Power Steering Leak

I have had a leak in my power steering now for about 6 months and I have always just been toping it off since it is a rather slow leak and I only have to re-fill (top off) the power steering resivoir every 2 weeks or so and thats not that bad. But today I went after trying to fix the problem and this is what I got.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y179/Rjackson32/Picture001.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y179/Rjackson32/Picture002.jpg

^^^The first picture is an overview so you know what the seccond picture zooms in on.

Fluid is comming out of that top center screw.(in the second pic) I tried to tighten it down but it was already as tight as could be. (in the pic i actually have the nut off of the screw)

1) what is that thing

2) what is the screw there for, as it doesnt seem to hold anything in place

3) how do i stop the leak?

Thanks. Its a 1998 Cherokee Sport.

I beleive that is for your bearing preload on your power steering box. If its tightend down too far, you will not be able to turn. Dont know if theres a fix to it, might be a replacement thing. Or maybe back it all the way out and use some plumbers tape on it and screw it back in. Good Luck.

STOP!There is supposed to be a nut on that screw! You have a serious problem in your steering if that nut is not present, because it will allow your preload adjustment to change while running.

Get that thing fixed pronto.

edti: Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention that the nut also seals the screw from leaking.

I know there is supposed to be a nut, I just had it off for the picture. I tried tightening it down all the way and now my steering is very stiff and the leak out of that screw area hasnt stopped. What should i do?

Rjackson32 said:

I know there is supposed to be a nut, I just had it off for the picture. I tried tightening it down all the way and now my steering is very stiff and the leak out of that screw area hasnt stopped. What should i do?

Click to expand...

If your steering is now stiff, the screw has been adjusted wrong, and needs to be adjusted correctly. Preferably this should be done with steering gear disconnected from linkage and from steering shaft, with preload on input done first, then on-center lash, which is what that screw controls, done second. If you're an old hand at playing with steering gears, you can get it pretty close without disconnecting it, but this is not recommended.

I would not drive this rig without being sure the steering is at least loose enough to be safe. A little loose may be better than a little stiff. The internal threads for the recirculating balls are cut so that when it is just stiff enough on center it will be a little sloppy off center, to compensate for on-center wear. If it's adjusted wrong, for example too stiff off center, it could bind on center, and, not to put too fine a point on it, kill you. At an absolute minimum, you MUST make sure that you make your adjustment with the steering gear on center. I really have seen reports of crashes caused when people adjusted the lash with the steering off center, and then had it bind up unexpectedly.

For the leakage, I'm not sure. I haven't looked recently at one of these things, but the nut should seal it pretty well when it's jammed down. On some power steering units there's a washer of some sort, but I don't remember whether there's one on the Jeep. I'll have to look at the spare one in my shop one of these days. The Saginaws on old Mercedes, which are similar, had a stiff plastic washer. Some Saginaws of old had a soft metal washer.

When you reinstall the nut, you will need to readjust the screw, and then it is imperative to hold the screw from turning when you tighten the nut, or it will go off again. If there's some play in the threads, this might take a couple of tries, because the action of the nut pulling up on the screw will make a tiny change in the final adjustment. Again, I have not played with one of these for some years, so I don't remember which way the screw turns to tighten, but I know that on some setups the screw turns out to tighten, meaning that when you sock down the nut, it might end up too tight if you're not careful.

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Matthew is right on the mark with his comments. There's two adjustments needed on the GM/Saginaw steering gear found in the XJ. The first is the worm preload and the second is the overcenter preload (the scew and lock nut on top of the box). He is also right about having to remove the box to correctly make the adjustments...it's a PITA.... but it is well worth your efforts.

The first adjustment, worm preload, is made with an internal nut and jam nut on the steering box where the steering shaft enters; this is the primary adjustment to compensate for wear and remove any slop. The second adjustment is the overcenter and it affects on-center feel...it is also the one, when adjusted imporperly (and the one most often "screwed" with in ill-fated attempts to "tighten" the steering), that will cause: stiff steering; a loss of return to center when exiting a turn; excessive internal wear of the steering box; loss of on-center feel. Most shops will not spend the time adjusting the box (if they even know how) as it is all labor; they will simply slap in a rebuilt unit (which also may or may not be adjusted properly from the factory). The adjustment procedure is relatively simple...once you get the box out of the vehicle. If you're interested in doing it, I would strongly suggest you get a copy of the Chrysler factory service manual (used ones avail online for ~$30) as the procedure is found there.

I have done this adjustment on my '98 GMC (which had a lot of slop) my '85 S10 and my '00 XJ; the results in steering response were, IMHO, worth my time removing, tweaking and reinstalling the steering boxes.

Thank you, i thought that the first response was right on but it was a little too wordy for me to understand. (I'm not too jeep savy) Your explaination was very clear for me. Thank you. Is there anyone in the CT, Southern NY area that would be willing to do this for me? Since i want someone who knows what they are doing and I dont trust gas stations. I know Eagle worked on my car a while ago but I lost his #. If anyone can hook me up with either his number or email address that would be awesome. Thanks a lot. - Tyler