.

[Ron LaDow]

Thanks. Are there any disadvantages to packing with grease?

Depending on the grease, some formulations have volatiles that evaporate and the grease then hardens, leaving your moving parts tunneling through 'stuff' and getting no lube. Wheel bearing grease probably needs the heat to stay 'greasy'.
I use what the factory recommends and refill for the minor leakage I've had.

[Geoff Fleming]

Ron,
I too have lived with the slight leakage but have also used the 90wt hypoid/ light grease mix. It is important not to use a viscous, heavy grease that may harden but something very light which retains a flow. In the sixties, many Porschephiles reccomended 'Lubriplate'.
I think that with the occasional use most 356s receive today, especially the concours cars, there wouldn't be the chance for too much wear. So many of the cars I see have almost no lubrication in the steering boxes at all!

[David Baugh]

My ZF leaked like a sieve for years. I finally replaced the input shaft seal in about two hours without removing the box. No leaks whatsoever for the past 3 yrs with 90 wt.

Dave

[Dennis ODonnell]

Lubriplate Aero is made for steering boxes & landing gear boxes which only get filled once in a blue moon. Lightweight white grease without much filler.

[Rainer Cooney]

If the steering box is filled properly and is leaking then the best long term solution is to remove it and replace the two seals. Filling with grease or 600W oil is just doing an end run around the problem. The hardest part is removing the two inner tie rods. Baum Tool sells a good puller. Both the VW and ZF boxes are made to be filled to a certain level , NOT full. The box has has no drain plug so filling to the proper level is hard to achieve. If you can see oil in the box there is enough. There is no breather or provision for expansion so if filled to the top you can expect it to leak.

[Jim Liberty]

I always fill mine with grease. It takes a little time to get it filled, but no leaking. I have cars with 30K+ miles! no problems.

.............................. Jim.

[michael bowen]

Thanks for all replies, the bearing surface at the bottom of the splined shaft is heavily corroded/micro-pitted to where the bearing doesn’t fully seal to the shaft thus causing fluid to leak out. So grease it will be.

[Dick Weiss]

The worm shaft is below the peg and lowering the oil level would not get into the peg's bearing!
A lightweight grease will not break down unless in real low temps. When I do a lube changeover, I remove the oil w/an extended 'turkeybaster' to get to the casting's bottom, and refill w/3-minicartridge lithium grease (from K-Mart/Sears or similar) and use an extended tygon tube on the end of the mini grease gun--and fill it from the bottom up so there's no air pocket(s) in the grease; you hafta rotate the shaft several times so the grease covers all the internal parts and pack the bearing w/your finger. OR--R & R the top cover(?)

Dick