Thread: D2 TD5 power steering pump seizure.

Well, took the steering fluid tank off to clean the outside, and beneath it [ bit pedantic like that], decided to do a visual inside, and the fitted filter had one section ' torn ' for want of a better word. Never looked inside before, [ always full of fluid] but did read RAVE where it said the filter was a non servicable fitting. It could have been like that since I bought the vehicle. Could sludge have passed thru the hole and found its way to the pump bearing ? Who knows. New pump in, trying to source replacement tank. Just need to torque bolts to proper setting, and fit new tank, then ready to fill with fluid and remove air from system, and cross fingers all is well. LG.

All done and dusted. Everything working well, no leaks. The only hiccup was the new drive belt, Italian made, slipped. Manual, non ace, I took it back to our LR spannerworks. We came to the conclusion it had to be the shiny outside of the belt slipping on the steering pump pulley, [which is a part of the drive train that features two flat surfaces together] ,and seemed to be the proximity of said slippage squeak. Considering the tension pulley thingy is new, and fitting of one of my old belts worked a treat. The English made belt is what I use , it has a matt outside surface, and I have no problems with it. Strange, but true. The old steering pump had picked up over time some gunk that had passed thru the filter [ which had a hole in it]in the fluid container causing the bearing to fail and tear out the seal. It wasn't seized. That would explain the squeak that drove me mad for a long time. Couldn't find it, checked every bearing in the drive train, including the pump, but all looked good. I had a squeak that happened after shut down, almost like an exclamation mark to the drive. Dark thoughts , like harmonic balancer , crossed my mind. It was mentioned the dual mass flywheel can cause a follow on after shut down, and it seems that that must have been it, with the pump bearing giving a final squeak. Land Rovers can talk, we just need to know the language. No squeak now , at any time. [ the fact I have purchased an $80 pushbike from Big W is no lack of confidence in my D2. ] no, really.