Power Steering service alert

[Hib Halverson]

I was talking today with another member of media who covers Corvette. Like me, he also owns Corvettes, in his case an early C4 with a supercharged Gen 2 LT1 in it. He does some of his own work on the car but also relies on Chris Petris, yet another Corvette writer, but who also owns a service shop, to help him with certain tasks.

Apparently, my friend's steering rack began to leak and there were no remans or good used replacements available. As to why there are no remans for the early racks, the problem is a shortage of rebuildable cores.

Petris also told my buddy that a problem he sees in a lot of racks he disassembles is rust and pitting of the parts.

That indicates to me that with C4,5 and 6 power steering, which are hydraulic, as opposed to the C7s, electric-assist, moisture in the power steering fluid is a big problem with steering systems which get infrequent or no fluid changes.

So...the important lesson for Zroners is that if the early racks are impossible to find as remans, the late racks will be soon to follow.

I suggest that all you guys, no matter how you use your cars, flush your power steering systems every few years and use a premium power steering fluid. If it hasn't been done in a couple of years or never has been done, do it now.

My pwr. steer. maintenance program has been Red Line Power Steering fluid and flushes every 3 years.

[Dynomite]

Originally Posted by Hib Halverson

I was talking today with another member of media who covers Corvette. Like me, he also owns Corvettes, in his case an early C4 with a supercharged Gen 2 LT1 in it. He does some of his own work on the car but also relies on Chris Petris, yet another Corvette writer, but who also owns a service shop, to help him with certain tasks.

Apparently, my friend's steering rack began to leak and there were no remans or good used replacements available. As to why there are no remans for the early racks, the problem is a shortage of rebuildable cores.

Petris also told my buddy that a problem he sees in a lot of racks he disassembles is rust and pitting of the parts.

That indicates to me that with C4,5 and 6 power steering, which are hydraulic, as opposed to the C7s, electric-assist, moisture in the power steering fluid is a big problem with steering systems which get infrequent or no fluid changes.

So...the important lesson for Zroners is that if the early racks are impossible to find as remans, the late racks will be soon to follow.

I suggest that all you guys, no matter how you use your cars, flush your power steering systems every few years and use a premium power steering fluid. If it hasn't been done in a couple of years or never has been done, do it now.

My pwr. steer. maintenance program has been Red Line Power Steering fluid and flushes every 3 years.

Great advice Hib.....I am assuming that moisture in the Power Steering Fluid is condensation which depends a lot on the climate you are in. Same goes for Brake and Clutch Fluid I would guess.

[garyhugo]

Would a synthetic power steering fluid like Valvolene Syntech work well?

[Hib Halverson]

A synthetic power steering fluid should work quite well.

I know there is a Castrol engine oil product branded "Syntec", but I wasn't aware there was a steering fluid from Valvoline branded "Syntech".

In any event, a synthetic works well in C4 steering systems.

[Racinfan83]

How to flush the system? I just looked at Solutions and didn't see anything. I need to do this on my Z and also on my wife's 300C...

[Tripler]

Thanks Hib ...


I did a search on how to change power steering fluid on a C4 Corvette and a PDF link comes up with full instructions on how to change the fluid ...

[Z51JEFF]

How I do mine is suck it out of the reservoir and just keep doing this until I get clean fluid.