Sorry Ian I have found UK racks hard or impossible to source bits for. Can get the rack bush and boots, not much else.

Most people in Oz nowadays replace them with the Chinese made rack. Which are a throwaway item when dead...!

Hey Kev, long time no chat ....

So does your expertise extend to (UK) Mk II racks??  I'm looking to have mine looked at - its coming up to 30 years and 150K miles of use so I'm thinking it may need a bit of a freshen.  Don't know what grease was used back then but it seems to done about as much as might be expected..

So far I've not been able to find anyone willing to have a look.... My previous guru has decided to go fishing instead... 

Cheers, Ian

Hi Ian,
There was a Leyland Australia bulletin issued which recommended adding gear oil to late Oz made AYA6001 racks.
Because the LG2? grease used was thick, it dried out and lubrication suffered. Top pinion bearing first.

Retired now, I have done lots of racks in the past, I used 85/140 gear oil. Castrol or whatever..
To seal the boots on the rack body I used Loctite 515, 518, or Permatex equivalent.

Thanks Ian

are you saying I should NOT be using grease on the pinion bearings and/or tie rod ball joint IF I opt for the oil?

As I see it there are really two options.... fill with oil as per BMC's original intentions...or

Use a modern steering rack grease ... which is kinda semi-liquid ... as recommended by my local steering suspension specialist.

i wouldn't be mixing and matching two products of questionable compatibility....

Cheers, Ian

Just to be certain .... here is my plan.

.. apply grease to pinion bearings and install pinion (shims, etc.)
.. apply grease to tie rod ball joint and install tie rod and locking collar
.. center rank and install gaiters
.. stand rack on end (pinion end up), loosen small gaiter end and add gear oil

just a reminder. This is a MK1 which does not have a centering hole on the passenger side of the rack.

I just purchased Valvoline 85W-140 gear oil.

Do you recommend a different series of steps?

No need for any oil in either of the gaiters.

I put about 1/4 pint (proper sized pint mind you) of 90w diff oil in through the centring bung before installation.  Not had a rack go bad in 8 years...

bringing this topic back to life for current recommendations.

i am ready to reassemble my rack and steering column.
i have a new bush and pinion seal for the rack and new plastic and felt bush for the column.

to reassemble I assume I need grease for the pinion shaft bearings and the tie rod ball joint.
then put gear oil into one of the gaiters.

recommendations for the grease and oil?

And there' more. Late model 9 flute boots don't work very well with a MkI rack. They get stretched tight on full lock. AFAIK 11 flute MkI versions are NLA. I'm using universal boots which are 13 flutes and really too long.

 

My two cents - and not worth a penny more;  use sealant on the boots.  If not, the oil will find a way to weep out.  Fill the rack and bench test it before re-installation even.  And the new replacement boots (admission: only seen 4 or 5 of them) are not the same quality as the originals.  The new ones are easy to damage when installing so with care, sealant and patience the rack will keep the oil where it was designed to reside.

Jemal, you can replace the rack without pulling the engine. You just have to drop the subframe down a couple of inches.

Putting the oil in one end works just fine.

It gets pumped to the other end when you steer.

...And aren't all the replacement racks "dry"?  Well, dry in that they are pre-greased, but I've never added gear oil to one!  My own original rack is shot at the inner tie rod on the right side, so psyching myself up to pull the engine and subframe, and put in one of the close ratio replacements......

The steering rack is the ONLY thing I did not change or service when I built the car, and sure enough, it's clunking away under there!

If I am remembering correctly, Kevin Green has worked a lot with the early racks.  Hopefully he will post soon.

I think the idea is that the left and right turns will work the oil into the rack.  The "right boot" was probably selected since the author was working with right-hand drive cars where this would put the oil closest to the pinion gear.  If your car is LH drive, I would use the left boot.  I also remember something about by overfilling the boot there is the possibility of pressure build up during turns (initially before the oil gets distributed) and that might cause the boot to split.  Consider that hearsay until someone can confirm it.

Well, now I'm confused.  Last time I just put it in the centering plug, but can't remember if that was from Haynes or the Interwebs.

My Auotbooks manual says disconnect the right boot and inject not more than 1/3 pint 80-90 gear oil into the end of the rack. Can I just put the oil into the boot and expect it to drain into the rack and why not the left boot? What happens if I put more than 1/3 pint in?