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Given that I started this particular thread I s'pose I should add a little more to report the outcomes of my experiments.
Experiment 1
I did in fact change the PS Fluid which was an interesting experience. In order to do this I tried the patented 'Coke Bottle' technique, removing the return pipe from the PSF reservoir and feeding it in to the neck of the Coke bottle. Actually a Coke bottle is good as it tucks in just nicely behind the headlight in the engine bay and stands upright without being held. I blanked off the PSF reservoir return nipple by sliding on a short piece of garden hose fixed at one end with a jubilee clip and plugged at the other with a plastic tap off an old home brew syphon. Next I needed to get the PSF pumped out in to the bottle whilst at the same time topping up the system with new fluid. Let me say at this point that some of my concerns were that the PSF pump wasn't working or was worn however all concerns were soon proved false when Steve from next door fired the engine up. This stuff comes out fast! As such it was enough to fire the engine and switch it off, top up the reservoir, fire the engine up and switch it off, top up the reservoir and so on 'till the fluid ran clean. And boy did it need it. The nice thing about LR PSF is that it is the same colour as the little green badge so if yours looks and smells like old chip oil you've done the right thing. The Coke bottle was just the right size too to catch it all.
Result: nice smooth steering but with the same old lumps.  .
Experiment 2
I decided that I should change the Servotronic Transducer Valve. Getting this was interesting as some dealers had never heard of it and denied it's existence. Almost as fabled as the G Spot. Still I got one and eyed the job up. Pretty straight forward really. Just find it in the first place (G Spot again), un plug the wires from the junction box and undo the two screws. By the way I also took the front OS wheel off for better access. Now, from the posts I'd read I hadn't anticipated that on removing said valve I would encounter a steady stream of PSF p'ing out with no way of stopping it. Great. Nice clean, new, stupidly expensive fluid on the deck. From what I can recall, much like the lad who stuck his fingers in the dyke (no G Spot innuendo intended, it's there, just not for me) I plugged away and after a short while the the fluid pressure dropped without too much loss. One area of caution however, just make sure you don't loose the little filter gauze. It's also pretty tricky to get it to stay in place against the flow of the fluid p'ing out!
Result: Same old lumpy steering. .
Experiment 3
After much looking around on line for recon racks and saved searches on Ebay I pretty much resigned myself to fitting a new rack. As a last resort I bought a £5 can of spray grease and decided to check out the steering column. I located all 3 of the uni joints (steering rack, back of engine bay and drivers footwell) and gave them a good squirt. Spray grease is good as it can reach the parts my hands can't. I also checked out the contacts on the column adjust motors and greased their little racks and pinions as I'd noticed sometimes the wheel was sluggish to extend at startup.
Result: after a few days driving, light as a feather and still really nice.
Moral: Do the obvious things first. Still, although I probably didn't need to do the servotronic I'm glad I did the PSF.
Next jobs: rear wiper motor p'ing rusty water in the boot and full disc and pad change.
Happy fettling.
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18th Jan 2012 4:57pm
