Does power steering stop leak actually work?

**READ 1 YEAR UPDATE AT BOTTOM OF REVIEW**
**READ 20 MONTH UPDATE AT BOTTOM OF REVIEW**
**READ 40 MONTH UPDATE AT BOTTOM OF REVIEW***

Original Review written December :
I do all my work on my car myself, I also own 8 different cars. I have an in-floor hydraulic lift in my garage... So, I recently installed a new rack, high and low pressure lines, and a new pump in a Pontiac Grand Prix GXP. I had a slight leak from a seal near the pump, I checked everything and could not figure out what was wrong as the vehicle seemed to only leak while running. I turned to a stop leak as I knew the leak was probably coming from an O-Ring and I didn't have the time to remove and replace every single seal.

I tried three fluids; here is a rundown for how each fluid worked....

Prestone:

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: Only $4 at Wal-Mart, cheap, simple, probably a great fluid, won't do **** for stopping a leak. After pouring in over 2, 32oz bottles, I moved onto other stop leaks. Next try was the Lucas...

Lucas:

: I love Lucas products, as their products have normally worked before, especially the

. I thought I would give Lucas a try. Thick fluid, the bottle says results are normally immediate, yet may require two bottles. Mind you, each bottle costs about $10 and is 12oz. I tried two bottles over the period of one week, following all the directions. At the end of this week, I still had a leak. Luckily, Lucas has a money back guarantee, and after the Lucas failed, I was glad to utilize this guarantee. Although Lucas failed for me, made my pump whine worse than as if it was empty, and temporarily stained my garage floor, I got my money back. Skip Lucas for the stop leak.

Bar's Leaks:

: Same viscosity as regular power steering fluid. Thought maybe the mixing of the two fluid was the answer. Nada!! Stained my garage worse than Lucas (Knowing how to get a stain out helps...brake fluid and baking soda were my friend through this ordeal). No money back guarantee. I should've just added water to the reservoir, maybe that would've worked better than Bar's and also cost less. Don't waste your money here.

After three other failed stop leaks, I thought I would have to waste even more time that I didn't have to fix the damn leak.

I turned to Google, searched "Best power steering stop leak" and every forum lit up with the words "BlueDevil". I did my research, and found that most reviews, on numerous sites and forums, for any BlueDevil product was a positive review.

BlueDevil fixed my leak in under 5 minutes. After using about 114oz of the other stop leaks combined, I was truly amazed at how 3oz of BlueDevil (1/3 of the 8oz bottle) stopped the leak. If you are curious as if it is worth the money, I will tell you that buying anything else is truly a waste. I still have 5oz of BlueDevil stop leak left, and with how well it is holding up (about a week so far), I don't think I will even need to add more. For the peace of mind, I will now forever turn to BlueDevil before Lucas or any other brand.

For those of you who take the logic of "It's a stop leak, so although it might stop the leak, it will plug up something else!" You are all fools and clearly do not understand how a stop leak works. I would never try a radiator stop leak, as those actually do plug everything. As for power steering, the only logical place you could have a fixable leak without having to replace major parts is at a seal. Power steering stop leak works by "expanding" the O-Rings between those seals. If my car was 20 years old, I wouldn't try a stop leak first, as it might simply destroy whatever is left of those O-Rings. In a system that is only a few years old, a stop leak will, and obviously for me, work! Also, if you're faced with having to replace a power steering system or spending $10 to see if this works, spend the $10, you may just save yourself thousands.

***1 Year Update*** (December to January )
Still working like a champ! I have put about 15k miles since the original writing of this review (December ). I have since used this to fix a leak on a friend's car roughly 8 months ago and his car has also not had any further leaks ( Dodge Durango, all factory pump rack and hoses).

For all of the negative reviews, I can only assume that you had a leak on a part of the PS system that was made of metal, such as the rack itself or the high pressure hose. Even the low pressure hose has metal parts. It's not possible to "seal" a leak on a metal part of the PS system, the pressure of the fluid in most of those parts is simply too high. This simply seals the places where all of the parts of the system connect. If you have a hole, this is not a patch and will not work.

If you really don't know where your leak is coming from and you have to decide between a bottle that costs <$15 and repairs that could cost upwards of $ you really can't go wrong giving this a try. I would be amazed to hear about how this fluid could harm a system that is dysfunctional and needs to be replaced to begin with.

My leak came from where the high pressure hose connects to the pump itself, and no amount of tightening or new O-rings seemed to solve the problem.
Good luck!

*****20 Month Update*****
I wrote the original review back in December . I am writing this in August .

Since using this product in my Grand Prix, I have put over 30,000 miles on the vehicle, and have not done anything to the power steering in 20 months. The fluid in the reservoir is starting to get slightly yellow, which is to be expected after 30,000 miles. I still have no leaks.

As for my friend with the Dodge Durango, he also has no leaks and has put about 8,000 miles onto his car since we put the stop leak in his car in May of .

I have since used this on a HONDA Accord. Yes I know, a Honda that takes "special" fluid. My friends car had a huge leak, and his dealer quoted him $ to replace the rack and pump. Knowing he would have to spend $ anyways, he knew that this stuff wouldn't make it worse on an already broken system. I put about 4oz of this in his car and within about 15 minutes, no leaks. He has been driving the car roughly two months now, and has had no problems using this in his car. He saved $, and I got dinner! Win-win lol.

It works. I don't know what else to say. If you're faced with spending hundreds, or thousands in my friends case, this stuff really can't hurt an already broken system.

*****40 Month Update*****
The Grand Prix I have still works exceptionally well. It now has about 190k miles on it, and Blue Devil has held up for almost 4 full years now. I have since put on a total of 70K miles since my original review back in December . I am writing this in April . I have since done a flush of the power steering system, and it did come out a very light brownish red color. All is still runninf well with this car though!

As for my friends Durango who I helped add this to, he sold it about 5 months ago, and he still had no problems with the power steering.

My friend with the Accord still owns his car. He changed the power steering fluid as well, and did not have any problems afterwards.

I am not in any way paid to do this, I just like to because I do a lot of research and what people say as first hand experience is what I find to be the best research for car additives and such. Good luck with your cars guys and gals!