Power Steering Replacement
 

I have been fighting a small power steering leak for several weeks/months. It would leave a small puddle on the garage floor and spray on my hood after dripping on the belt. I replaced the low pressure hose which felt spongy, which is bad, and it still leaked.

Next I replaced the high pressure hose and it seemed to work for a while then started leaking again.

I am planning on taken the Vette on a trip this fall and wanted to get rid of this leak so this week I replaced the power steering pump. So far I have no idea if it will take care of the problem, only time will tell, I will report back later.

Posting here so if others have a C6 power steering fluid leak they will know what to look for.

If you plan on replacing the power steering pump yourself, the following tools will be needed:

P/S Pulley Remover, J-25034-C
P/S Pulley Installer, J-25033-C

No pictures, pretty straight forward for the mechanically minded.

I had to remove the ABS module so I had to bleed the brakes and getting the air out of the power steering wasn't a problem.

Jeff, Did you get the problem fixed?

Interesting.... annoying to have to throw parts at it w/o knowing what the root cuase is. Wonder if the extra tension on the accessories from the supercharger setup had anything to do with it? But that should show up via worn out pulley bearings or snapping off a pulley shaft vs. random leaks.

I haven't leaked a drop since replacing the power steering.


I could tell it was coming from the power steering pump area, I just couldn't find the source of the leak. I didn't want to tear it apart, have to wait for parts, then put it together. I am thinking I might have tightened the belt to much and the power steering seal might have been damaged. I did find out GM has a TSB for the 06-07's (mine is 08 but most of it was built in 07), if PS leaking then dealer was to replace the high pressure hose. I talked to Kevin at partstaxi.com and he gave me the part number for the new GM replacement hose, but that didn't fix it. On CF, I found several cases of bone stock C6's that had leaking PS pump, but nearly all were covered by warranty and for some reason, I was thinking GM may not honor the warranty due to my bolt ons.

By the way, I checked with Kartech, proper tension for their manual belt tensioner is 25 lb-ft.

Now on to my next problem, tranny is starting to slip when I come down on it. I am talking to Ed @ VA Speed, probably will have him take care of it and a couple of upgrades, but that is another thread.

I could have sworn you're not supposed to use a manual belt tensioner with supercharged applications.

Looks like you are right, on Kartech's web site I found "Not recommend for use on supercharged engines unless the supercharger has a dedicated drive". This tensioner came with the SC kit.

I want to get Cartek flip drive later, then I will end up with a dedicated belt for the SC.

Looks like another upgrade before I can put it on the track.

Thanks for the info. :takdir:

After my power steering cooler went bad, I had it replaced in a shop and right after that noticed a leakage. The fluid leaked right near the pump, so I assumed that apparently someone there broke my pump. Of course, I went to the shop the day after and they determined a leakage of the hose, so they got it replaced (https://www.carid.com/power-steering-coolers/). And since then (it was well over 2 years so far) I've got no problems with the power steering what so ever. :dance: