Steering Box Leakage?

VW steering gear boxes have a tendency to leak due to "Non German" manufacture and the use of #0 or # 1 grease for lubricant.....  The lube thins dramaticaly with heat and seeps by the seal and shaft interface which is most likely not to German spec....

I've always relubed the box with #2 grease and never had a problem with it.....  Just make sure the box is "packed full".....    You'll find two plastic plugs on the cover....  Remove both.....  Pump grease into one hole and allow it to fill the box until it escapes through the other.....   Replace the plugs......

This can be done with the box in the car, but is a PAIN in the &%%.....And requires flex hose on the grease gun.....

James....On the top of the box is a set screw with a jam nut. This an adjustment point for steering play. You may want to try that. If you have a manual you will find that there is another adjustment for the other part that the set screw adjustment will not change. It takes a huge allen wrench to turn it. If your box is fairly new I doubt either will help much by adjustment but the set screw one may. I would look for play or looseness in the steering linkage first. The leak can be "fixed" by using Grease as someone already said. Oh ! ...don't forget the check the "thermoid coupling" (the thin rubber hockey puck) right where the steering box connects to the steering wheel shaft. This is sometimes worn or soft or loose............Bruce

Thanks guys, Amazon is taking forever on my books. I will address the steering box sooner than later. It feels every time I go poking around the car I find something else that needs to be addressed. At some point, you just have to step back and say that can wait otherwise I will be working on this new car for months and never drive it.  

@James Garrett

Watch this video and you'll see where the sector screw/jam nut is at and how to adjust it. The video also shows how and where to adjust the worm gear etc. Mind you, this is on a VW Beetle still so accessing it on your car isn't going to be quite as easy as removing a plate and adjusting it while looking at it. For us with the Madness within us things are a little more difficult. Lift the front of the car off the ground and remove the left front tire. Get some light up in there and you should be able to see the steering box and if you reach up in the area you'll feel the jam nut/sector screw combination.

Follow the directions for tightening the sector screw and this will eliminate the freeplay you feel in the steering wheel. If while the car is parked, wheels on the ground, and you can turn the steering wheel quite a bit before the wheels move you have too much play. That doesn't make you a player though James. Smooth pick up lines, nice clothes, and a cool car makes you a player. One out of three isn't bad, but it's a good start. Other steering issues can be diagnosed here as well.

Good luck.

I read your profile and didn't see what type/year Speedster you have.....

If its a Beck, Intermechanica, or a "known" recent manufacture, it will probably not need adjustment, just tightening the pitman arm nut (red arrow) should do it....

To remove the plastic plugs, drive in a sheet metal screw, grab the screw head with a pair of pliers and pull/yank it out......  Replacement plugs I used ranged from pipe end protectors to neoprene "corks".....They only have to be grease resistant......

Thanks Leon, updated my profile (such is the life of a newbie )

The big hex socket on the front of the box is 3/4" across the socket, and you can make an adjustment wrench by using a 6"-ish long piece of 3/4" wide flat steel stock (Home Depot hardware dept).  Make a 90 "L" bend about 3/8"-1/2" deep on the short "L" end and it should fit right into the hex socket to allow you to adjust it.   Don't go longer on that short piece or it won't fit between box and body.

You'll also need a HUGE Crescent wrench to loosen the locknut of said socket adjuster.  I found a great (and much cheaper) replacement in the plumbing dept. (same Home Depot).  Just ask for a sink drain adjustable wrench like this:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/HD...le+sink+drain+wrench

That will loosen/tighten the locknut very nicely.  Total tool expenditure less than $15 Bucks and you can impress your partner with your plumbing skills in the future.

There is a chronological process for properly adjusting the steering box with the wheels centered (one adjustment) and then with the wheels to both side locks (other adjustment).  Once it is all done properly, there should be about 3/4" side-to-side play at the top of the steering wheel when centered and sitting on the ground.  I may have that info, too.  If I do, I can scan it for you.  PM me if you want it while getting/making your tools.

Thanks Gordon, wealth of knowledge as usual! 

I tried finding a gasket/plug kit for the steering box --- without luck.  You'd think it would be a popular $5 kit.

Be nice if they had replaceable seals around the shafts, but no.......

The bestest and easiest cure is to fill it full of grease, replace the covers and drive away.  Even wheel bearing grease would be good, and probably never leak.