| Steve34FORD | -- 11-09-2009 @ 11:31 AM |
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My Son and I are rebuilding a 1934 ford four door deluxe from the frame up. We have rebuilt the steering box with new gaskets but it leaks from the bottom where the light switch attaches and from the shaft that connects to the pitman arm. any suggestions on how to stop it from leaking or is this some thing we have to live with. thanks in advance
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| Steve34FORD | -- 11-09-2009 @ 11:50 AM |
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Additional information. I have not put the steering box back on the frame and it is just sitting on my work bench and leaking
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| trjford8 | -- 11-09-2009 @ 7:47 PM |
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Steve on the bottom of the box there is a plate held on by 4 bolts. This plate has a tube welded to it that passes up through the steering gear. The purpose of the tube is to keep the oil from leaking out of the gear. My guess is the tube may be missing or has broken off the plate which allows the oil to leak out of the box.If you have the V-8 Club's 33-34 restoration manual there is a great diagram of the gear on page 2-27. If you don't have the book it can be purchased on this site or by calling 707-226-5256 between 8:00am and 8:00pm PST. If you have a 34 and don't have this book you are missing a lot of valuable information.
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| Steve34FORD | -- 11-10-2009 @ 1:43 PM |
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I have the 33 34 Ford Restoration Manual and use it all the time. The tube you mention I have and does not appear to be broken but it still leaks the 600W gear oil. Also it is leaking from around the shaft that comes out of the steering box and attaches to the frame and then to the pitman arm. Thanks for the information on the top also.
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| Steve34FORD | -- 11-10-2009 @ 5:59 PM |
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TRJFORD8 The V8 33-34 restoration Manual is ok but to be honest it lacks a lot of information. I asked why my steering box leaks and you tell me to look at a diagram in the their book. What good is that. I have the restoration book along with others but it still does not answer my question. Early Ford V-8 club needs to up grade its book on 33 and 34 Fords.
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| G Tosel | -- 11-10-2009 @ 7:41 PM |
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I am assuming that you replaced the shaft seal. Did you also replace the shaft sleeve or check the fit? If the fit of the shaft to the housing is not tight, the seal will not correct this problem and possibly leak as you have described. Check the leak between the plate and the housing for the tube to insure it is tight with a new gasket as well. Thanks. Gary Tosel This message was edited by G Tosel on 11-10-09 @ 7:41 PM
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| EdB | -- 11-10-2009 @ 9:07 PM |
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My Model A steering box leaked as you describe. Brattons has a Steering Gear End Plate to address the leak at the bottom of the box [# 5280] and a Steering Sector 'O' Ring [#5330] for the Sector shaft. Maybe these can be adapted to your situation.
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| 51f1 | -- 11-11-2009 @ 2:41 AM |
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If your steering box is like my '51 truck box, the tube at the bottom that the horn wire passes through leaks where it is crimped to the end plate. Remove the end plate. Thoroughly clean it with something like Purple Cleaner (strong detergent). Follow that with lacquer thinner or PRE to remove all of the oil Put a bead of epoxy around it on the inside where it is crimped to the plate. Quick setting epoxy will do. If your steering box is not like mine, disregard the above. Richard
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| alanwoodieman | -- 11-11-2009 @ 5:40 AM |
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as stated above the tube that is crimped to the end plate does leak, do as the info about epoxy says to do, I have also brazed mine in the past. I will assume that you used a neopreme shaft seal, if you used a leather one, these need to be soaked in oil before use also sometimes the shaft seal leaks because the shaft may have worn a groove where the seal sits, I have used two seals, my 40 boxes had room for them. I also found at the industrial drive store some thinner seals which enabled me to use two seals. 600 wt. oil is too thin for these boxes, the old SAE wt. scales are different than the new ones. I use a mixture of sythetic grease and 75-85 sythetic trans lube--comes out at the consistancy of ketchup--this mixture even made my box steer easier.
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| pfrancis | -- 11-11-2009 @ 4:49 PM |
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I too have an annoying leak after replacing all seals. I am wondering if a "stop leak" compound designed for the crankcase would help. It worked good for me in stopping a crankcase leak on my 35. pfrancis
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| TomO | -- 11-12-2009 @ 4:57 PM |
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It probably would not make a difference in your steering box. Most of the oil stop leak products are designed to swell the seals. Tom
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| 40 Coupe | -- 11-13-2009 @ 4:55 AM |
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the tube in the bottom plate has to be silver soldered onto the plate. They usually crack at the attachment point and use a good sealant on the gasket between the plate and the housing. The repair plate and tube Brattons sells will not work because the tube is too large in diameter. We had good luck replacing the tube from one at the local hardware store. The new tube was also soldered into place. There is a cork seal on the sector shaft out of the sector housing. This can be replaced with a modern seal, but it means disassembly, otherwise make sure the cork is in place.
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| wmsteed | -- 11-13-2009 @ 8:55 AM |
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The problem of steering gear boxes leaking oil is as old as the cars to which they are attached. In years gone bye it was a standard practice in the auto service industry to simply fill the manual gear boxes with chassis lube... Then the customer did not complain about oil leaking out of the steering gears and the gears stayed lubricated. Several years ago I found that engine additives like STP and Motor Honey worked very well in steering gear boxes. It does not leak out and it does a very good job of lubricating the gears/shafts in the box. I don't think STP is still available, however Pep Boys and some of the other large part sellers have a similar product. I set the bottle out in the sun to warm it up, then I place a small funnel into the gear box opening and slowly add the fluid. Bill 36 5 win delx cpe
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| Charlie G | -- 11-15-2009 @ 12:21 PM |
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I have had the same leak on my '34. JB Weld (epoxy) worked well in sealing the brass tube to the bottom plate. However it still leaked, and I found it leaking from the bolts that hold the bottom plate. Cleaning the bolts and threads in the steering box and coating them with Permatex cured the leak.
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| trjford8 | -- 11-15-2009 @ 8:36 PM |
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Steve, I refer people to diagrams so they can see the assembly process and for them to make sure they have all the parts shown in the diagram. Many times people purchase a project and being new to the game they may not know that they are missing some parts. The V-8 Club books may not be perfect, but you must realize that our books are done by volunteers and they are far superior to many books done by professionals. If it wasn't for our volunteers we would have no books.
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