Thread: Never a dull moment.

I don't think there's any need to drain the steering box, remember that all the oil in it has been through the reservoir many times, so it doesn't just sit there. I'd just replace the pipes and bleed as normal.

Thanks Bee (or should that be 'Mr Utey'?).

Next problem: Can't get the brand new Genuine LR HP hose to seal at the steering box end. O-ring is in place and nut tightened as tight as I dare without rounding it off. But as soon as I start the engine, and before any steering effort applied, fluid starts dribbling from the HP connection at the 'box.

Tried using the old o-ring (tho' it's more of a triangular section these days) but no difference. Photos of the new and old hose ends below. Both seem to be identical - about 5.5 mm from the o-ring flange to the tip of the flared end.

As these ends have o-rings, am I right in thinking they seal on the o-ring and not on the inner side of that flare? If so, would it do any harm to plug the pipe end and carefully grind 0.5 mm or so off the end of the new pipe, just in case the flare is bottoming before the o-ring is compressed?

All suggestions appreciated as we are vehicle-less until I get this fixed.

PS: I know this sounds like a suggestion from Dodgy Bros Mechanical, but: Are two o-rings ever better than one? (i.e. can I slip on another one of the same size?)

Latest developments: Found a slightly fatter section o-ring in my collection, so I tried that. No difference.

Have noticed that the new nut is 'firm' from the first half-turn, and doesn't seem to screw in as far as the old one did. The new hose is a 'new' style, with a flexible section at the steering box end as well as the pump end.

It is Part No. QEP105760. Daphne's VIN is VA541197. My EPC is cactus at the moment, so I can't check BUT, did those crafty little chaps in Solihull perhaps change the thread of the end fitting somewhere during Disco 1 lifetime. Sounds unlikely, as the steering box thread would have had to change too (but I'm getting desperate...)

All the fittings of that style should seal only when the nut has just clamped the pipe and it's no longer loose. The o-ring should occupy a space between the flattened end of the pipe and the cavity inside the pump. I would be looking at the outer diameter of the very end of the pipe and seeing if it drops into it's receiving hole without getting stuck. A careful shave with a toothy set of pliers may take enough off the pipe to ensure it goes in properly. Clearly the pipe must be free of burrs where the o ring sits, beyond that it's just a guide and support. The nut must screw down far enough to stop the pipe from spinning in its correct position.

You could be onto something there, thank you. While I checked the length of the flared end I didn't think about the outer diameter of the tip.

And remembering back to the far distant past (i.e. this morning), the old tube was very tight in the pump. After the nut was fully loose and pulled back, the pipe took a really good reef to get it out of the pump.

So if the new one was a little bigger across the tip and not seating fully, all I was achieving by heaving on the spanner was to spread it even wider!

I'll have another look at it tomorrow morning. It's well past beer o'clock and I totally p*ss*d off with it for one day.

By the way, if Dodgy Bros Mechanical ever suggest using two o-rings where there should be one, don't believe them. It might hold at idle but as soon as some steering effort is applied , a very pretty red fountain erupts...

Merry Christmas AULROens,

While waiting for Christmas lunch, thought I'd pass on what I found after removing Daphne's leaking PS pipes.

The photos below show that the passenger side clamp had broken some time ago and the rough edges have been chewing into the steel pipes for some considerable time - until the LP pipe finally started to weep.

Just as well the HP pipe wasn't too badly worn, as I had to refit it. Couldn't get the new genuine HP pipe to seal at the steering box end. I now suspect the clamp nut is faulty. The thread looks OK (and hasn't been cross-threaded), so maybe it hasn't been cut to the full depth. Anyone know what thread these are? Looks like it might be 3/8" BSP but I don't have a female threaded fitting of that size to check it.

In any case, hope you all get to drink too much, eat too much and talk too much today and have a thoroughly good (and safe, no trying out the Landies limits this arvo...) day.

Merry Christmas Ian, hope you had a great day.

To you too Rick. A pleasant laid-back day.

Thought I'd pass on a few other lessons learned during this job. (Please note: these are lessons learned, NOT learnings. Anyone using the term 'learnings' will be regarded as guilty of crimes against vocabulary and subject to summary execution!)

The PS LP pipe attachment to the steering box is a 16mm hex nut and there's not much room in there to apply enough force to a spanner to crack it loose. The ideal tool would be a 16 mm crows-foot spanner, but I don't have one of those. So I improvised with a 5/8" combination spanner, a 11/16" long nut, ground down at one end to 5/8" AF, a 1/2" drive ratchet and extension bars to create the TOOL! (see photos below).

This worked a treat with the LP pipe, so I thought I was on a roll. But those crafty little poms in Solihull are not so easily defeated. To keep we mere mortals on our toes, they made the HP pipe nut 14mm. So I tried the same approach again, with a 9/16" combination spanner and a 9/16" brass pipe union. This one was not so co-operative tho'. The open ender looked like it was about round off the nut so I didn't force it any more.

Managed to crack the nut a fraction with a small cold chisel and hammer. Again room to get a decent blow on the chisel wasn't easy - as my old maths lecturer would have put it, it was a non-trivial exercise. Anyway the 9/16" version of The Tool was now able to remove the nut.

Hope this may be helpful to others doing this job.