Any luck with P/S Stop leak?

[black thunder]

well the other night when i was under my vehicle, i noticed that it has a slight p/s leak.

this brought to my attention that the fluid is dirty and should be changed.

now if i change all of it...would it be beneficial to add some Stop Leak formula of some kind?

i know that valvoline has P/S fluid that has the stop leak formula in it.

has anyone had any luck with the stop leak additive stopping leaks?

 

[Big Jim]

It depends on the leak. If it is a slightly tired seal and the shaft that it seals against is in good shape some gentle seal conditioning type stop leak can be beneficial. If there is any mechanical damage, forgetaboutit.

I have used Valvoline SynPower Power Steering fluid with good results.

 

[toocrazy2yoo]

Mine was making a whine the first really cold night of this past fall (first noise out of this thing, it has about 240K on it). The pump was wet on the outside, but never has leaked drops. I drew out the old stuff (dirty-nasty!) with a long-nosed syringe, filled it with plain old Prestone P/S fluid and drove it around for a day or two. The noise stopped immediately, I've not heard it since. Then I drew out the plain old Prestone (IT was filthy, I guess it cleaned out the pump and reservoir a bit?) and filled it back up with Prestone P/S fluid with a built-in seal conditioner. Lo and behold, the outside of the pump is drying out, the reservoir is clean and dry on the outside, and the power steering runs great, and the fluid is nice and clean.

What I did learn in all this is that if you have a Honda, THAT P/S requires a special Honda spec-fluid., available through the aftermarket, but it IS unique, and the failure to use that spec is the death of your P/S pump. Others here can elaborate, I'm sure.

I'm told ATF was the fluid to use in mine, but it's so quiet and smooth, and with the seal situation seemingly fixed up, I'm leaving it.