Old Bill marking his territory I 'spose....

Steering box leak....

Hello all,

Ok, drove Old Bill to work today, and have nearly 100 miles on him
since this past Friday. So far, (and I'm keeping fingers crossed
here, AND knocking on wood.) I've only noticed one leak. That is the
snout that holds the shim pack to the Ross steering box. I had filled
that one with 80w90 until oil flowed out of the plug, so I know I got
it full. Apparently, it didn't want to stay there, and I believe that
it is now leaking past the shim pack and snout. I did use aviation
goop, but apparently, with the metal to metal contact, the aviation
goop musta squeezed out of from between the two, and finally got warm
enough to flow away from the inside of that and is now leaking out. I
could have SWORN I used more than enough.....:?:evil:

So I ask a couple questions...

If the gear oil leaks until it is level with that joint, will that
leave enough gear oil in the box? It "appears" that the worm would be
mostly (2/3~3/4) covered even with the oil "low". I'm also concerned
about the upper bearing, but I would think that the occasional hill or
jackrabbit start :twisted: would cause the gear oil to splash up to that.

Secondly, if I let that leak go until the level is low enough it
stops, (providing I'm not depriving the box of too much oil... ) can I clean up the outside of that joint and smear on some more avation goop
to seal it from the outside? I understand that I'm hoping for the
best, but I really don't wanna have to pull that apart if necessary.
Also, is this one of those rare cases where some RTV might actually be
more appropriate than the aviation goop?

Otherwise, I'm having a blast driving it once I get past the thought
that I didn't build a leak-proof Jeep.

 

Leak proof jeep ,,,,,,,,,, isnt that a oximoron . Its a jeep its supposed to leak . Alot like a dog faithfull and dependable but its going to mark every ones yard that you visit .

 

Like a Detroit Diesel, if it doesn't leak for Gods sake don't buy it, its a piece of Junk and its surely tore up.