Steering box leak, MOT failure

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woods767

woods767

Well-Known Member
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Stuck in the ditch that runs along the side of the
The defender failed on just one thing on its MOT (all the butchering i did to the rust that was once a chassis passed), but they failed it on the small amount of ATF coming out the bottom of the steering box down the drop arm. I have a TD5 box, im i best off buying it a seal kit and having a go or getting another one? the guy how faield it said it was probaly a bearing problem, if it is then i think new seals would just do the same thing. How can i tell how may bolt my box is, which bolts are they talking about? :confused:

Cheers, Rich.
 
woods767 said:
The defender failed on just one thing on its MOT (all the butchering i did to the rust that was once a chassis passed), but they failed it on the small amount of ATF coming out the bottom of the steering box down the drop arm. I have a TD5 box, im i best off buying it a seal kit and having a go or getting another one? the guy how faield it said it was probaly a bearing problem, if it is then i think new seals would just do the same thing. How can i tell how may bolt my box is, which bolts are they talking about? :confused:

Cheers, Rich.
Click to expand...

It's the number of bolts on the top of the box that ye need to be countin'. Mines is a six bolt...

Steeringboxremoval014.jpg


just count the bolts around the adjuster;)
 
I cleaned mine up, put a spanner on the nuts, to make it look like I hade done some work to it and went back a few days later :D - did fit it in the end, but got it through the MOT!
 
jamescronin said:
I cleaned mine up, put a spanner on the nuts, to make it look like I hade done some work to it and went back a few days later :D - did fit it in the end, but got it through the MOT!
Click to expand...

It did cross my mind to do that, given that it looses so littile oil, i only have to top it up with a splash every 6 months or so. i dont want to fork out £200 for a reconed one, and the one ive got is a TD5 take off so its not esactly ancent. I have a feeling that if i try to fit new seals it will never work again.
 
If it wuz leaking worse than that I'd say to put a capfull of break fluid in it. It causes the seals to swell and stops the leak. If it's leaking as slow as you say it is then I'd just clean it up and then tell em you fitted new seals.
 
ratty said:
If it wuz leaking worse than that I'd say to put a capfull of break fluid in it. It causes the seals to swell and stops the leak. If it's leaking as slow as you say it is then I'd just clean it up and then tell em you fitted new seals.
Click to expand...

Thats the plan, but im pulling it out anyway to inspect it, see if theres somthing obvious, and check what state the bearings are in.
 
I wouldn't bother with a seal kit ever in these things (this coming from someone who will rebuild turbos). Not even so called PAS overhaul companies can get it right, they just leak again very quickly. The only people who do a good job are Adwest (OEM), which is who do all the rebuilds for Paddocks/Craddocks and the likes.
 
Shouldn't be too bad, I got a new 4 bolt box (Adwest OEM) and drop arm for about £150 last year - might have gone up a bit.
 
I did a £100 order last week, and a £200 order 3 weeks ago....it goes on....I sighn in to paddacks now and i can see my order history. :puke: The ammount i spend on parts is unreal. Could do with out it right now as im saving up for the Morocco trip, and was gona try and get a roof tent by then. Will have a good look at it befor i go and buy one.
 
Just a wee question, did you take the bolt out the UJ's?

The UJ's must have the bolt removed before they will slide off the shaft.

Or were they just rusted on?
 
I feel its necessery to elaborate. I spent 2 hours ****ing about, covered in ATF, braking steering shaftes trying to get those UJs off, twice as long as it took me to unhook all of the rest of it, and all i had to do was take the bolt clean out? I had them slacken right off as far as the threadlock!!! And there isnt even a suicide smiley to show how i feel!!! :eek:
 
Once spent two days fitting an engine only to discover that some muppet (me) had forgotten the clutch release bearing. It was sat on my bench in full view but I only spotted it when the clutch release arm tore the springs out of the clutch cover when the engine was fired up. Gutted did not convey how I felt at all the wasted time and hard work and completely unnecessary expense. Needless to say I'll never make that mistake again. The upside is that at least your steering is easier to get to than a clutch.
 
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