View single post by Mark Rosenbaum
 Posted: 04-06-2005 02:34 pm
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Mark Rosenbaum



Joined: 03-12-2005
Location: Kingman, Arizona USA
Posts: 532
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 Section E12 of the shop manual conveys everything Jensen wanted anyone to know about lubricating the steering rack.  Apparently one is to smear a thin coating of grease on the oil seal and pinion shaft during assembly, and later is to "inject the correct quantity of lubricant into the steering gear."  Unfortunately they do not describe "inject" nor does the manual anywhere specify the type of lubricant to use.

IIRC, when this same topic came up a couple of years ago, the concensus was to follow MG's practice and use EP90 gear oil, which has roughly the same viscosity as 50W motor oil (but rather different additives of course).  I don't know that a grease would be a good choice, but a very light and fluid one might be acceptable.

I added EP90 gear oil to my car's steering rack when I R&R'd the rack and replaced the gaiters about 4 years ago, and just poured the stuff into the rack while the top cover was off.  I've never seen any signs of leakage, so either the rack isn't leaking, or all the oil ran out when I wasn't looking.  Guess I ought to check....