That time of year again......

On or around Wed, 23 Feb 2005 14:31:03 -0000, "Pacman" enlightened us thusly:

recon, maybe. the arm being loose on the box can be tightened unless it's damaged - liekwise the seal, but often the seals groove the shafts, and by the time it's like that, it's possible that the internals are worn.

Swivel bearing will need replacing but in theory at least isn't a major job.

Tighten the arm, and clean the box up with degreaser just before going back for a retest. If it's only a slight weep (and thus doesn't leak on the way for retest) it should pass. I do this regularly with HGV's here that fail their test because some officious tester can spot an oil weep that loses a teaspoon a year but looks bad becasue of all the crap that sticks to it.

Sounds completely normal to me. I remember hearing a Land Rover quote: "If its not leaking, its empty."

The steering box leak has been covered in another reply, although its worth mentioning that a re-con steering box is a lot cheaper than a new one, if required.....

The lower swivel bearing.... well, it's not unknown for the lower one to fail, usualy in the complete absence of oil/grease in teh swivel, but I'd have a good look at the top one first. You dont say what the vehicle is, but it is possible that all that may be required is to remove a shim or two from the top swivel pin, as if this is slack the bottom pin becomes loose too. Either way, it definately worth sorting out - bottom swivel pins can shear.........

Richard

Just so I've got my options open, how much is a new recon box?

its a 1976 SIII SWB

paul

Somebody said try one-shot swivel grease in the steering system. TonyB