Morten 1 · Jun 28, 2013

Hello all.
I found a rather big leak in one of the pipes to the steering rack.
My local LR dealer is supplying me with a new one, just £125. :S Well I guess it's cheaper than buying a completely new rack.. I usually buy all my spares from the UK, but steering parts are a bit different, due to LHD..

I have changed steering rack's before, but they have been electric. Any tips before I start on this job? Where do I drain the powersteering fluid?

Any and all advise is most welcome.

Cheers.

Some pics.

Nodge68 · Jun 28, 2013

If it's one of the rack pipes it's not a difficult job. But if you are doing it with the rack in place? space can be an issue. You can drain the fluid from the cooler at the front. Being lower than the rack it should pretty much empty the system. Once the pipe has been replaced, fill the PS tank then slowly turn the steering from lock to lock a few times while keeping an eye on the fluid level, topping up when needed.
Good luck

Morten 1 · Jun 28, 2013

Nodge68 said:
If it's one of the rack pipes it's not a difficult job. But if you are doing it with the rack in place? space can be an issue. You can drain the fluid from the cooler at the front. Being lower than the rack it should pretty much empty the system. Once the pipe has been replaced, fill the PS tank then slowly turn the steering from lock to lock a few times while keeping an eye on the fluid level, topping up when needed.
Good luck

Thanks for the info Nodge.

I sincerly hope it's possible to change the pipe with the rack in place, would save me a lot of time. It's due for the Norwegian equivalent of the UK MOT next week, and the list of things to due keep getting longer..

I found the leak by chance today, I had to stop due to a misfire/lumpy engine, check engine light came on. Turned out to be water above one of the spark plugs, and nothing major. (I did clean the engine yesterday, but thought I was careful, covering major electric boxes etc. with plastic, but somehow a bit of water found it's way in there.

Nodge68 · Jun 28, 2013

You should be able to do it with the rack in place. The 1.8 engine doesn't take up much space in the Freelanders bay. I had to tighten one of the rack pipes last year, that job would be almost impossible on my V6 as there isn't much room. You should be ok

Morten 1 · Jun 28, 2013

Nodge68 said:
You should be able to do it with the rack in place. The 1.8 engine doesn't take up much space in the Freelanders bay. I had to tighten one of the rack pipes last year, that job would be almost impossible on my V6 as there isn't much room. You should be ok

Cheers mate.

I'm pretty sure I'm able to fit inside the enginebay, don't know if thats because I'm not the tallest person in the world, or if there is to much free room in there..

I'm used to work on the MGF, so everything is an improvement.

Morten 1 · Jul 5, 2013

Quick update, for future reference..

I finally managed to change the pipe, at 02:30 in the morning, the night before it's MOT I might add.

Plenty of room, but they where just rusted to much, despite drowning it in wd 40 for a week. The neigbours are not to happy having the "black sea" of servo fluid in the street though. :S

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