In another thread I mentioned that I was putting a seal kit through my D2 steering box.
When I removed it, the grime was worryingly undisturbed around the input and sector shaft seals. Wet but undisturbed. I would have expect some 'wash' if the seals had failed.

Backstory is that on one recent trip it dropped all the fluid from somewhere around the box very quickly (a matter of minutes). A refill would see the fluid level ok or diminish slowly over a few weeks. Then, all of a sudden, dump the whole lot again.

This got me thinking and Google.

It may have been coincidence, but my steering box issues seem to have started shortly after I replaced the steering pump with a second hand unit and changed to a different fluid. The second hand unit seemed to work well enough but was noisy.

I am wondering if there is a pressure relief on the box and whether overpressure caused by the pump could cause the fluid to dump from the box? Is there a pressure release on the box? Can the pump over pressure? Could the fluid blow past the o'rings in the oil lines?

Just my thoughts. Anyone care to postulate?

Ralph