Lucas Power Steering stop leak killed my car

[gwoods]

Heres my tale,

My G turned 118,000 mile in June so I replaced all the hoses and flushed the coolant.
While crawling around under the car I noticed a spot around what appears to be the drain plug on the rack & pinion. There was no drips or run but some resedue aroud that spot. I bought a small bottle of Lucas Power Steering Stop Leak.

I have Infiniti service the transmission every year or 30,000 miles. The tech noticed the spot on the rack too and described it as a seep in his report. At this point my power steering works excellent no noise no problems.

I used a hand syphon pump to get all the old fluid out of the resevor and filled it with Lucas Power Steering Stop Leak. After about 2 weeks of driving the car has zero power steering when the motor is turing less then 1,000 rpm.

I went to a Nissan dealer and bought some Nissan fluid and used the syphon pump to exchange the fluid in the resevor again. I drove the car for another 2 weeks or so with at this point the pump is making noise when you turn the wheel and still no power steering below 1,000 rpm.

Yesterday I took the car to the dealership told them what I had done. The dealer guessed that in all my fluid changing I could have put some air in the line and perhaps a flush in fill using the machine would get the air out. Later in the afternoon, the dealer called to say after 2 flush and fills still no power steering below 1,000 rpm. Tech pulled the Rack Solenoid and determined it was ruined from the Lucas.

Lucas has offered to refund me the purchase price of the Lucas. I told them that was not acceptable I went from a seep to no power steering in less then 3,000 miles after trying their product. Lucas is talking to the dealer.

The bright spot is I am driving a 2012 G37 loaner car.

So the moral of my story is don't use Lucas Power Steering Stop Leak in your Nissan/Infiniti

[themadscientist]

DON'T USE STOP ANY LEAK!
That stuff is designed to gum up around holes to stop the leak. What makes people think it has a mind of its own and doesn't do the same thing all through the system.

Don't dump goo into your fluid systems, fix the leaks properly.

[Jesda]

I've used it on old cars with good results. It swells the seals and plugs the leak long enough to prolong a repair. When I use it, I top off whatever fluid is missing rather than extracting and adding.

[gwoods]

Tms well it did gum everything up.
Jesda I followed the instructions on bottle

[Jesda]

The steering could have been on the verge of failure at that point. I had the pump in my 3-series go from perfectly smooth to dead overnight at just under 60,000 miles. It never leaked or made noise either, nor did I use any Lucas products.

Did the tech explain how the Lucas product could have damaged the system? Did it prevent proper flow of fluid or gum up the system?

[Dattebayo]

The tech is kinda going out on a limb by saying that the Lucas caused the failure, especially on a car as worn in and as old as that... I'd say you have an over zealous tech, personally.

[alms24sebring]

I think that stuff is not meant to be used as a flushing fluid, just a top off. It might even say it on the back. That might be on you after all :

[Razi]

I was expecting to read about a dead car.
It's just your power steering system. Get a new pump, and a new rack.

TDS from the Lucas website:
http://www.lucasoil.com/images/medialib ... 702303.pdf

Their TDS says to add until the leak stops.
It only mentions siphoning when you experience squeals, whines, and hard spots.
I'm guessing your system OD'd on stop leak fluid.

Ya dun goofed.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Hey, at least Lucas and your stealership are talking, and gave you a rental. Most companies would tell you to go F yourself.

[gwoods]

The directions on the back of the Lucas tell you to top of OR drain the resevor and refill it with the Lucas. I followed these directions by draining and filling. If that is going to ruin a power steering pump and rack it shouldn't be on the back of the bottle. Lucas is going to pay for a new rack & pinion and pump or I will sue them.

Infiniti of Scottsdale is my dealership, they have maintained the car for 5 years. I have had excellent service from them. When the car had 98k miles on it they replaced a TPMS for free.

The service advisor saw the car on June 15th noted the seeping from the rack but otherwise operational power steering. I think this qualifies him to talk to Lucas.

[Jesda]

Well, good luck. Hope you get a resolution.

[alms24sebring]

You have a strong case then.

[gwoods]

[alms24sebring]

Do you think you used more than 25%?

Still I wouldnt think they would have a big problem buying a new PS system to cover you. It doesnt need to go to court.

[gwoods]

I hope they just pay for it im cool with aftermarket parts.

[Towncivilian]

Lucas products are universally junk. They're better at marketing than making useful products.

The Lucas Oil Stabilizer is just 140wt gear oil without any additives. All it does is thicken your oil. I want my oil to flow, not be "stabilized". Who ever heard of needing to have your oil stabilized? If you need thicker oil, it's better to run thicker oil in the first place as it will have proper additives.

I'd imagine all their "stop leak" products simply thicken up the lubricant in question. This is a band aid. Always get the leak fixed properly rather than band aid fixes.

[Jesda]

I've seen their trans fix work magic on old JATCO Nissan gearboxes. What might be dead in the water, unable to move could gain months or years of service by using the additive. It does work if you're in a bind.

[MinisterofDOOM]

I've seen their trans fix work magic on old JATCO Nissan gearboxes. What might be dead in the water, unable to move could gain months or years of service by using the additive. It does work if you're in a bind.

Jatco transmissions are born to die. It's like russian roulette. You can't win, so you just pray you'll lose last. I'd have stuffed grass and dead rats in mine if I thought it'd add miles. You can't make things any worse than they already are. Even the newer ones are garbage.

[Razi]

The directions on the back of the Lucas tell you to top of OR drain the resevor and refill it with the Lucas. I followed these directions by draining and filling. If that is going to ruin a power steering pump and rack it shouldn't be on the back of the bottle. Lucas is going to pay for a new rack & pinion and pump or I will sue them.

Infiniti of Scottsdale is my dealership, they have maintained the car for 5 years. I have had excellent service from them. When the car had 98k miles on it they replaced a TPMS for free.

The service advisor saw the car on June 15th noted the seeping from the rack but otherwise operational power steering. I think this qualifies him to talk to Lucas.

Doesn't look like it says top it off OR drain the reservoir.
It says the same thing they put in their TDS.

Top it off until it stops leaking. Drain and refill if you have squeals and things.

[gwoods]

my car had a seep reservoir was full. The word or isnt on the bottle but two ways to use the product are. It should kill on otherwise healthy ps system the dealer said even the sensors are lucased up

[Razi]

Just cause there are two instructions doesn't mean they are for the same scenarios.
It's quite obvious if you read it.

Anyways, stop leaks are designed to clog things. Not surprising it killed your system and clogged your sensors. Hopefully Lucas does something nice for you.

[gwoods]

Razi I hope your not the mediator we end up in front of LOL. If its printed on the bottle it shouldn't do damage.

Town Civilian, I doubt you expect Lucas defense from the same guy getting ready to sue them .... but I love Lucas. I bought my 07 G35 sedan in July of 07 wiht 14 k miles on it. At cold start up it always had a little timing chain noise. Adding some of the that Lucas oil stabilizer makes it go away. I run a larger oil filter then stock so I end up with about 1/4 quart of Lucas and no timing chain noise at start up. In fact in my complaint picture the bottle next to the Power Steering Stop leak is oil stabilizer.

I have a buddy with a 1996 Dodge Ram with over 200,000 miles on it. 2 years ago it developed a knock we did a oil change with a quart of lucas in place of a quart of oil and its still on the road. The knock is gone?

I also run the Lucas fuel treatment.

[alms24sebring]

Agreed. I like the Lucas oil stabilizer. I also like the results of Syncromesh.

[frapjap]

Like Jesda, I've seen Lucas Slip Fix do wonders. A friend had an AOD transmission in his Fox body that the p/o abused the living bejesus out of. Awful, awful slip. Every gear, every time. He started adding the slip fix as directed until it slipped again. Then more was added. Eventually the whole gear box probably consisted of the Lucas product and bought him about 9-10 months to save up for a real Street Fighter transmission. Impresive stuff if you're in a bind, IMO.

[300ZXttZMAN]

I'd imagine all their "stop leak" products simply thicken up the lubricant in question. This is a band aid. Always get the leak fixed properly rather than band aid fixes.

This. I have never been a fan of any "bandaid fixes" because this is a classic result. I have seen a whole lot of these cases in my line of work and the owners of the vehicles have never been reimbursed.

Lucas is going to laugh when you try to ask them to pay for the damages - its just the sad truth.

[gwoods]

perhaps but its small claims court money so it costs me a filing fee to get them there and then the arbitrator decides if I see a dime. I think the difference between a lot of other cars and mine is the dealer saw the car in June and again in August so I have a service record where the PS works great and a "seep" is noted on the rack. Then I have a ruined PS system because it is all gummed up with Lucas. I followed one of the sets of directions on the back of the bottle. My resevoir was never low so I couldn't follow the other set of instructions.

The service advisor that has worked on this car since day 1 back in August 2006 is going to call Lucas today and try to get them to pay if not I will pay. If I pay I'll sue in small claims court I'm looking at under 2 grand.

[gwoods]

Infiniti of Scottsdale emailed the below to Lucas with my cars service history.

"on 6/15 customer brought the vehicle in for a transmission service (drain and fill) at that time we advised him that the power steering rack and pinion was starting to leak (seeping) after he was advised of the fluid leak he added a stop leak additive made by Lucas oil and it stopped the leak but clogged the power steering pump (veins) not allowing it to create pressure under 1000 rpm’s and the power steering rack solenoid veins are plugged as well, the solenoid is part of the power steering rack."

If your in Arizona and looking for the best place to take your Nissan/Infiniti I can tell you this is an honest shop with excellent staff. If I ever leave the brand I'm taking my service advisor with me.

[Jesda]

I've always been a fan of IOS.

[gwoods]

They are the best for sales and service and to add icing on a pretty iced cake. .... they organize and sponser RACING in your car that you purchased from them at Firebird Raceway 4 times per year FOR FREE!

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Yeah, that's pretty amazing actually. A much needed perk in the world of buying a new vehicle