Seal kit to rebuild steering box- 2003 Disco SE7

[lowest bidder]

Hello Guys,

It's been some time since I have needed your help, although I have been lurking here almost daily.

Our Disco's steering box is leaking. It takes about one month of light driving around town to go from "Full" to "Add oil" in the fluid reservoir. Last night, just for giggles I poured a full bottle of Lucas Power Steering Stop Leak, figuring I would have to rebuild it anyway.

An old friend of mine, who has been rebuilding hydraulic pumps and valves for over 20 years in a hydraulic repair shop, has offered to rebuild it for a case of beer, if I bought a seal kit. Now I found a few of them on the internet, including this one Steering Box Seal Kit - QFW100140 for 77$.

Can anybody suggest a better source for the kit, or alternative solutions? Any help I get on this forum is always appreciated!

Georges

[jafir]

you could try calling: P. T. Schram Service, Indiana's Finest Land Rover repair service

I know British Pacific used to have good prices on things like that, but their website doesn't work since they merged with Atlantic British.... and not all of the parts are on AB website yet. Perhaps if you call British pacific they can get you a price.

Another good place is rovahfarm.com but their price on that part seems a bit higher that what you've found already.

[Soggy Bottoms]

Do some searching on here ther is a link to a seal kit, its $39. Think its Best Parts Online Home Page All they do is gasket sets for steering pumps and the like. You can search by vehicle. I got one, and rebuilt mine last summer. Worked out great. Getting access and pulling pump took a couple hours, and was not easy, but doable. rebuilding actual pump took 10 minutes.

[Landy4Matt]

Originally Posted by Soggy Bottoms

Do some searching on here ther is a link to a seal kit, its $39. Think its Best Parts Online Home Page All they do is gasket sets for steering pumps and the like. You can search by vehicle. I got one, and rebuilt mine last summer. Worked out great. Getting access and pulling pump took a couple hours, and was not easy, but doable. rebuilding actual pump took 10 minutes.

I think the poster was trying to fix his leaky box not pump. I'm curious about that since my box leaks a bit too with no obvious cracks.

[lowest bidder]

I ordered a kit this morning, I'll keep you guys posted as to the outcome of that endeavor. The bottle of Lucas Power Steering Stop Leak does seem to work, though. Drove it around for a 200 klick Sunday drive yesterday, and not a drop on the driveway this morning. But I'll replace the seals anyway. I don't trust mechanics in a bottle.

Thanks for the replies!

[mbruneaux]

I found last year that you can't find the "top plate" gasket anywhere. from the factory it is sealed with an internal "O" ring but that stopped working, nothing wrong with the box otherwise. I was able to lift up the plate enough to clean, dry and apply some RTV between the body and the plate but haven't tested it yet (long story). Just a note.

[Soggy Bottoms]

just to be clear, it was the pump. The 2 halves of the pump are joined by 4 torx screws, and there is a gasket in between. This gasket is usually the culprit. New pump 600dollars, gasket is 39 dollars. Refill with 48 oz royal purple ez max, turn to lock while filling to bleed. PS trouble free for 6 months now.

[lowest bidder]

The complete rebuild of our steering box is a complete success! Here's a little debrief for the next guy who attempts this...

All the parts in the kit I ordered from Motorcars Ltd were of good quality, and everything was in there, nothing missing.

To me, the teflon rings were the most scary parts of the rebuild, because they don't stretch easily and once stretched, they stay stretched and kind of deformed for a long time. My friend who does this all the time was not worried and the trick is to carefully put several layers of electrical tape over the teflon rings once they are in place in their grooves, and let them be overnight. This compresses them and helps to get back into their original shape. The first layer of tape must be applied really carefully, and each subsequent layer is applied tighter that the previous one so even pressure is applied on the ring. Then, before inserting the input shaft in the body of the steering box, I put it outside at minus 20 so the rings reduced in diameter even more.

Because the box was not malfunctioning but only leaking, I took great care not to contaminate the body valve inside the input shaft and also the roller on the output shaft. Once they were out of the body, I carefully inspected them for contamination, then wrapped the more vulnerable parts in cling wrap for the duration, then I cleaned and polished the ends where the seals go.

The instructions for removing the steering box in the Rave manual are ok, but once it's on your workbench, you are on your own. I did not have any problems disassembling the steering box all by myself, and I think I would have been able to put it back together, probably... But having somebody who knew what he was doing with me was a lot more fun, though.

I am fairly good with a wrench, I replaced engines and trannies in a few cars over the years, but rebuilding a steering box was a big step for me. I learned a lot and thankfully, it ended well.

Georges