I received a Ferrari 250GTE that I have not seen in a several years. The owner does his own fluid changes, but decided it was time for me to take a closer look and do a more in depth service.

It was time to check the valve lash and condition of the valve train. The good news is everything looked good, and once I replaced some wear items, she’ll be good to go!

One issue the owner wanted me to take care of was a leaking steering box. This a very common issue with a ZF steering box. The bottom seal gets old and hard and can’t keep the gear oil inside the steering box so it drips down the pitman arm and collects in a pocket where the sway bar attaches.

The steering box has to be moved forward to access the nut that holds the pitman arm to the steering box so the steering shaft u-joint has to be disconnected. I tape the u-joint with electrical tape to insure the end caps don’t come off and scatter the tiny needle bearings all over the floor. Ask me how I know!

The owner was so desperate to stem the flow of gear oil that he resorted to wrapping the shaft with some string, but I guess this is the automotive version of “trying to piss up a rope!”

With the steering box removed, I took the top and bottom seals out for replacement.

Upon reinstalling the steering box, I had to line up the pitman arm with the mark on the steering shaft under the car. You can just make out the two lines that match up. Forgetting to do this step will not have your steering return the way you had it!