Power Steering Leaking

[prunty]

Hi Yeah,

I've got a 2009 Berlingo (Mk 3) and have a leak where the feed and return pipes are fitted to the Steering Rack. Both these pipes are fitted to the rear of the area where the steering column bolts onto the steering rack, between the rack and the engine bulk head. A very awarded place I might add.

The original washers fitted were Green (Upper Pipe) and Brown (Lower Pipe) and when I rang Citroen they told me there was a seal kit available for this (Containing 6 items) at a cost of £20 plus the VAT.

I thought this cost was a bit much as I only needed two small O-Rings and decided to try to source these in the regular outlets where your'd expect to get O-Rings. Anyway after a lot of trials with a variety of O-Rings (total O-Ring Expenditure so far = £3) it is still leaking.

So I am now wondering will the correct seals do the job or am I missing something here?? At this point I am willing to purchase the seal kit but am now thinking that there might be something else wrong. Has anybody any experience of this area and these seals??

Any advice will be greatly appreciated...

[geoff]

Not seen the type of fittings as I have an M59 ( are they the same ?? ) but would ask if you have the right type of O ring ?

You'd need Viton ones to cope with the oil - other generally available types don't cope with oil and are softer / prone to distorting or stretching when tightened up.

Might be off beam here but thought I would mention it.

[oilyrag]

Agricultural engineers that deal with tractor hydraulics would be my first port of call - they usually carry a big range of sizes and cross-sections (remember your original ones may be flat/distorted) and will be suitable for your use. My local place just leaves a big tray of them in front of me to pick over and charge 10c a time.

[Lighty]

I recently had this issue on a Citroen C6, in the end it was a corroded hole in the pipe, where the steel fork clamp had corroded against the alloy pipe. Not the seals at all.

[prunty]

Agricultural engineers that deal with tractor hydraulics would be my first port of call - they usually carry a big range of sizes and cross-sections (remember your original ones may be flat/distorted) and will be suitable for your use. My local place just leaves a big tray of them in front of me to pick over and charge 10c a time.

This is what I have done and it still leaks, I've taken a selection of the o-Rings on offer and tried them it and even put an extra one on were the two surfaces meet. i'm wondering if I'm missing something here before I buy the OEM Seals at £25??

[oilyrag]

How certain are you that the leak is coming from the pipe fittings? If you can get everything 'dry'then a smear of sealant on the seatings may help but avoid any excess that may travel within the system. There is also a Loctite product that seals threads on hydraulic fittings (it doesn't lock them) that is very effective.

[prunty]

How certain are you that the leak is coming from the pipe fittings? If you can get everything 'dry'then a smear of sealant on the seatings may help but avoid any excess that may travel within the system. There is also a Loctite product that seals threads on hydraulic fittings (it doesn't lock them) that is very effective.

It's hard to tell for sure as these fittings are held in place with a metal plate, but I like your thinking here. I'll try the sealant route...