Steering Rack Leak.....any Ideas?

[djdaz116]

morning

 

from previous posts i am a new Citroen owner. i have a very slight leak from the steering rack, and i am asking if anyone knows if this can be repaired on the car. the leak is from the drivers side outer gaiter(wheel arch area). i can see the gaiter looks a little perished but not ripped or broke, but enough for the fluid to seep or soak through. the gaiter becomes wet after driving about half way along the gaiter. when i say slight leak, i get a droplet form on the gaiter, i sometimes leave it on a full lock and then i wipe it, and then its ok, occasionally i may see a small spot on the floor where a droplet as dripped if i was to leave it and bother to wipe it after a drive, so i am only talking slight at the moment, but the fact is it is not right.

 

from other cars i have worked on,  i assume it should be dry behind the gaiter unless i am wrong on Citroens, if someone can conform this or not for me?.

secondly, if it is supposed to be dry, then i presume a seal as gone where the rack moves in and out of the rack housing on turning. Does anyone know if this can be replaced or repaired ?

 

thanks guys for your help

 

Darren

[Johndouglas]

Are you sure the leak is from the gaiter itself and not from some where else, having dripped on to the gaiter. It's a known fault to have a leakage of fluid from steering racks on early X7 models. See Note 25 in the "Common Problems" section.

 

25. New C5 (mark 3/X7) steering rack oil leaks - at least 5 cases so far.

We have 2 members jefflad and Howiec with steering rack leaks that are proving difficult to fix. Where the supply and return pipes join the rack, the seals are leaking fluid. It seems Citroen want to replace the pipes to fix this and that just replacing the O-ring seals does not work. Citroen also do not sell the seals separately. An additional 2 members, Parkesie and johnfing, have found a leak from the steering column shaft input seal on top of the steering rack, which initially was thought to be the pipe seals. This seal also is not available so replacement racks have been fitted. The column shaft has badly rusted so may be the cause of the leak - applying grease could possibly prevent this. See http://www.citroen-o...uid/?do=findComment&comment=75684 . See also this topic for info on replacing the rack

 

http://www.citroen-o...ent/?do=findComment&comment=81594

[djdaz116]

no its def from the gaiter. it is only ever wet on the bottom half of the gaiter, never on the top anywhere,which you would expect if it was being dripped on from above, plus i have been underneath looking, and i can not see any evidence that oil is coming from anywhere else from above the rack. and the rack boot obviously stretches and shrinks, and it is only ever in the same place and same point on the boot. a bit of a mystery. 

[paul.h]

If the gaiter is filling up with oil then the seals inside the rack are probably leaking. I had this on a Saab where the seals at both ends of the rack failed and the oil came out of the gaiters. This I suspect was caused by the previous owner using the wrong steering fluid since it was the wrong colour. It needed a replacement rack which was covered by the warranty.

 

Check that the oil dripping off is the same as the steering oil by colour/smell - since you have hydractive suspension it will be lds fluid which is slightly orange in colour (https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=lds+fluid&hl=en-GB&rlz=1T4DKUK_enGB242GB242&tbm=isch&imgil=BxUkrGfQbksrIM%253A%253BsttVYMHG513AIM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.gsfcarparts.com%25252F980aa0720&source=iu&pf=m&fir=BxUkrGfQbksrIM%253A%252CsttVYMHG513AIM%252C_&biw=1138&bih=842&usg=__m0DP6Iq8eec4Iv02HafMlLdbWD4%3D&ved=0CDYQyjc&ei=SbqKVd6uBKPR7QaBrKu4Ag#imgrc=BxUkrGfQbksrIM%253A%3BsttVYMHG513AIM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.gsfcarparts.com%252Fmedia%252Fcatalog%252Fproduct%252Fcache%252F1%252Fimage%252F9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95%252F9%252F8%252F980aa0720.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.gsfcarparts.com%252F980aa0720%3B400%3B400&usg=__m0DP6Iq8eec4Iv02HafMlLdbWD4%3D ). You could always replace the gaiter with a new one but first disconnect it from the rack and see if it is full of oil. To replace it the track rod end needs disconnecting at the steering arm and then removing from the track rod, count the number of turns to undo it so it can be put back in the same place and not need the tracking doing.

[djdaz116]

just a update. i cleaned off the boot earlier. did full lock left to right several times, and checked the boot. there was a droplet forming on the bottom of the boot, so def looks like the rack. any ideas or is it a re con rack coming.

[paul.h]

Have a look in the boot and see how much oil is in there. In Citroen's procedures for just replacing the boot, you are supposed to put a bit of grease inside it but not any oil, so if it is just a tiny amount you could put off replacing the rack and just do the boot (maybe rotate the boot 180° and put sealant on the hole). The Common Problems topic on the leaking racks includes links to other posts where recon racks have been fitted.