Hey,
My steering rack leaks like a sieve. The engine is currently out of my car so access is ample. May i have your opinions please on either
buying a reconditioned rack
rebuilding the current rack (seems fine besides leaks)

upgrading to something? this is my least preferred option but if if was about the same price and was better in some way i'd consider it. I saw LnrB put a series 3 rack in her car for example.

Cheers
Glenn

 

Experiences and opinions will vary, naturally.

I've had good luck with rebuilt racks from Coventry West here in the 'States.

Never tried repairing one on my own. My impression over 15-20 years of reading various Jag forums is that DIY efforts seem to have about a 50-50 success rate.

Cheers
DD

 

Series 3 rack is a good upgrade. You will also need a new intermediate shaft. Good thing... because I've never run across a series 1 or 2 intermediate shaft that wasn't stiff or had considerable play in the U joints.

Late XJS (MY 94/95/96) rack is ZF and is a drop in replacement too when using the intermediate shaft. This rack is aluminum and has a very contemporary feel as well as a new OE bushing design that lasts much longer. This is BY FAR the best upgrade as it gives all the feel and precision of a modern rack with none of the harshness or shimmy of an older rack when using urethane bushings. This is the most expensive option because you have to acquire an intermediate shaft, new outer tie rods, an XJS rack, and possibly have it rebuilt.

As for rebuilding you own rack. The price of the rebuild kit plus cleaning supplies will likely add up to 40% of the cost of a rebuilt rack. Unless you have the time and expertise its not worth it as a DIY endeavor. Pick your battles.

If you do upgrade from a series 1 or 2 rack you will loose the over boosted school bus like feel and ratio that is consistent with the vehicles original design.

 

Glenn:

Agree with Doug. I went with a rebuilt unit (from Coventry West) due to mixed results regarding DIY rebuilding.

The rebuilt rack is leak-free and works great. CW's customer service is excellent, to include response to technical questions. Their website has a convincing write-up on their rebuilding process.

The price was fair. My only disappointment was the expense incurred in sending the core back for a refund, which ate up half of the core deposit.

As a p.s.: My rack had been leaking for a long time. A year ago I added Lucas Power Steering Stop Leak. That slowed the leak considerably, but the rack failed six months later.

 

Glenn,
If you Like one your current light, One Finger, effortless steering, be aware you're gonna lose that with a S3 rack, with a noticeable increase in driver fatigue. I know that many owners/drivers like stiffer steering better but I'm not one of them. That's my biggest disappointment in the newer rack. I can't even imagine driving it with the newer, currently fashionable, smaller steering wheels such as my Sonata has.

Also, it wasn't a straight bolt-up change. Your Series 1 might be different, but extensive modifications were needed on my car's mounts to use the newer rack.
(';')

 

Points:


1. The hydraulic leaks stoppers work by softening hardened seals. OK, for a while, as noted by Bill. Trouble is they don't know when to stop softening. It continues on past optimum. Some counsel to use them for a period til the leaks stop, then flush to get the softening to stop, hopefully at optimum.


2. Some GM PS pumps match S3 racks "better" than others. Check lister Andrew Weinberg's Jaguar-Specialties site. A great discussion there.


3. I like "school bus" steering wheels. The last critter I had with one was my IHC Scout II. My present vehicles are a compromise. OK.


4. Way back in the late 40's dirt track racing of various critters
was rampant. Race cars made up of whatever. Little custom stuff available. Use of a truck steering box and wheel was one way to get
mechanical advantage and "quick" steering. No hydraulics there. Just muscle.


Carl

 

cheers,
Looks like a rebuilt rack is the way to go.
While i save up i'll keep an eye out for a sneaky xjs rack if i'm lucky.

 

There are a few variations in the XJS rack, in terms of ratio and assistance
A good guide seems to be
RackPinionHeads

 

I've been shopping,
JagDaim currently dont have any so i will all back in a few days. I could post mine to them to get rebuilt.
Prestige Spares have a reconditioned one for $500 + shipping + sending my old one to them.
I rang AJG in Esk (outer Brisbane) $990 if i give him my old one. OUCH!

I think ive found an XJS one for about $500, what has to happen with the outer tie rod ends? shortened, lengthened?
is the intermediate shaft just a bolt in change over? i imagine its just longer because the top housing is shorter than in my series one (thanks for that link to the rackpinion heads site)

Glenn

 

Yes, the newer lower column merely bolts up to your existing upper column, no muss no fuss.

However, you will also discover your steering wheel is now almost 90 degrees off. Don't despair, after centering the rack, merely loosen the wheel and put it back on the correct spline to make it straight.

Don't worry about turn signal triggers. You'll hardly notice that they're out of position except in very rare, specific conditions.
(';')

 

Like anything there is no mystery if the problem is understood. I have seen several posts regarding ...."rebuilding a Jaguar steering rack", over the years.
Because of the "hit / miss" approach, I saved the following excerpt from (God knows where.. - i have several catch-all folders pertaining to Jaguar series 3 cars, on my computer).

So the following is not my writing from personal experience, but rather something I found on the internet, and copied and saved it in the aforementioned folder, for possible use in the future.

--In case anyone else wants to try this:

//
Having once been an expert hydraulics technician, I
couldn't believe the stories I'd heard about the
difficulty attached to re-sealing the steering rack.

So I bought a seal kit, and pulled the rack out of the
car to have a go at it. Seemed to go just fine. Certainly
easier than fork-lift rams I'd worked on before, and
small enough to fit on my workbench. :-)

Got it back into the car, all was nice and dry for about
a week. Then it began to gush oil out the top seal, much
worse than before I undertook to fix it. All the PS fluid
would leak out while the car was parked in the parking
lot at work. Soon I needed 2 cans of fluid every day. One
can to get to work, one to get home. Sigh... Must have
done something wrong...

Yesterday was attempt number two. I decided that I'd try
that pesky top seal once more (the new style of seal is
made of Viton), if it didn't work this time, I'd buy a
rebuilt rack.

After pulling the top seal the problem was obvious. I had
never gotten the new seal all the way in the first time
around, and instead had folded the outer lip over. I had
wondered why it had been so difficult to get the "C" clip
back in! I must have fought that clip for an hour the
first time.

After thinking about it some, and remembering the days
when I used to do this sort of thing every day, I knew
what was needed. It would appear that there are some
special tools. Tool #1 would be a sleeve that fits down
in the seal well and has a slight "funnel" inside shape
which is needed to squish the seal as you push it home so
that it can be pressed into the well. Tool #2 would be
another sleeve which slips over the splined part of the
pinion shaft to fill the step in the shaft out to the
full shaft diameter so that you can get the seal past the
step without nicking it, once tool #1 begins to squish
the outside diameter of the seal. Tool #3 would be a
cylindrical piece of correct inside and outside diameters
(close-ish fit to the shaft, rather a lot of room around
the outside) to press the seal evenly down into the well.
When I used to work on hydraulic systems for a living I
had a bunch of these sleeves, of various diameters, but
it seemed that everytime I needed one it would be another
different size, and I'd have to have yet another one
made.

What to do? Tool #2 was easy. I created it by wrapping
several layers of aluminum tape around the shaft, paying
particular attention not to create a burr. Tool #1 was
imitated by 3 pieces of shim stock, cut with scissors
from a Coke can and arranged around the perimeter of the
seal well with the cut burrs out, forming a funnel. Tool
#3 was cut from a piece of steel tubing of appropriate
size, and de-burred with emery cloth. It only needs to be
a couple of inches long.

With everything meticulously clean and well lubricated
with hydraulic oil, if you can get the seal down far
enough with your fingers to hold the shim stock into
place, an (8-inch?) C-clamp on the seal pusher tube (tool
#3, don't forget to remove the zirk opposite) will
drive the seal home, and the seal pops into place. Hold
the seal in with the C-clamp and tube while you pull out
the shims, remove the tape from the shaft, and admire
your work for a few minutes.

It was very obvious that the seal was in place this time,
once I understood what "in place" really meant. The seal
is significantly larger in outside diameter than the hole
you've got to get it into, and you've got to use the
shims or the funnel-shaped sleeve, or you'll fold the
outside seal lip over trying to get it in. That's what
had happened the first time.

The back-up spacer washer and "C" clip actually fit
without being forced this time //.

Maybe this will be of use to fellow board members

 

By viton do you mean the white plasticky ptfeish stuff, to give it its correct name??? or the black rubbery ringy bits?

I couldn't figure out how to get the white seals onto my xjs so had the rack rebuilt by a company after I'd bought the seals.