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#1
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power steering stop leak?
The P/S fluid in our '04 Cavalier (90K miles) is down below the
dipstick. (First time I've checked it in 2+ years.) No noticable spotting under the car, so I'm guessing there's a slow leak. Is there a downside to adding "power steering fluid with stop leak"? (Like, "OMG, it will plug the ...") Thanks, George |
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#2
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power steering stop leak?
That stuff probally has some Shellac in it, to swell up the seals.It most likely won't work long time.
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#3
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power steering stop leak?
On Jun 1, 3:36*pm, George > wrote:
> The P/S fluid in our '04 Cavalier (90K miles) is down below the > dipstick. *(First time I've checked it in 2+ years.) *No noticable > spotting under the car, so I'm guessing there's a slow leak. *Is there a > downside to adding "power steering fluid with stop leak"? *(Like, "OMG, > it will plug the ...") > > Thanks, > George Lucas brand is pretty good but fixing the problem is always better than anything that comes in a bottle. |
#4
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power steering stop leak?
"George" > wrote in message ... > The P/S fluid in our '04 Cavalier (90K miles) is down below the > dipstick. (First time I've checked it in 2+ years.) No noticable > spotting under the car, so I'm guessing there's a slow leak. Is there a > downside to adding "power steering fluid with stop leak"? (Like, "OMG, > it will plug the ...") > > Thanks, > George There is a downside to owning a damn Chevrolet. I had something like this and first replaced a weepy hose. Then, the power steering pump failed miserably. I rebuilt it. It lasted til I got out of the rest room. Try stopleak if you will. I think that, eventually, you will have to fix this POS>/ |
#5
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power steering stop leak?
On Fri, 1 Jun 2012 18:58:33 -0500, "hls" > wrote:
> >"George" > wrote in message .. . >> The P/S fluid in our '04 Cavalier (90K miles) is down below the >> dipstick. (First time I've checked it in 2+ years.) No noticable >> spotting under the car, so I'm guessing there's a slow leak. Is there a >> downside to adding "power steering fluid with stop leak"? (Like, "OMG, >> it will plug the ...") >> >> Thanks, >> George > >There is a downside to owning a damn Chevrolet. I had something like this >and first replaced a weepy hose. Then, the power steering pump failed >miserably. I rebuilt it. It lasted til I got out of the rest room. > >Try stopleak if you will. I think that, eventually, you will have to fix >this >POS>/ Gee, you sound bitter. When's the last time you even owned a Chevy? Why would you try - and fail - to rebuild something like a Chevy PS pump when you can pick up a rebuilt with a 3 year warranty for 50-75 bucks at the parts store? This is a tech group here. We're supposed to understand our cars, and outsmart them. If you can't outsmart a Chevy, you probably did right buying that Toyota. Anyway, the real answer for the OP is to just put some regular PS fluid in to get it to operating level. Maybe a cup or 2. Then check it every year instead of every 2 years. It will make noise and give you plenty of warning before it fails. I would rather just replace a bad pump than have crap running through my rack. It's an easy job replacing the pump, no more than an hour if you're good with wrenches. You need to borrow a pulley puller from the auto parts store if you don't have one. My son has replaced 2 of them on our old Chevys, both Corsicas, a '90 and '93, and replaced the one on my '93 Grand Am. All high mileage cars. My '88 Celebrity pump was replaced under warranty at about 33k, and was still on it at 190k. My '97 Lumina has the original with +170k. I've had 4 other high-mile Chevys with no PS pump problems, including an '85 Cav. I've heard 2 failure modes. The Chevys started whining/groaning. The Grand Am just knocked and sounded like a bad wrist pin. Only time I was happy to replace a PS pump. PS and water pumps, and alternators are pretty commonly replacements with the GM cars I've had. None ever stranded me, and all gave me plenty of warning. Always cheap and fast to replace. -- Vic |
#6
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power steering stop leak?
On 06/01/2012 12:36 PM, George wrote:
> The P/S fluid in our '04 Cavalier (90K miles) is down below the > dipstick. (First time I've checked it in 2+ years.) No noticable > spotting under the car, so I'm guessing there's a slow leak. Is there a > downside to adding "power steering fluid with stop leak"? (Like, "OMG, > it will plug the ...") > > Thanks, > George it's a short term fix, but not good for the long term. it works by swelling the seal polymers, but unfortunately that means they also soften and wear quicker. best to just refill as said by others, try and identify and fix any leaks, and keep an eye on it for the time being. -- nomina rutrum rutrum |
#7
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power steering stop leak?
"Vic Smith" > wrote in message > > Gee, you sound bitter. When's the last time you even owned a Chevy? > Why would you try - and fail - to rebuild something like a Chevy PS > pump when you can pick up a rebuilt with a 3 year warranty for 50-75 > bucks at the parts store? It has been a while, admittedly. The car was a couple of years old and low mileage. For some reason, a rebuilt was not available at the time, so I bought the parts and rebuilt it. The leak was at the shaft, but there was no sign of scoring or excess wear, but the leak recurred very shortly thereafter. I ended up having to buy a brand new unit, which was a lot more than $75. Yes, I agree with you, if you want trouble free performance, buy a Toyota. |
#8
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power steering stop leak?
On 6/1/2012 4:02 PM, Vic Smith wrote:
> Gee, you sound bitter. When's the last time you even owned a Chevy? > Why would you try - and fail - to rebuild something like a Chevy PS > pump when you can pick up a rebuilt with a 3 year warranty for 50-75 > bucks at the parts store? > This is a tech group here. We're supposed to understand our cars, and > outsmart them. If you can't outsmart a Chevy, you probably did right > buying that Toyota. > Anyway, the real answer for the OP is to just put some regular PS > fluid in to get it to operating level. Maybe a cup or 2. > Then check it every year instead of every 2 years. > It will make noise and give you plenty of warning before it fails. > I would rather just replace a bad pump than have crap running through > my rack. It's an easy job replacing the pump, no more than an hour if > you're good with wrenches. You need to borrow a pulley puller from > the auto parts store if you don't have one. > My son has replaced 2 of them on our old Chevys, both Corsicas, a '90 > and '93, and replaced the one on my '93 Grand Am. > All high mileage cars. My '88 Celebrity pump was replaced under > warranty at about 33k, and was still on it at 190k. > My '97 Lumina has the original with +170k. > I've had 4 other high-mile Chevys with no PS pump problems, including > an '85 Cav. > I've heard 2 failure modes. The Chevys started whining/groaning. > The Grand Am just knocked and sounded like a bad wrist pin. > Only time I was happy to replace a PS pump. > PS and water pumps, and alternators are pretty commonly replacements > with the GM cars I've had. None ever stranded me, and all gave me > plenty of warning. Always cheap and fast to replace. > The prices on replacement parts are pretty reasonable. I couldn't believe some of the price on some parts - they seemed too low. A few days ago, while at a mall lot, I parked next to an 84 Cavalier that I used to own. I was surprised to see it cause I sold it to some college kids over a decade ago. I can recognize it from the front fascia being pushed in on the sides. My wife ran into a car which them rammed the two cars in front of it. She said the car in the middle looked like an accordion. Oddly enough, there wasn't that much damage to the Chevy. I replaced a headlight and bought a bumper complete with energy absorbing struts from a junkyard and did a little prying of the sheet metal and the car ran and looked fine. The bumper system worked pretty good: the turn signal lamp on the bumper had the filament support bent 90 degrees but one of the headlamps still worked. |
#9
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power steering stop leak?
"dsi1" > wrote in message ... > > The prices on replacement parts are pretty reasonable. Some parts prices are quite reasonable, and the quality can be very good. Dealerships still tend to be a bit pricey. I tried to buy some strut cartridges from a dealership here, and the price was over $129.00 each. The parts man then told me that I could go to NAPA and buy the VERY SAME cartridges for about $30 each. Which I did. On the power steering pump, I think the dealership price was a couple hundred bucks. My FLAPS buddy bought it for me and, with his discount, I got it for substantially less. I realized how much time I had wasted with the re-sealing, time, parts, etc, and - had I known what a hopeless case it was - would have gone that way first. |
#10
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power steering stop leak?
On Fri, 01 Jun 2012 21:18:33 -0700, jim beam > wrote:
>On 06/01/2012 12:36 PM, George wrote: >> The P/S fluid in our '04 Cavalier (90K miles) is down below the >> dipstick. (First time I've checked it in 2+ years.) No noticable >> spotting under the car, so I'm guessing there's a slow leak. Is there a >> downside to adding "power steering fluid with stop leak"? (Like, "OMG, >> it will plug the ...") >> >> Thanks, >> George > >it's a short term fix, but not good for the long term. it works by >swelling the seal polymers, but unfortunately that means they also >soften and wear quicker. > >best to just refill as said by others, try and identify and fix any >leaks, and keep an eye on it for the time being. Thanks to all who replied. I used the straight stuff. (Embarassing disclosu Since buying the car (2 yrs ago), it's occasionally had a short 'clashing gears' noise, right after starting. It sounded like when you hit the starter with the engine already running. I'd thought the starter was having trouble disengaging from the ring gear, and I'd have to replace the starter in a while. But, since adding the P/S fluid ... no more noise. Oops. Maybe I need to check it more than every 2 yrs.) George |
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