Most recent rack and pinion purchase

Hello to all,
I have a leaking rack and pinion.
Wandering who has purchased a new or rebuilt one recently
with no issues after install and from which supplier. I remember reading other posts of being careful of buying a cheap rebuilt rack and pinion then re-do the whole process again because it leaked.
Thanks Joe!

Joe,
You didn’t mention what year your car is, or where in the world you are located (this is an international list) so I have no idea if this will help you or not. I got a rebuilt power steering rack for my wife’s 1990 XJ-S convertible a few years ago from BuyAutoParts and installed it myself. It worked out great. Shipping was quick, it was the correct part, it hasn’t leaked and it works great. They promptly refunded the core charge once they received the core. We live in the San Diego, CA, USA area.

Paul

Hey Paul,
I have an 1989 XJS. I’m near Boston, MA.
Thanks for the info!

How bad is the leak? I’ve had other old cars with minor leaks fixed by simply changing the p/s fluid and adding Valvoline trans leak for high mileage. Took a couple weeks for leak to stop.

Simply suck out as much as you can from p/s reservoir, top off with new fluid, turn wheels back and forth a bit, and repeat 3-4 more times. I use dino ATF and make sure the last fills use about 1/2 qt trans leak.

For these older p/s systems, I do NOT use synthetic fluid. One of my cars only started leaking p/s fluid when I tried synthetic. I went back to dino fluid, and leak went away.

My mechanic swears by racks rebuilt by Maval, says he’s never had an issue with one, unlike some others he’s tried. I had one installed about 6 years ago. You purchase them with an added core charge that is returned if you send your old rack back (in their shipping container). They are likely available through parts vendors your mechanic uses, and probably online sources such as Parts Geek:

https://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/1989/jaguar/xjs/steering/steering_rack.html

Thanks for everyone’s help!
Does anyone know if the tie rod end is 14mm or 16mm?
My VIN # ends in 154964
I wanted to use jagbits but I had a problem with one of their oil cooler lines.
The new cooler line was about 1/2" to long at the end that connects to the oil cooler. I know that they must have had a local manufacter fabricate it but it was slightly too long and doesn’t work.
I spent hours trying to get it in and finally had to loosen/disconnect the oil cooler to make it fit.
I emailed them at the time and the rep just said “I’m very sorry to hear that” and that’s it.

http://www.britishparts.co.uk/ They seem to have a good selection of hoses, takes about a week to get to the USA.

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