One of the most common problems on cars is leakage. If we can say one thing for sure, when it
comes to leaks, it is this: The higher quality the car, the greater the variety and quantity of fluids it will have to
leak. And all of them will be top
grade. If the car was built in England,
its pedigree ensures that every one of those premium liquids will eventually find
a path to the ground beneath the car.
While the variety of fluids that can leak may seem infinite,
this post will address just one, from one kind of car: Power steering leakage in 1990-newer Crewe
built Rolls Royce and Bentley motorcars.
We see two main sources of steering leakage in these fine
cars. The first is the rack itself,
which tends to leak from the input shaft seal and the bellows at either
end. The input shafts leak when dirt
works its way down the shaft and ruins the seal. The bellows leak when the bushings that guide
the rack wear, and the rack begins moving more than what the seals can contain.
Here you see dry lines and wetness from the rack seals |
Wet rack bellows are a sure sign of bushing and seal failure |
The drip below my finger comes from the input shaft seal (above, out of photo) |
Looking at the photos you see a typical scenario. The lines into the rack in the top photo (the most common leak
source on many lesser cars) are dry. The
yellow paint on the lines in this photo mark the lines and rack as original to
the car.
The rack is the only leak on this 1996 Bentley undercarriage |
This rack is dripping from the input, and the output bellows. As the photo below shows, it’s the only wet
thing on an otherwise remarkably dry undercarriage. It veritably cries out for repair!
So what do you do?
Your first thought might be to simply buy a new rack. If
only you could! At this moment Bentley’s
ability to supply factory-rebuilt or new racks is limited. When new racks are available costs are
generally around $3,000 – more than many owners wish to pay for a part that
history shows may be worn out and leaking in 15,000 miles. Simple resealing of the racks is not usually
a long-term fix because of the bushing wear, which happens amazingly fast on
some cars. We suspect the most
vulnerable cars are those that run fast on rough roads, for that sort of driving
puts the maximum stress on the big bushings in the rack. We think they get pounded from round to oval,
and once that happens, leakage is inevitable.
We’ve been sending our racks to specialist rebuilders with
good success. They change the bushings
and seals, and set the clearances. The
body of the rack and the big gear pieces seem pretty indestructible.
The next problem area is the steering fluid reservoir. It’s a simple plastic affair located right
next to the engine oil filler. On most
cars a plastic reservoir like this would be a $100 part (or less) but Bentley
seems to see the situation differently.
When they ran out of cheap (figuratively and literally) molded plastic
parts they commissioned the production of Professional Grade stainless steel
reservoirs. At a cost of $1,200. Yes, you read that right. Over one thousand dollars for a container
that holds a cup of steering oil.
Leaky reservoir removed from the car. This one was glued, unsuccessfully. Don't waste your time. |
Even in the rarefied world of Rolls Royce owners balk at
things like that. But what can you
do? We have a solution.
Old reservoir and our replacement side by side |
The new reservoir in hand. It's made from the finest molded foam plastic |
Setting the reservoir in place |
The finished installation looks totally stock, and works better |
We have adapted the common plastic reservoir used by Land
Rover, Porsche, and BMW to fit our beloved RR/B motorcars. We modify the original mounting bracket and
with a few hours fitting it looks like the car was made that way.
John Elder Robison is
the general manager of J E Robison Service Company, independent Rolls Royce and
Bentley specialists in Springfield, Massachusetts. John is a longtime technical consultant to the
RROC and he’s owned and restored many of these fine vehicles. Find him online at www.robisonservice.com or
in the real world at 413-785-1665.
1 comment:
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