When i first start my 1990 xj40 from cold sometimes the steering is extremely heavy and particularly trying to turn right. this only seems to happen when it is particularly cold and has been sat idle for about 12 hours or so.
any ideas as it disapears after about 4 or 5 seconds and is fine after that. all the fluid levels are ok also.
cheers Jon_H
Yep, the steering rack needs to be rebuilt... expensive repair. I've got the same problem on my 89 and I just live with it.
It could be as others say seals which is likely in any case but my ol' MKII Granada Estate developed this problem and it was down to a hydraulic pipe ballooning and contracting under pressure and the piston position was crucial for it to happen.
Just adding my tuppence worth
Ian
Jon, Sounds like the seals are getting older. Although I abhor snake oil solutions, Barr's makes some Power Steering seal/lubricant that will condition the system a bit. Determine if you have ATF, Power Steering fluid or HSMO in your steering rack. You will find all three operating in these cars. ATF is red, HSMO is green and Power steering fluid is clear. Barr's makes a solution for all three. It will help put off the inevitable rack replacement for a while. You will eventually be faced with swapping out the steering rack, but it is not an expensive endeavor. $300 with a lifetime warranty and 45 minutes labor. You will then have to get the front end toe-in redone
Cheers Webserve
How accessible is the reservoir, it may do to make a workaround by rerouting another pipe and use t-pieces or r-pieces to splice the pipe in leaving the old broken pipe redundant but creating a water circuit.
Most motor shops over here do r pieces or elbow joints that fit primarily for use on fluid pipes and I guess you are from across the pond and there you can get anything.
I suggested the T piece as you may have headlamp washers and therefore inserting an R piece will close the headlamp line down.
As long as you don't route it near hot or moving parts and use cable ties with a foam insert to stop crushing, no one would be the wiser if you hid it well enough.
Also look to corresponding faults on later Ford's as much of the design is Ford Detroit, there are build and design similarities that could save you a packet, for instance on my '88 '40 the c/l motors are straight off a UK Granada/Sierra and the ABS sphere can be sourced from the same cars. the price of Ford CL motors is about £2 as opposed to lots for Jaguar.
Glad you like my email, it's to stop spammers harvesting my email in a fun way, glad there are no ladies present who may object!
Ian
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