Recently my Mom had to quit driving so she gave me her 1991 XJ6. I took it in to get an oil change as well as a complete inspection. They said it has a small steering fluid leak in the L/H rack and pinion boot. (what does L/H mean?) They said for $750 they would rebuild the rack and it would have a lifetime warrenty. They said the leak isn't a big problem now, but to keep an eye on it.

Is rebuilding/remanufacturing the rack the only way to repair that kind of a leak?

 

Firstly, one of the "mods" might want to move this to XJ40 to maximise responses.

Secondly, MOST racks "weep" a little into the boots, it is considered "normal". Now the difference between a "leak" and a "weep" is a fine line. Most I have dealt with take up and stop with a simple fluid change, due to the fluid "going off", or getting stale, and some fresh fluid does wonders. Being an XJ40 check carefully what fluid is in YOUR car, some run a special hydraulic fluid, and that is shared with the self levelling system if fitted. Others will certainly clear that up once on the XJ40 section.

L/H means Left Hand. It is car talk, and very simple once mastered.

Rebuilding a rack is the ONLY way in my opinion.

Enjoy the car, and the stay here, it will be FUN.

 

And moved it is Grant Nice explanation BTW.

 

Forgot, AGAIN, damn.

L/H is Left Hand as I said, and this "handing" is ALWAYS sorted as if sitting in the car facing the front, such as the driver.

SO, L/H is always left side of the car, no matter where the steering wheel is situated. This keeps it very simple for EVERYONE, as apposed to "drivers side", or "passengers side", as that will depend which side the steering wheel is situated, and that is not always obvious from the question asked, and the persons posting location in this huge world we live in.

 

Most countries drive with the steering wheel on the right.Hence RHD....Roger.

 

For a short time, I worked in the tire & lube section of a major "big box" retailer .... yeah, sad to say, the one that begins with "W".

All their forms and related paperwork regarding tires was oriented to "driver's side" and "passenger side".

I eagerly awaited someone coming in with a RHD car, just to see what kind of tizzy it would throw them into.
Shucks ...... it never happened while I was there.

 

And.... In the UK we also use Off-side and Near-side (OS / NS) to denote Right and Left.

NS = side nearest the pavement.
OS = side in the middle of the road.

This works very well, when you have a RHD car in a Left hand country or a LHD car in a right hand country, but is maybe not so good if you have a RHD car in a right hand country or a LHD car in a left hand country.

I gather that it goes back to the days before computers when Left and Right were not accepted terms on hand written MOT reports.

Hope that clears things up.

 

Ok, do not spend 750 on a rack rebuild. I bought my car with a horid leak in the rack so I bought this one: http://www.partstrain.com/store/deta.../A1261915.html

The steering feels like a brand new car now, the buggers down at PepBoys installed it for a pittance( can not remeber but was like 150 bucks for the rack and front shock install.)

Install of the rack yourself is fairly easy job if you work on cars at all, but you must get it alligned after install.

Ebay also has a lot of racks for the XJ40 on it so check there, 750 is a ripoff.

 

NS & OS works well no matter which country you are in, depending on the general level of intelligence.........Roger.

 

I agree, with a slight but,

My 92 RHD XJ here in France has the drivers side as NS, but if I put it on the boat and take it to the UK, then the passenger side becomes NS.

 

Yup Richard, sure does......Roger.

 

I'm probably going to get get flamed, but here goes. I have a '90 Soverign, w/ the self leveling rear. My rack poured fluid out. Couldn't really see where, looked like the bellows, but it was all over the rack. I tried the Lucas PS Stop leak, and it slowed it way down. Enough that I don't think I really need to spend hundreds of dollars on a rebuild, yet. Just my .02 worth.

 

If you have ever looked at a rack rebuild kid you will see it is full of o rings. So the Lucas probably did it's job in swelling them up.

Now the queston I have is why Jaguar always says "CASTROL MINERAL OIL ONLY," on every single documentation. It leads you to think that if you open the cap and let a little air in your whole car is ruined.

So I wonder why they call for such stringent standards? Was it that the self leveling suspension and rack could create some extreme presures that the pump could only handle with such specific fluid? Is the pump designed to such stringent standards that it will break regardless of pressure?

So not flamming you, you car, at worst you need to do away with self riding suspension, rack, and pump. At best the Lucas wont even matter. Just brings up the curious question: Why Mineral oil?

 

Perhaps. They did do away with the self leveling rear suspension. Too problematic. They also say to run premium unleaded on all of their documents. Million dollar companies do make million dollar mistakes. My guess is that the oil is too thin, thats why it didn't work out for them. Or maybe it is a green thing. lol I am planning on doing away with my hyd rear susp. soon. If anything, it firmed up the ride in the rear. It is working for me, for now.