P/S slow leak at top of steering gear

[Jon O.]

I have a 1972 Newport. Some of you may have seen my other posts. I adjusted my steering gear recently because of excessive slack. This did fix the slack problem. However after jacking the car up and looking at the underneath I noticed it had a leak. I tried to trace the point it came from and I am pretty sure that it is power steering fluid coming from the top of the steering gear, right where the shaft from the steering wheel goes in. Does this mean that the seals are worn out and it needs rebuilt? Someone mentioned to me that p/s fluid was thicker in the past. It has thinner fluid in it, would switching to a thicker kind fix this problem?

 

[Gerald Morris]

It might slow it down, and I'm not sure about it being much thicker in the past. I recall PS fluid from the 70s, though most of my rides back then accepted AT fluid in the PS alright. See if Lucas makes a decent potion to make your seals swell back up a bit for now. Mathilda's PS leaks too. I top it up once weekly usually.