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MG MGB Technical - leak in rack

now after adding the 90 wt and running the car i let it sit. came back a couple of hrs later and found the oil all over the floor. seems i traced it down to where the steering shaft first enters the box the seal or whatever is there connecting the shaft to the box is leaking. could it be too much oil and it will stop when oil is lower down in box? i hope i dont have to scew with this and pull out the rack. Doug
dd doug46chief

if i have to fix it ill replace it. anyone use the moss sterring rack that comes complete with shims and alignment tool and sealed for life.?
dd doug46chief

im wondering instead of getting a rack i was thinking of putting a grease fitting in the plate on top of the box. i would remove the piston and spring cup and reinstall the plate and grease the hell out of the unit, then i would pull back gators again using a red lithium grease and smear it all over shafts. If the unit is cant hold oil then this may be an easy fix for me for the time being until i decide to do the whole front end suspension one day. I guess my question is will it work and has anyone tried this/ thanks for everyone help, Doug
dd doug46chief

There is a replaceable seal where the steering shaft enters the rack. There is also a bronze bushing there. The new racks are manufactured in Argentina and use grease as a lubricant instead of 90W oil. There's been a lot of discussion about them being harder to turn than the originals. The factory racks should only be lubricated with 90W gear oil. The Argentina racks are designed to be used with grease as a lubricant and have been specially machined for this purpose. You should replace the seal, in your rack, unless their is evidence of excessive internal wear. Switching to grease isn't a good idea as the lubricant won't circulate around the rack's moving parts like the 90W oil does. RAY


rjm RAY

ok thanks ray. so i will have to remove the rack to do it?. i might as well replace all parts in the rack then. Do they make a new gear on the end of the steering shaft or do i buy the whole gear installed on the rack. or is there a complete kit to rebuild a rack? thanks Doug
dd doug46chief

even though its leaking i still have oil in the gaitors and the leak has slowed. i may just watch it till i do a tear down of the front end. then ill replace all bushings with poly and replace the swivel axles and such. thanks for all the help. Doug
dd doug46chief

My Argentine rack (one of the first supplied by Moss) does not have a seal on the input shaft. I converted it to oil from the start and after some small initial shaft leaks haven't had any trouble since. I suspect I don't have the full 1/3 Pt left but so far so good.

Unless you can disassemble the inner tie rods for grease I doubt you can reliably go back to grease. In my humble opinion these tie rods are the area where grease is least effective compared to oil. Once it get squeezed out it reall can't get back in.

The reason I had to scrap my old rack was wear on the inner tierod ball joints. No replacement parts were available.

I suspect they left the seal out to save money and since grease won't leak out much there it seemed like a good bet.

You can adjust the rack preload and hope that will reduce steering effort.

Again, these racks are okay but not as good as the original. You won't get 25+ years service from them like you could with a well maintained original.

Robert McCoy

robert in the victoria cat they show the replacable inner ty rods, or am i misunderstanding their listing. i dont see the bushing behind the seal though.
dd doug46chief

Doug, the inner tie rods were not available when I went the new Argentine rack. It appears they do not offer the socket washer that the tie rod balls ride on. On mine old rack the ball on the end of the tie rod was worn oval. So when you tried to adjust the endplay out the tie rod would bind. The socket washers appeared to be case hardened so they were okay.

I don't think you can not use parts for OEM racks on the replacement Argentine racks. Certainly the rack preload mechanism is quite different and I suspect the tie-rod joint design is different. Many modern racks use nylon or plastic bearing surfaces on the tie-rod joints. I think that allows them to get away with grease.

If you have the old rack you may be able to rebuild it.

BTW, did you determine if there is a shaft seal on the new rack? Mine doesn't have one as far as I could determine.

Best of,
Bob
Robert McCoy

According to the Moss catalog, the Argentinian racks "cannot be re-lubricated in service". RAY
rjm RAY

Ray, I wish Moss had offered that advice when I bought my rack. I wouldn't have changed to oil. Luckily all has worked out well.

Bob
Robert McCoy

Robert, my '67 still has the original rack and it has no leaks or play whatsoever. These were quality units that, with a small amount of maintenance, should last the life of the car. However, torn bellows and misaligned steering shafts can kill them in very short order. RAY
rjm RAY

RAY, Yes, my bellows were in tatters when I got the car. No oil and grit pretty much wiped it out. The key as you say is inspection and keeping the bellows intact. I got a few years out of it but it was never right.

There were lots of problems with aftermarket bellows quality. One set I bought failed within 18 mos. I don't know if there have been any improvements on that front.

I used to live in Concord CA. The weather here in NH is worse (I don't drive my MGB in winter) but we have a lot of really nice secondary roads ideal for my MGB.

DOUG, from Ray's posting it doesn't appear you can disassemble the inner tie-rods to regrease. Hopefully you can get the leakage to stop. I don't think I have anymore thoughts to offer at this point.

All the best. Let us know how things turned out. I'm sure others have had the same concerns.

Bob
Robert McCoy

This thread was discussed between 24/02/2012 and 01/03/2012

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