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

That stuff probally has some Shellac in it, to swell up the seals.It most likely won't work long time.

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.

"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>/

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

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

"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.

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.

"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.

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