Power Steering Leak

Bridge816

Bridge816

New Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2024
Messages
10
Location
Utah
I've got a 98 tj with the 4.0 that has been such a great vehicle so far, absolutely love it. A few weeks after I bought it I noticed a small leak that was obviously power steering. I was busy with other things and then just kind of put it off on accident but I always made sure I had fluid in it.
It seems to be coming from the steering box but I'm not 100% sure, it's a pretty good leak now and I need to fix this as soon as I can. I know a lot of you out there have fixed this issue and I'm wondering what the first things I can do are, and what I can start checking off this fix this. It's pretty hard to see exactly where it's coming from.

Thanks 👍🏻
 
Bridge816 said:
I've got a 98 tj with the 4.0 that has been such a great vehicle so far, absolutely love it. A few weeks after I bought it I noticed a small leak that was obviously power steering. I was busy with other things and then just kind of put it off on accident but I always made sure I had fluid in it.
It seems to be coming from the steering box but I'm not 100% sure, it's a pretty good leak now and I need to fix this as soon as I can. I know a lot of you out there have fixed this issue and I'm wondering what the first things I can do are, and what I can start checking off this fix this. It's pretty hard to see exactly where it's coming from.

Thanks 👍🏻
Click to expand...

You can put dye in it. It helps a lot. O'Reilly's carries it as well as most auto part stores.
 
I made sure to clean it the best I could yesterday and gave it a good look today. Looks like the top of the steering box from what I can tell. It seems more dry above it. Is there some kind of a seal on the top of the box?

20240508_182028.jpg
 
To me, it looks like the sector shaft. I don't see much residue on the lines and they ain't very wet
 
My steering box started leaking in the same spot and with 200k miles I just decided to swap it. The best options i found for swapping is a lares box which is new and not a remanufactured box for 300 bucks off rockauto. Stay away from remanufactured boxes because the bore of the shaft can wear out and won’t be fixed when they rebuild one so you can have a box with a lot of play right off the bat as well as the rebuild quality might not be the best. Will be swapping pump lines and box tomorrow as a full refresh.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mudmaster
first try Lucas Oil Power Steering Stop Leak. You have nothing to lose! (Except a few bucks!)
If that doesn’t last very long, I can recommend having Bleepin’Jeep rebuild it. He did mine and it was great.
 
Top Bottom
Back