Power Steering and Stop Leak?.. Your thoughts?

[Tbars4]

...Since I developed a good leak just above the pitman arm I threw in some STP stop leak...This mainly refilled the reservoir and that was about it...It may have swelled the seal a very little bit but not much...

...I was in Autozone picking up some fuel filters and seen they had Rizlone brand power steering stop leak on sale for $6.99 for a 12 1/2 oz. bottle...
http://www.autozone.com/R,834102/store,5942/shopping/accessoryProductDetail.htm

...This made me think hey, I better get some power steering fluid for the X..:scratch:

...I walked back to get some and I found no STP stop leak usually $2.99, but I did find the Lucas 12 oz. for $8.99...So I bought it and only needed a little for the reservoir..
http://www.autozone.com/R,973220/store,5942/shopping/accessoryProductDetail.htm

...My thinking is, if it seals it up and does what it says this could be useful to carry on offroad trips and may save me from buying a new steering box...

...I do have the original steering box and the Aussie locker makes my steering system grown on trails...This is suppose to lube and silence that, I figure at least a bit of it...

...I am interested in all your thoughts as a lot of you have had similar problems with their stock steering...

 

[BrooklynBay]

These stop leak additives are only good as a temporary fix. The seals are bad, and the stop leak softens them to a point where they slightly expand. They will eventually start to develop cracks. The stop leak won't work at that point.

 

[LBarr2002]

When I had my truck up in the shop a few years ago doing the lift, the steering box had a steady drip and leaked a good bit in the few days it sat on concrete. I filled it with Prestone power steering fluid with stopleak and no leaks since...

 

[cybergasm]

Might be cheaper in the long run to just buy the seal pry out the old one and pound it in and be done with it.

 

[Cozmik]

I had a pretty bad leak somewhere in the system. I've had good luck with the Lucas Stop leak so far. Its been a few weeks now and the little puddles have quit appearing under the truck. I will at some point soon find out where the leak is and fix it properly, but for now $11.99 got the job done.

 

[Tbars4]

..Well, it is pretty much stopped from leaking...If I go to the trouble of getting tools out for this, I just put in a new box....I would like to save some money now as I am going to start small on the front end of the X...

...Right now I need to do something about the dual shocks and maybe just remove those and throw a set of coilovers in there..:scratch:..That is if I can find something cheap enough to get me thru this season..

 

[cross6]

the lucas works. My dad's 1993 camry started leaking PS fluid pretty badly, it was a pump seal, the pump was almost a grand from toyota.

We put in the lucas, leak stopped and stayed gone for years until he traded it in.

 

[gmanpaint]

My 94 had sat for the winter. The seal had dried up, and leaked all the fluid out completely. I filled it back up with PS fluid and it was gone in 3 days. I used the Lucas stop leak, and it swelled the seal, and has not leaked a drop since. Been a couple of months now, and all is good still. The pump makes NO noise at all. Quietest it has ever been. Thinking of draining the 95 pump, and adding Lucas to it.

Someone I know uses Mobil 1 30 wt synthetic motor oil in their pump, and it works better than ever, and stopped it's whining completely. No more leaks either.

Not sure if it is just the synthetics that work in quieting down, or the viscosity is so high that does it.

 

[Tbars4]

...The Lucas worked for a while on my X...If I kept driving it it wouldn't leak...If it sat for a week or 2, it would start dripping...

...I resolved the problem a while back..
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=240227&highlight=agr

 

[Stic-o]

Why not go to the junk yard and snag a new steering box? There like $25 bucks and just about every ford truck o the 80's and 90's have the same box. It a really simple to replace. 3 bolts