90 steering box

Hi, i'm new here and bought my first defender 90 1987 a couple of months ago now and loving it. It recently started whining and is getting worse, i took it for a free health check and they said my steering box is leaking and i needed a new one at £410 (recon) fitted. I was a little shocked at the price and being female feel they may have seen me coming lol. I've not gone ahead with the work but would it be worth getting a new one or just re sealing it? thanks

recon can be got for under 100 exchange for your old unit try paddocks spares dot com

I'll check it out, thanks

Presumably a big chunk of that was the labour charge? With a 20+ year old Landy you're either going to have to get your hands dirty, or get used to paying someone else to do the work.

Ian.

if its a 6 bolt steering box i got a spare one

I'm after a new box too. A 6 bolt one

I'm more than happy to get my hands dirty lol.

I don't think mines a 6 bolt i'll double check and let you know tommorrow and thank you

I got mine from MM4x4, reconditioned and exchanged my old one, worked out just under £100. All i had to do was drain mine of fluid, a mate got his from paddocks and he had to drain it and steam clean it or get billed more for it!

My steering box is a 4 bolt one but thanks landyman.

Just topped the steering fluid up which is supposed to help seal the leak, so far so good noise has stopped anyway, but will look at getting a new one soon.

Cheers guys

they are rebuildable at home if yer feeling brave otherwise recon exchange is the way.easy enough to fit.

I got quoted £240 to fit a recon box at liverridge 4x4 today, includes labour and the parts. Filling it with ATF Fluid won't stop the leak it will still keep leaking out. Driving it without any fluid will also knacker your Power Steering Pump aswell. Hope this helps.

A capful of brake fluid in the power steering fluid will swell up the seals and should stop the leaks as a temporary short term fix. Where are ya landylady? maybe someone on here near ya will do it for a few beer tokens.

be careful with brake fluid it expande the seals and can damage the seals in the pump longterm i've been told

If you want a genuine 4 bolt Land Rover steering box, new, just a take off from a new vehicle these guys can do one for £200 + vat (without the arm) if you give them a call on anything you see they are very helpful and will explain how they get them. I have bought stuff off them. Welcome to RJ Landrovers

PS...The new hinges are really top quality stuff original LR stuff... bargain and they have some in white as well.

Thanks guys for all your help really appreciate it, think it would be best to get a replacement as topping the fluid up isn't the solution.

Think i know someone who might help change it as i'm not quite confident enough yet and knowing me i'd make matters worse lol.

Thanks again

Fixing a steering box yourself is a bitch of a job, it took me 10 hours over 2 days to change mine, and if you have a sump/steering gaurd fitted its even worse. They are quite heavy bit of kit to manouver into place on your own, if you are going to attempt it i would advise getting someone to help you who knows a bit and is strong, some of the bolts are very tight. Also dont follow everythin it says in the Haynes manual, it beats around the bush abit when it come to fixing stuff, i.e: removing parts that dont need to be removed in some cases.