Ball/rod assembly in bathroom sink leaking; can't seem to fix

[noviceplumber]

My ball rod in my bathroom sink started leaking recently, after I messed with it to clean out the pipe a little. it seems to leak from the "wingnut" (don't know the correct term for it) that screws onto the pipe, that hold the ball/rod assembly in. I got another ball rod assembly and another "wingnut". The wingnut was just slightly too small, so it didn't screw on. So i was forced to use the original one (which has a small crack on it, that i tried sealing although I think the adhesive broke). I put the pull-strip (that goes on the rod, to attach it to the level that raises/lowers the sink stopper) on the rod high enough that it was close to the ball, thus pulling on the rod and ball enough that there SHOULD be no water getting around the ball.

so...I'm confused why there's still a leak. Does anyone have any ideas why, and what I can do to fix it?

 

[Geofd]

Show us some pictures, but it sounds like you need to replace your pop up drain assembly from the sink to the p trap

 

[wpns]

What Geofd said, I can’t follow your description except maybe you broke the nut that holds the packkng in place?

Pictures always help.

 

[BlueSkyHigh]

Does the drain flow freely? If it doesn't and water backs up above the packing nut for any length of time rather than flowing freely passed (past?) it, that may exacerbate a minor leak that may go unnoticed until the leak was flooded.