Steering Box Leaking...rebuild or new

[Fiat88]

A while back I checked the oil in my steering box for the first time and noticed it was empty. I filled it up with 75w90 differential oil. So today I was inspecting the underside of the car and noticed oil on a piece of cardboard I have under the steering box and looked up and saw the underside frame rail which is directly under the steering box was oil soaked.

Don't really know where to go from here, what parts of the steering box could be leaking? How hard would it be to overhaul the steering box? If it helps I can take pictures tomorrow. Appreciate any advice. Thanks.

[TulsaSpider]

New ones seem to be in the $450 to $500 range. No idea on the rebuild. I have a used one for sale. Have you checked the steering dampener to see if it has oil in it as well?

[Fiat88]

New ones seem to be in the $450 to $500 range. No idea on the rebuild. I have a used one for sale. Have you checked the steering dampener to see if it has oil in it as well?

I checked IAP and a new one costs $385. I seem to have the newer style idler which doesn't use oil.

[TulsaSpider]

Darn memory! lol

[digitech]

I replaced my box with a new one from one of the vendors and it leaked as well...not as bad but still, a leak.

[RoyBatty]

See this. It might help you prepare.
http://www.fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=12087

[ventura ace]

I replaced the seals on my steering box years ago. I don't remember much about it, except that the seal were very difficult to source at that time. None of the Fiat vendors carried them. I was able to find them, however, with the help of an industrial seal supplier, based on the size, rather than the part number. Besides the seals, another typical leak source is the top cover. If I recall correctly, there are thin shims underneath the top cover that are all stacked together underneath the cover, and the whole thing is secured by the 4 cover bolts, with no gasket. I think the design relies on the flatness and cleanliness of the mating surface to seal. Others feel free to correct me -- my memory for this rebuild is pretty vague.

I can probably dig through some records to find the size of the seals if that helps.

Alvon

[manoa matt]

The input and output seals are available through Classicricambi.com Ace is right about the shims and the cover, but its located on the lower front surface, not the top. That is the big leak area for the steering boxes. The shims are there for the correct gear mesh between the worm and roller gears, so the addition of a thick paper gasket or liquid gasket may decrease the gear mesh and induce more play. I think the best solution would be the aerosol spray gasket "tack" on each surface of the nylon shims. In order to remove that plate the steering box must be removed from the car.

I also have an extra leak free steering box if you are interested.

[dantye]

A while back I checked the oil in my steering box for the first time and noticed it was empty. I filled it up with 75w90 differential oil. So today I was inspecting the underside of the car and noticed oil on a piece of cardboard I have under the steering box and looked up and saw the underside frame rail which is directly under the steering box was oil soaked.

Don't really know where to go from here, what parts of the steering box could be leaking? How hard would it be to overhaul the steering box? If it helps I can take pictures tomorrow. Appreciate any advice. Thanks.

The steering box on my 81 Spider had a really bad top bearing - you could grab the shaft and wobble it a lot. This leaked grease, of course, and also resulted in about 1/8 of a turn play in the steering wheel. I would hope one this bad is not too common, but I was lucky enough to find one on ebay for less than 1/3 new price, from a later, low mileage car that was being retro-fitted with rack and pinion. It has been installed (not by me) and the wheel play is now gone.

[kmead]

Rebuild

Replace the seals and gaskets as the parts are available. The bearings are likely fine.

[Fiat88]

The input and output seals are available through Classicricambi.com Ace is right about the shims and the cover, but its located on the lower front surface, not the top. That is the big leak area for the steering boxes. The shims are there for the correct gear mesh between the worm and roller gears, so the addition of a thick paper gasket or liquid gasket may decrease the gear mesh and induce more play. I think the best solution would be the aerosol spray gasket "tack" on each surface of the nylon shims. In order to remove that plate the steering box must be removed from the car.

I also have an extra leak free steering box if you are interested.

The classicricambi.com site never works for me. It always brings me back to the login page.

[wachuko]

[Fiat88]

Thanks I guess it just on my end then. I'll have to keep trying.

[Fiat88]

Jaime do you have to be logged in to view the items. Every time I go to select an item it brings me back to a the login page. I've had a problem with this for months.

[wachuko]

Jaime do you have to be logged in to view the items. Every time I go to select an item it brings me back to a the login page. I've had a problem with this for months.

Nope... I just went in with the link provided and navigated the whole site... check for pop-up blocker, clear the cache...

It is working fine for me...