G'day guys

Nothing too major, just wondering if anybody else here had the same problem?

I heard some grinding about 3 months ago one day whilst doing some sharp turns when I was parking. When I got home I noticed my PS fluid reservoir was bone dry. I since topped her up and she was sweet, but noticed a few weeks ago she was empty again (or quite low)

So looks like she is slowly leaking out.

Also noticed also the pinion (?) (the apparatus with the shrouded rubber on it) running at the same angle as the axle, looked moist and I think that is where she might be leaking from.

I dont know much about the subject so was just wondering:

1) Where do these things normally leak from? Whats involved in fixing her up?
2) The XJS has a rack and pinion style right?
3) If you let it run dry and didnt know about it, what sort of damage can it cause?

As always I appreciate all your help

I was meant to take some photos before I left for work but the last few days were hectic

 

R&P leaks are quite common. They generally leak out of the seals / behind the boots in obvious / usual fashion. I have seen them leak with and without torn boots. Some folks have re-sealed their rack with mixed results, others have replaced.

I'm not familiar with good places for rebuild in your neck of the woods, but I'm sure someone will have an idea. We can get refurb'd racks over here for less than $300 if you have a core to return.

But to answer your questions, yes it's rack and pinion, running a system dry is generaly harder on the pump than on the rack, but the potential damage to both ain't great (in other words, nurse it until you get it fixed).

It's not a overally hard job / but is seriously no fun on your back due to the hose connects and top side at the lower collar / column disconnect.

Hope that helps.

Jeff

 

Thanks for the quick reply Jeff

That was the name I was looking for...."rubber boot"

Glad to hear it is one of those jobs you can nurse through for a while. I have a car show coming up next time I am home and didn't really want to have her in pieces before the event.

Anybody else re-sealed or replaced theirs?

 

Bro

While I don't want to depress you, that may not be where your Power Steering leak is coming from.

It could be from the Seals on the Power Steering Pump, which could involve a rebuild which I for one would never want to do.

Or a Replacement Pump, which will be 'Expensive!'

Or if not that, then it could be a leak from one of the Hoses, where if I recall correctly, from what 'Greg in France' was doing, you have to lift the Engine up on a Special Beam to do it.

And I've heard that is a real 'Pigs Ear' of a Job.

So before you go spending your hard earned, on a New Steering Rack (Service Exchange Unit) Make sure it isn't the Pump.

 

Just my 2c but I have rebuilt a couple of these ps pumps and didn't find them to be too painful. I believe seal kits are available, just keep everything clean when assembling.

 

I had exactly the same issue with mine a couple of years ago. Started off as a leak from the pinion tower. I thought on replacing the seals myself but a workmate talked me out of it, advising that he could get mates rates where he used to work. When they dismantled it, they found the rack was rippled. It had been hard chromed previously and not ground, so wouldn't seal. it had to be re-hard chromed & ground, assembled and pressure tested. Cost $700. The car only has 120000km so I wasn't expecting huge wear on the rack. Hopefully yours is in better shape, but prepare for the worst.
I don't have a hoist so I spent hours lying on cold concrete with the car on axle stands and really struggled. Its not a job I ever want to do again.

 

Had a ps leak and used Lucas stop leak for a while till I got to it. Fortunately I have a lift in my garage and can get my 73 year old body in and out from underneath easily !!!! Any way, if you are going to rebuild, do it all. Found a rebuilt ps pump on ebay for $116 us from ultrarevparts and also installed new hoses. To make things easier, removed the oil cooler, the radiator overflow/fill and dropped the steering rack for access to the hose connections. (remember where the shims come out for re installation) Cleaned the engine bay around everything as well as the overflow/fill canister. Took a while since I am slow and as best I remember, about two 1.75 of bourbon. (probably why it took so long). Also, you will need 3 or 4 bandaids or some duct tape for cat scratches. !!!! The new ps pressure hose was also ebay from partscontainer at $111 us. It would be nice to have a medium sized box of extra humor for this not so easy task.
Ken in WV......

 

Rack rebuild kits on Ebay are around $100 AU. The pump is a plain old GM Saginaw pump, available rebuilt for $150 or just grab a great second hand one off any later model Commodore and swap your tank and pulley over if needed. The only two changes that happened to Saginaw pumps is a change to press on pulleys in the late 80's and a metric O ring high pressure fitting on the pump, which can be simply undone and transferred over from your old pump.
It's about 2 hours work for a specialty shop to reco a steering rack, so you shouldn't pay more than $300 for a reco rack, assuming everything else is fine.

 

Paul, if it's the pump leaking it is probably the same Siganaw pump I have. Garden variety Holden pump.
A seal kit is $15 from Repco and it is a simple job to rebuild. Not sure on your car how hard the pump is to remove though.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...eering-119464/