Steering rack

[Newbie57]

My rack has dumped its fluid by the looks of it. Probably the pipes. Is there a how to on changing them out? E bay replacements look fairly cheap.

[jvanzyl]

No idea if there is a how to, but I have the manual so I can retype the process for.

I have to do this myself at someone anyway.

[J88TEO]

Very easy process.
Just be careful not to crossthread the feeds.

[Newbie57]

No idea if there is a how to, but I have the manual so I can retype the process for.

I have to do this myself at someone anyway.

Thanks that would be great

[Carolyn]

My rack has dumped its fluid by the looks of it. Probably the pipes. Is there a how to on changing them out? E bay replacements look fairly cheap.

I've had search through the How-Tos and steering pipes isn't in there, which is a surprise, as I thought it would be.

Perhaps you could write one as you do the job?  It would be greatly appreciated.

[Newbie57]

Any idea on the torque settings for the connections
I did a fluid change a while ago with ravenol. As the system will be virtually dry once the pipes are changed I'm not sure what the bleed procedure would be. Doesn't seem much pointless in flushing into a jar.

[Carolyn]

Any idea on the torque settings for the connections
I did a fluid change a while ago with ravenol. As the system will be virtually dry once the pipes are changed I'm not sure what the bleed procedure would be. Doesn't seem much pointless in flushing into a jar.

just do it by feel.  Good and snug.  check for leaks if any joint drips, nip it up.

Get the front wheels off the ground. Disconnect the rubber return hose from the pump reservoir. Put the end of the hose into a plastic bottle and turn the steering wheel from full lock to full lock several times. That will get all the old fluid out of the steering rack.

Reconnect the hose and add new fluid (making sure it is a proper Electric Power Steering fluid that is compatible with the steering system. Ravenol E-PSF is good). Fill the reservoir to halfway, switch the car on and turn the steering wheel from lock to lock, keeping an eye on the fluid level. Allow the level to drop but don't let it get quite to the bottom. Top up to the lower fill line and keep turning the steering wheel.  Repeat the process until the fluid level is constant.

[jvanzyl]

Hey sorry for delay..
been reading through the manual and the torque settings are VERY low. So as Carolyn says they need to be done up as you would tighten a tap to close off the water.
The o rings will need to be replaced but new power steering pipes should come with turn on.(Manual says to coat them with power steering fluid).

Going from the pump you have two lines, one is a rubber pipe the other is a metal pipe. This metal pipe is supposed to be done up at 43Nm.

On the other end (basically the two metal pipes held together by the clamp) these are to be done up at 22.5Nm.

Access might be an issue so probably practicing on another nut and bolt setup with a torque wrench and holding it at the length to which access would allow you for a spanner etc in the frunk so you can get a good feel for what it should feel like in terms of tightness might help.

From what I can tell the manual is specifically stating you should use a torque wrench with 345mm length.. probably because access is a problem.

[Newbie57]

Thanks for all the info.

[Newbie57]

Progress so far.
Took all the plastics out of the frank.
Undo bracket on the rack.
Undo right hand (looking from the front) tube connection on the rack. This was relatively easy.
Undo left hand connection. Not much space to do this. I found the nut really reluctant to come off but got there in the end.
Undo the connection at the reservoir and pull off the return tube.
Take out the tube assembly and place the new one in.
That's as far as I have got. The nuts at the steering rack end are proving very difficult  to get the threads to engage. I cut off one of the old ones just to check there was no issues with the thread that was ok so it's just fighting  with the alingment

[Joesson]

Progress so far.
Took all the plastics out of the frank.
Undo bracket on the rack.
Undo right hand (looking from the front) tube connection on the rack. This was relatively easy.
Undo left hand connection. Not much space to do this. I found the nut really reluctant to come off but got there in the end.
Undo the connection at the reservoir and pull off the return tube.
Take out the tube assembly and place the new one in.
That's as far as I have got. The nuts at the steering rack end are proving very difficult  to get the threads to engage. I cut off one of the old ones just to check there was no issues with the thread that was ok so it's just fighting  with the alingment

In such a case I would back off the end you have completed so that that end is just engaged and hopefully allow the troublesome end a little more wiggle room. I would not use a spanner until you have the threads well engaged at each end.

[J88TEO]

New pipes come with the clamp midway - loosen that clamp or take it off completely. Easy to maneuver the connecting pipe and nut so you can finger tighten it.

[Newbie57]

All done

[jvanzyl]

All done

Well done!