'97 VDP, US left hand drive. My power steering leak has gotten worse and I think it's time to replace the rack. I found fluid coming out of the flexible boot on the right side. It does not appear to be coming from the reservoir hoses. My question is whether this has a position sensor or not. Amazon has a unit from Detroit Axle, both with and without the servotronic sensor. Does anyone have experience with this company? Thanks

 

Yep, I used them for my last rack, and they were great. Most X300s have them, and I can almost guarantee that you have one if you have a VDP. You can actually see the sensor from the top of the engine bay on the driver's side. It's a little square box with a connector on top of the rack.

 

To know you have the speed servo attached to the rack you will have an amplifier located as a left wheel steering model behind the small wall panel by the drivers left foot , left A post / door hinge

See page 19 , it will be the lightly colored relay in front of relay # 1 and # 2 ( yours most likely not have these 2 relays as the front windshield electric gold film heater elements )

X300 1996 LWB.pdf (jagrepair.com)

You might consider steering rack shims as an aftermarket filling the gaps in the rack mount blocks

 

Remember the index mark before steering coluum mating

Shim part # SPC1059 on E - Bay periodically available

 

So that shim won't be on the old rack for a '97? I just reviewed the post where the guy manufactured his own. I have some red rubber gasket material but that would wear out quickly I'd imagine. It looks like someone on ebay in France has some for sale.

 

You would have to look very closely at the part count on your existing rack mount blocks , there can also be one left or right car side . but not both

If you look down from the top with a light source on the ground if missing , you will easily see a gap ( s ) depending on how the chassis is loaded

With the chassis / road forces on the road , gasket material will defiantly not work

I got mine from the French vendor on E - Bay

 

I received Rack from Detroit. I installed it, and no issues. I don't know if it had a shim, but either way, it works great with Servo

 

Sounds good. Thanks for the feedback. I just ordered one.

 

My rack arrives tomorrow. I did have the sensor. The leak is really bad now so just in time. I have to refill the reservoir every few days now.
Just as a sanity check:
Set wheels/steering wheel straight.
Remove tires.
Loosen the steering wheel mating bolt. ( I assume this is a set screw type of mating? It doesn't have a threaded hole to attach? Parker mentioned index marks. Is there something there that I should be looking for?)
Disconnect hydraulic fittings from old rack.
Disconnect tie rod ends.
Remove mounting brackets.
Center new rack
Count threads or somehow measure how far to install new tie rod ends to new rack.
Reinstall the way it came out. I haven't researched any torque specs but I would assume good mechanical practices are sufficient.

Any other tips or tricks to look out for would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

CDMA has changed has rack before and would know more than myself

The index mark is on the rack to center up before install on page X of the ZF doc

looking for page #

 

Buzzed trhough the ZF doc but didn't see , gotta run some errons

See post # 3 and 4 of this link and it may be in the broken into 6 parts X300 Service Doc

Repair Manual - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum

I think it is this rotary dial in pic , this pic does appear to have the rack shims in black color with a grove for the retaining single wire loop

 

Got it, I forgot I had already downloaded that doc. Reviewing it now.

 

Section 10 of the 2nd and 3rd parts of 6 part service doc above post link in that post # 4

 

I would also perform a realignment to be safe. It could not hurt. I followed the procedure, but a couple of threads off could make a difference.

 

I got it installed over the last couple of days. Not too much trouble. The first issue was the right tire didn't want to come off. I kicked, hit it with a 10 lb dumbbell and various other tricks to get it off. Finally had to beat the inside of the tire at least a dozen times with a sledge hammer and if finally came off.
I disconnected the hydraulic lines and let them drain for a while but I should have cut the zip tie to let them dangle down because when I did later I got oil in my hair, lol.
I thought that I only had to loosen the bolt that compresses the coupling for the steering mechanism. It turns out there's a groove in the shaft that the bolt passes through, so the bolt has to be completely removed. Lining up the groove on reinstallation was a little bit of a challenge, but not too bad.
I almost forgot to reconnect the sensor cable. Luckily I had the old one sitting on the driveway floor so it prompted me to go reconnect it.
I ended up aligning it using the string and ruler method I saw on YouTube. I think I got it pretty good. Test drive was a success. No pulling to either side. I'll test it some more today. The tires only have about another 5-10K of life so I'll keep an eye on wear and maybe get a professional alignment done then.
Even though the source of my lead wasn't the reservoir hoses I decided to cut back the hoses an inch. This ended up being a hassle. The upper hose did not want to insert fully. I heated and got a little more insertion but not all the way, but is should be fine. After trimming the lower one ended up being a little too short to stay in the mounting bracket attached to the frame. So I used zip ties to secure it.
The handling seemed a little bit stiffer, but not bad at all. I only drove it a few miles at the end of the day yesterday. I'll get it out there today for a little break in. Hope this helps someone down the road. Total coast was a little over $300 for the rack from Detroit Axle (lifetime guarantee after shipping back the old one) and $35 for new tie rod ends.