Well I went out for a drive and my high pressure power steering hose started leaking like crazy. Luckily the fluid was pouring out of the front of the shielding and not all over my exhaust manifold. I'm not familiar with steering racks but its obvious that I need to lower it to get to the high pressure fitting. It's a 1990 left hand drive convertible. I've searched around but haven't found much info on fixing it other than it's a pita. Can the rack be lowered enough without disconnecting the tie rods enough to get to the fitting? I can see where I need to unbolt it on the bottom end under the car but is there anything that I need to disconnect around the steering column to lower it? Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Dan
1990 XJS V12 convertible Marelli

 

You'll have to remove the three rack mounting bolts and the pinch bolt the clamps the steering column shaft to the rack and pinion stub shaft.

The pinch bolt is easier to access via the left wheel well.....take a peek, you'll see what I mean.

The rack should drop enough to replace the hoses without removing the tie rods.

I won't lie to you....this is a stinker of a job. Not technically difficult but very close quarters and greasy. Getting the rack into positition on reinstallation so the mounting bolts will go thru is tricky. An extra pair of hands might help.

This is one of those jobs, IMHO, where going slower will speed the job along, if you know what I mean :-). The car will fight back if you get hurried or frustrated.

Cheers
DD

 

Thanks! That's exactly the info I was looking for. Sounds like I should pick up a six pack and switch the radio to the easy listening station for this one.

Dan
1990 XJS V12 convertible Marelli

 

well I managed to get my new hose installed this weekend. Not a fun job. I had a tough time getting the pinch bolt loose on the steering column. There was enough room to get a wrench on it from the left wheel well but the cat and downpipe were just enough in the way to prevent me from loosening it. I decided to remove the three rack bolts with some hope to get some wiggle room on the pinch bolt. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the rack dropped low enough to access the hose fittings without slackening the pinch bolt.
Anyway I got the rack back in and everything was fine until I noticed a small leak coming from the flare fitting on one of the metal tubes from the top of the rack to the bottom. the leak is on the bottom part which I have easy access to but I'm afraid it's slightly damaged from moving the rack around. I was thinking about putting some locktite sealer of some sort of gasket goo on the end of the flare with hope it would seal the leak until I can get around to replacing the whole thing. Would this be a bad idea? If not any suggestions on what type of sealer to use?

Thanks,
Dan
1990 xjs V12 convertible Marelli

 

i also removed the three bolts to let the rack down, but to much surprise i did'nt have to take the pinch bolt loose. It lowered just enough to get in there to loosen the hoses. You do have to take the low pressure hose off first to get to the high pressure.