Power Steering Fluid Escape

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Originally Posted by Collins

Z


It is difficult to say where the fluid is leaking from. It certainly appears to be from around the hose. I cleaned around the area with degreaser & did not notice leakage at the flange.

Cannot see an O ring on the neck off the cap. Will inspect closely later & attempt replacement if necessary. The cap fits quite snuggly, but seems to travel radically past a tight/high spot before bearing on the cap stops.

Slightly of topic, I have asked earlier whether anyone knows how the V8 PAS hose assembly differs from that of the TD5 but have not had a response. Part No’s differ, but illustrations of each appear the same. Are you aware of the difference if any?

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With the pump in place, it will be hard to see any old leaks unless really obvious from the two body halves as the pump body is well obscured and tucked tightly in it's spot.
I think my description of the pump may have been confusings. The TD5 pump has a pipe with flange bolted to the body of the pump where the reservoir hose fits. The v8 pump spigot is part of the rear half of the pump body .. ie. no flange. just the back half of the body with spigot in one casting. No chance of leakage unless like Beeutey said, hairline crack or something. Otherwise it'll just be the pump body seal between the two halves.

Certainly different looking hoses between V8 and Td5 from res to pump and confirmed with different part Nos.
Couldn't tell if a Td5 would fit a V8, but I wouldn't bother, going by price differences anyhow(Td5 generally $50 more exxy). The TD5 hose seems to have a metal pipe U turn section at the pump end then a clamped rubber end again about 100mm long or so. The V8 hose is all rubber(as I remember, and now see it) including the U turn end at the pump. Partially explains why the Td5 hose is so much more expensive.

Just going from memory, the res to pump hose is low pressure, in that it's not like the stg box hoses under hydraulic pressure which is why they have hydraulic fittings. So just the trimmed hose can slow a leak quite well, even tho the rubber hose may be old and soppy.
This is why I reckon it'll be your pump body that leaking. The hose isn't under pressure, other than gravity and a slight build up of residual pressure once the cap has sealed.

As for the cap, if the o-ring seal isn't there, you will notice a step or void area near the cap end of the neck .. where an o-ring would fit nicely.
The fitting of your cap sounds exactly like a good cap(on brothers TD5 that I easily have at hand) a slight tight spot just prior to the stop and hard stop at about 1/4 turn. I'll post up a couple of pics of the neck of the cap with and without an o-ring seal in a few mins.

Attachment 162680

OK, so a better description should have been that the seal IS the neck of the cap! [tonguewink]

Because the o ring is so thick, it's very hard to remove without breaking it, and I have a set of pick tools, but only a sharp blade would get in and under to begin getting it out. The picks were useless.
Good cap on the LHS, useless cap on the RHS, so seal off for the benefit of clarity rendering the cap even more useless isn't an issue .. note the stop tabs are broken, so the cap just sits on there not locked down.

If you really do want to try a new seal, my rough measurements were 24mm diameter, and 3mm thickness .. and definitely round section, not square.

The thickness measurement was actually 3.2mm with the calipers, but hard to be exact on rubber.
The diameter was easier to determine, as a 24mm washer was exactly the same size .... give or take 0.001 or so [biggrin]

Aurthur, thanks for your input, appreciated.
Removed pump, as per Rave. Approximately 4 hours for removal & refit. Certainly beats laying on your back.
On removal I found that the screw clamp, Tridon S/S, had failed. No sign of any escape via pump body gasket, nor past drive spindle seal.
Examined hose spigot & found no evidence of cracking. Cleaned with degreaser, applied a sealant dressing & refitted hose ( new pump inlet hose).
Reassembled pump to housing & refitted. Refilled reservoir with new PAS fluid. Bled system, very messy.
Guess what, leak past hose joint again. Appears to be due to the hose clamp not applying uniform pressure. Will attempt to fit a second hose clamp, with the screw mechanism offset 110^.
Local autoshop loves me. Have spent a small fortune on PS fluid recently.

Hooray!!!, finally no more leakage of fluid.
Made & fitted new body gasket to pump, using anaerobic silicone sealant on both sides of gasket. Waited 24 hrs before refitting.
Filled with fluid, started engine, topped off fluid in reservoir, oscillated wheel full lock in both directions. PAS now working OK, no leaks, no noise & no stress.

Hooray indeed. It proves that perseverance will eventually win the day.[biggrin]

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Originally Posted by Collins

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Filled with fluid, started engine, topped off fluid in reservoir, oscillated wheel full lock in both directions. PAS now working OK, no leaks, no noise & no stress.

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Whoot ... [thumbsupbig]

But don't hold breath(you will suffocate) expecting it to hold for a long length of time.
I'd done that so many moons ago, I think a really Great bloke named Alexander was still heading towards the sub continent on the warpath!

Old Rover SD1, had a leaking body, was weekend, and parts back then were horrendously expensive!!! .. so had to bodge something up. I remember doing the same thing. Got some sensor safe high quality goop recommended to me.
Held for a long while(can't recall, maybe a year or two), but did start to leak again.

ps. I reckon I've had about 20 or so RV8 vehicles of one sort or another, all P6's, SD1's and then my RRC. Only the RRC never had power steer pump issues of any kind.
The only power steer issue with the RRC was its 3 bolt box, finally replaced with a 4 bolt, but never had issue with it's pump.

Anyhow, good to hear it's fixed.