I rebuilt a Saginaw worm and roller steering box for my 1950 Chevy and after carefully sealing all the possible area where it could leak I filled it with Synthetic gear lube LS 75W-140. I discovered that it is leaking out around the pinion shaft seal. What Mobil 1 synthetic grease could I mix with this product to thicken it up to slow down the leak?
Which Mobil synthetic grease will mix with Mobil 1 Synthetic Gear Lubricant LS 75W140
- Thread starter gegrunt
- Start date
I would get some Lucas Oil Red N Tacky Grease and mix in just a 1/2 ounce straight non-synthetic 90wt in a bowl. Clean out what you have, and pack in the new grease / gear oil mixture. I used this in my 1969 Dodge Charger steering box. Worked like a charm.
Standard automotive grease is NLGI #2. You could go with a NLGI #0 grease which is two steps thinner and would probably leak a lot slower and not be too thick.
The experts at Mobil oil were a big help. I asked them what Mobil grease I could mix with the synthetic gear lube I used in the box and this is what they came back with:
Thank you for reaching us. Unfortunately we haven't tested the Oil and grease mixed and we wouldn't recommend the same.
Nothing like a proper rebuild period. Rebuild and reseal. All the people restoring old gearboxes end up damaging it with premature wear in the worm gear and bearings.
I did replace the pittman shaft seal in the gearbox and used a NOS pittman arm that was manufactured 70 years ago, evidently the tolerances they held on machined parts was not as close as what they use today,. The fluid leaked out before I ever turned the steering wheel
MolaKule
Staff member
This would be my suggestion as well.
Experiment with various ratios of 90 grade gear oil to the grease. More grease, less gear lube will thicken the resultant mix.