Noticed seepage from steering box so stripped it down and found it was packed in grease, not sure what kind so cleaned it out and wonder if I should replace with steering box grease or recommended oil. Seems it must have been packed with grease to cure a leak which seems to have been caused by the flattened 'O' ring. If the best advice is to go for oil what's the best stuff to clean out the remaining grease with ? Thanks for looking.
Nah , couldn't find any but the ones I took out were fine . I don't think the box has seen much action to be fair but the 'nose' has a slight crack in the seal housing where someone has been a bit enthusiastic removing the arm . Holds oil though and the box is lovely and smooth Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk
Sounds fine! I think if the nylon(?) ball-holder thing has snapped, then you’re a bit stuffed, as nobody’s been able to find replacements.
The steering box very definitely shouldn't be filled with grease. As the box components wear the tiny metallic fragments get caught in the grease and act like a grinding paste, further accelerating wear - if there's oil in there the metal sinks to the bottom.
Look in the bronze bearing in the side cover - any deep grooves and your steering will go clunk no matter how much you adjust it. This was a bad box.
This is almost, but not quite a 'what oil' question. We are away in rural Wales and I've noticed my late bay steering box is dripping oil. I filled it a few months ago knowing it may need a refurbish, and so it's proven. However as I'm on holiday and have some engine oil available (20/50) can I top the steering box oil up with this to tide me over until I pull the box and replace seals after the holiday, or will I do more harm than good and I should try to find some steering box oil? I'm not sure how much oil is left in there currently, hard to see. Thanks all.
I would let you have some of my EP140 left over from my Seagull outboard's gearbox .. Relies on being more like seawater mayonnaise as the seals dont work 100% on that engine.. Order some seals and some oil, keep driving for now. Its probably been half empty for ages.
Cheers guys. I managed to buy some EP80/90 but it's only a slow leak and the steering feels fine...sooooo will keep an eye on it. Just checking, the only oil I could find is the EP80/90 which is a GL 5 type. I seem to remember that ours are GL4 but after a quick search, GL5 looks like it should be OK. Am I going to go far wrong if I use this when I take the steering box out for seals? Obviously, I'll use it if I need it on the holiday.
GL5 contains additives (sulphorous)? that attack bronze bushings. Your steering box has such a bush. There are numerous and lengthy discussions regarding how quickly the 'wrong' oil will degrade bronze parts but tbh oil is cheap, a replacement steering box isnt. So stick to GL4. Same with the gearbox