Hi, my 1995 Eunos 1.8 import has a leak of power steering fluid from the large bolt on the steering rack. See picture below.
Does anyone know if I can just undo this bolt and reseal it or will something bad happen when I remove it? I was thinking of using a fibre washer and PTFE tape on the thread, do you think this will work or would you recommend something else?
Many thanks as always.
Dave.
Probably a daft question Dave but have you tried tightening the bolt up?
The problem with removal is that all the fluid will drop.
Not familiar with that bolt but wouldn’t be surprised to find no washer or thread sealer - just a metal to metal seal at the base.
Obviously if tightening does not work it will be plan B:-)
Hi Rob, yes I have tried tightening it. It’s dam tight, as I did try and undo it a bit but it didn’t want to budge which is why I asked the question before getting more enthusiastic with it.
D.
That is the cover at the bottom of the steering column. It can be sealed with ptfe tape, but originally would have had the correct grade of Threadlock/Threadseal (much better than ptfe).
It holds the outer race of the bottom pinion bearing in place so trying to tighten it will not do much.
Note the dimple at the top of it where it has been punched to stake it in position. This will be a useful guide to make sure it goes back in exactly the same position. It will need to be staked again in a fresh spot to make sure it doesn’t work loose again. Yes, all the fluid around there will have to come out because those threads need to be clean and dry (brake cleaner is good for the final clean) before applying new Threadseal, also allow the Threadseal an hour or so to harden off before refilling and applying pump pressure.
It looks just like the standard Ford rack.
Good luck, and be careful.
All makes sense now, thanks Richard.
Surprised to see a leak in that area - threadlock normally holds for good and no movement with the punch mark.
Looks like you might have a busy weekend Dave.
I’ve taken a closer look at the picture (zoomed into the Postimage source) and I don’t know if it is a bit of dirt, but there seems to be a faint hairline crack about 3 o’clock, just above a bigger mark, and directly opposite it between 8 and 9 o’clock and under a thicker bulge of fluid could be another hairline. If this is the case, then a new rack is needed. These cracks sometimes happen when the pre-load set by the adjustable cover on the top of the rack has been gorilla-ed to ft-lbs instead of inch-lbs.
Much less likely, the rack casting could be cracked if the pinion cover has had a big impact. My old Mk1 Cavalier had a damaged rack after SWMBO could not avoid a block of concrete that fell off a skip lorry on the motorway. Only a manual rack but suddenly the steering had slop because the preload was no longer there; the bottom half of the lower pinion bearing housing was missing where the casting had cracked off. The forward facing lip/tongue at the bottom of the subframe crossmember was also dented, but somehow the sump and diff escaped damage.
Thanks for the replies guys. I think I’ll leave be for now then, I feel if I try to remedy this I could end up in a crock of poo. The leak is very slow, only had to put about an eggcup full of fluid to top up in the last six months. Maybe I’ll just dry and clean it all and put some sealant around the outside.
Thanks again.
Dave