carl a

i was under the impression the gear box in the steering-never needs to be filled with grease,if you have power steering--- i was told that the power steering fluid lubercates the gears in the box----- at bloomington i talked to a person at the van steel booth-----he said that wasnt true and the gear box on both power steering and manual take grease in the box-- if this is true is this a rather easy procedure to check the grease in there and add if needed?????----carl a

norvalwilhelm

I definitely needs grease. There is absolutely no connection between the steering box and the power steering.
Go to http://www.corvettefaq.com



[Modified by norvalwilhelm, 6:32 AM 7/12/2003]

Jim Shea

When GM said that the gear box did not require periodic refilling with grease, they were correct. However, they weren't considering that the cars might still be driven around 30+ years later!

On the C2 and C3 Vettes, the steering gear box is the same regardless if you have power steering or not. When you have power assist steering, the power assist comes from a special valve and a booster cylinder attached to the linkage.

So essentially all production C2/C3 Vettes have a manual steering gear with grease inside to lubricate the ball screw and sector shaft gear mesh. With a lots of time and temperature, the grease can break down and not lubricate as well as it should. As the grease breaks down, you may even notice a small amount of dark fluid coming out of the input or output shaft seals.

GM recommends a good brand of lithium based chassis grease to lubricate the gear box.

One thing you don't want to do. DO NOT overfill your gear box. You do need some air space inside the gear to allow the grease to expand as things heat up underhood. If the gear is 100% full of grease, the expansion can actually blow the grease seal(s) out.

turtlevette

what do you think about putting Mobil 1 synthetic grease in there?

Paul L

Remove the bolt on the left and stick a pencil in. In all likelihood the pencil will come out dry or with a touch of a hard waxy substance. That used to be grease.

I used a good chassis lithium grease with about 10-15% Mobil 1 oil mixed in to loosen it up a bit. Loaded the box with a turkey baster through the bolt on the right (it is higher than the left) until I could just see the grease through the bolt on the left. I estimated the box to be about 80% full at that point; leaving room for heat expansion. With the Mobil 1 added the box will sweat for about a week and then dry up. That was two years ago and the box is still fine.

Jim Shea

Saginaw Steering stopped making manual gears shortly after Corvette converted to rack and pinion in 1984. There have been a lot of improvements in greases and lubricants in the last 19 years. So the lithium based chassis grease was the best lubricant for the gear at the time.