It appears that I've got an oil well spewing pre-refined power steering fluid somewhere under my Range Rover. Actually, pretty close to the rhs front wheel to be honest...
IOW it appears that the power steering has blown a seal or five at the steering box end. I don't really have the time (or in this case, the tools) to do the work myself so I would appreciate if someone could give me some kind of indication what this repair is likely to cost me...
Price up a recon rack and factor in a couple of hours labour.
Top advice again Conor. Care to explain where you're going to fit a rack to a 1990 Range Rover?
You really are incredibly clueless.
John
And indeed they do my stupid friend.
IIRC, there is a seal at the bottom of the steering box output shaft which can leak quite badly. There is a repais kit available. But it does sound form your 'gusher' description like you have maybe a loose or dodgy union on the pipes into/out of the box itself. Worth a quick look I reckin and also a post in alt.fan.landrover .
cheers, JB
Ignoring Conor's usual spew, I went over the road and had a chat with the geezer who owns one. (and yes this one does have a box not a rack...:-) )
Check that the hoses are tight, and that there is no cracking on the pipes into the unions which was where his went. There are seal kits available that are easy enough to do if you have some modest spanner skills and they are quite inexpensive.
Garage wise he said that the second time his went it cost him £40 but that was five or six years back.
On or around Sat, 10 Dec 2005 20:41:16 -0000, Conor enlightened us thusly:
OK, which model and year of Range Rover has a steering rack, then?
Certainly the Pre P38 models don't, unless severely modified. And I suspect that's the model in question.
and generally, I don't reckon I'm stupid, and enough other people concur with that view to lead me to believe that I'm not deluded either.
Bloody hell. I just typed all that lot after getting in from the pub. Brecon Brewery's "Rambler's Ruin". very nice, but at 5% ABV not exactly a session beer.
My old Rangey had a replacement box at some point, around £350 according to the receipt.
Urgh. Well, I still have the mistaken hope that it's one of the other issue with the hoses or similar. The box itself is probably as oil tight as it gets (aka not very) but the power steering is just pumping out the fluid...
On Sat, 10 Dec 2005 23:32:44 +0000, Austin Shackles scribbled the following nonsense:
Rambler's Ruin, now there's a thought......
How about somebody sells it at the next RA AGM, might just give all a chance!
The message from Austin Shackles contains these words:
Oooh, 'Allo Austin! Wot you doing in here? I'm starting to believe the old adage that there are really only 200 people on usenet.
Sometimes when hoses fail, it is as little as a pinhole where the union is crimped onto the end and won't necessarily show itself until the steering is put under alot of pressure and the hose expands - such as turning the steering wheel without the vehicle moving.
On or around Sun, 11 Dec 2005 08:54:01 GMT, Guy King enlightened us thusly:
I've been in the lard rover froup for ages. Ah, I see we're xposted. Hello maintenance types!
Steering boxes don't leak anything like as often as racks. And they can often have their seals replaced - whereas a leaking rack is usually scrap.
Conor uttered summat worrerz funny about:
And if it's not the cause , leaving it on full lock for any more than 30 seconds is sure to blow the seals.
Just thought it safer to mention before further trials.
Lee D
The message from Austin Shackles contains these words:
Hello Lardies!
...and Guy King spake unto the tribes of Usenet, saying...
How does he know that?
(Ivor Cutler - now there's a name to conjure with.)
We must apologies for Conor. He's not taken his tablets recently and he's getting a little bit feisty.
On or around Sun, 11 Dec 2005 16:45:28 +0000, Chris Street enlightened us thusly:
Oh, I've met Conor before (in usenet terms, not in RL AFAIK). Besides, some of the AFLs can be feisty as well, and if you catch them on the wrong day, can be a bit prone to snap.
However, getting one's facts right before proffering opinions helps, cross-posted or no...
BTW. on the subject of leaky steering box seals - I tried some of that seal-fixing steering box fluid wot you can buy in the minibus steering box, which was leaking when I got it from the top seal, on the steering column shaft. I figured that for 4 quid it was worth a try. And so far, it's not leaked again. My flabber, a not inconsiderable item as them that know me would doubtless point out, was gasted.
On or around Sun, 11 Dec 2005 16:06:27 -0000, "Lee_D" enlightened us thusly:
bad form to hold PAS at full lock under load at all, really. as soon as you hear it hit the stops, you should back the wheel off a fraction to stop it overloading. On all the ones I've had, it's quite obvious.
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