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| Steering Rack Lubrication | Rating: 
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| Posted: 04-05-2005 07:42 pm |
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1st Post |
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Dan Eiland Member
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I'm in the process of reinstalling my steering rack after rebuilding my front suspension and installing new boots on the rack. Since I lost what little amount of lubricant that was in my steering rack I was wondering if someone knows a good method for refilling the rack? I think it originally used 90 wt gear oil. I have heard some people have replaced the gear oil with grease and install a grease nipple in the cover plate where they can easily refill the rack as needed. They tell me it solves the problem of leaking oil out the rubber boots. Has anyone ever tried this on their Jensen Healey?
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| Posted: 04-06-2005 02:10 pm |
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2nd Post |
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Brian Kelly Member
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Great question Dan, as I recall the shop manual says NILL about the type of lubrication to use in the rack. I seem to recall filling mine with 20w50 motor oil. I would not recommend it though. I’ve got a lot of seepage out of the boots. The grease would be a great solution. So I hope we hear from someone who has tried it. Brian
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| Posted: 04-06-2005 03:20 pm |
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3rd Post |
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Dan Eiland Member
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I have now heard from two people who own Sunbeam Tigers with MGB racks in them. Both say they use Mobil 1 grease in their rack and pinions and say it works great and have no issues with leaks or any other issues. One said he had been using it for several years. I don't think they fill the boot area with grease. From what I can tell they are filling the area around the bearing and pinion. Another person I heard from says he rebuilt an MGB rack that had been filled with grease and the internal parts looked like new. Would like to hear from others on the subject. So far I have heard not to use grease but I haven't heard why. All the replies so far have told me to use gear oil of one type or another, but it seems to be the consensus that is what was used by the factory. Anyone ever use Synthetic grease?
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| Posted: 04-06-2005 03:34 pm |
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4th Post |
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Mark Rosenbaum Member 
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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....
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| Posted: 03-09-2007 11:54 pm |
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5th Post |
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Joseph Mazurk Member
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I hope this clears up this topic once and for all. I bought a Haynes Vauxhall Magnum 1800& 2300 owners workshop manual from a guy in England. I bought this manual because I was uncertain as to how much fluid to put in the steering rack. On page 155, Chapter 11/ Suspension and Steering, Section 16 Steering gear-examination, adjustment,removal and replacement it states, "stand the unit on end, refill the housing with 1/4 pint (4 ounces) of SAE 90 EP lubricant"..... ....so there you go folks finally the answer we all been looking for. Joseph Mazurk Chicago, IL
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| Posted: 03-09-2007 11:54 pm |
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6th Post |
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Joseph Mazurk Member
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I hope this clears up this topic once and for all. I bought a Haynes Vauxhall Magnum 1800& 2300 owners workshop manual from a guy in England. I bought this manual because I was uncertain as to how much fluid to put in the steering rack. On page 155, Chapter 11/ Suspension and Steering, Section 16 Steering gear-examination, adjustment,removal and replacement it states, "stand the unit on end, refill the housing with 1/4 pint (4 ounces) of SAE 90 EP lubricant"..... ....so there you go folks finally the answer we all been looking for. Joseph Mazurk Chicago, IL
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| Posted: 03-10-2007 02:31 am |
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7th Post |
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Mark Rosenbaum Member
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Thank you, Joe! I have annotated my shop manual accordingly. Last edited on 03-10-2007 02:36 am by Mark Rosenbaum |
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| Posted: 03-10-2007 04:08 am |
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8th Post |
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Dan Eiland Member
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I agree with Mark in that we owe you a Thank You for sharing this information. Of course this doesn't really change my opinion that it should be OK to use Mobil One Synthetic Grease. It should be light enough to work on the parts and thick enough that it will not leak out. Also easier to add once in a while if one feels it is necessary.
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| Posted: 03-10-2007 02:47 pm |
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9th Post |
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Jensen Healey Super Moderator 
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I have been using grease. There was a zerk fitting on the cover plate of my first steering rack and I used it due to the cracked boots. I live in a moderate climate and the car is in a warm (50^) garage all winter so frozen grease is not an issue here. When installing the spare rack (less slop, new tie rod ends and boots) I transferred the plate and filled it with grease. No issues to report. Now that Joe has supplied the service information I would use the correct lube if repeating the process. Kurt
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| Posted: 05-02-2007 04:26 am |
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10th Post |
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DeDub Member 
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I recently spoke with Delta, and the fellow there was a mechanic/salesperson for JH back in the day. He says he personally came up with the idea of putting a zerk grease fitting on the oval plate on the bottom, and the results were so good that JH started recommending it themselves. YMMV and it's his story but there you go. I just did it to my well worn rack and it didn't help the play so it's not a panacea but I've got a spare rack that looks good that I'm planning on putting on the car and I will move the zerk plate over to that rack. Whether there's oil in there or not, I don't see that a regular shot of grease could hurt. And that's MY 2 cents. David
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| Posted: 05-03-2007 03:38 am |
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11th Post |
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Arvin Appelman Member
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I installed a grease zerk a couple years ago and have been happy with the results Arvin Appelman 19492
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| Posted: 05-04-2007 01:34 am |
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12th Post |
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Ron Earp Member 
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Thanks guys, that clears up a mystery for me. I tried to fill mine on the top plate but that didn't work worth a damn. R
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| Posted: 05-04-2007 04:13 am |
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13th Post |
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Dan Eiland Member
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I would guess that it really does not matter if you use grease or oil as long as the parts they come in contact with are not damaged by what is in either product and that all the parts that make up the steering mechanism than require lubrication receive the required amount of lubricant. People that have used grease in the steering rack have reported excellent results over 5 and 10 years use. I have even heard from a mechanic who has pulled one apart during a restoration reported that the rack was the cleanest he had seen in all his days of rebuilding the things. But on the otherside of the coin, you could probably hear the same comments about racks that used SAE 90w EP lubricant and have been properly kept up. As long as the boots and seals are kept in good condition to keep out contaminants I would say either lubricant would work fine.
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| Posted: 11-06-2007 10:34 pm |
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14th Post |
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txk Member
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I am a new kid to Jensens but with a lot of experience with MGB's, I am about to replace my R&P box as well as tie rods and tie rod ends. I have never done this before and need to know what is involved in removal and replacement interface with the steering column. It appears that there is a set bolt at the end of the steering column and I am assuming that this is loosened and the R&P box slips out. I don't know if anything else is involved. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks to all for the conversations on gear oil vs grease. Last edited on 11-07-2007 12:33 am by txk |
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| Posted: 11-07-2007 06:11 pm |
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15th Post |
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Arvin Appelman Member
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There is a pinch bolt that holds the steering shaft u-joint to a knurled shaft on the top of the r&p box. Remove the pinch bolt and slide the yoke off the r&p shaft.
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| Posted: 11-08-2007 06:28 am |
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16th Post |
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txk Member
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Arvin - thanks for the info. - Gary Last edited on 11-08-2007 06:29 am by txk |
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| Posted: 06-03-2008 05:20 am |
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17th Post |
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pbahr Member 
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I just replace the Gaiter on the R/P assembly, and added 1/3 pint of SAE 90 oil by shoving a piece of small diameter hose under the small diameter of the Gaiter. Shoved it in far enough to reach the gears. I used a MyteVac (sp?), filling the cup with proper amount of lube and connected the pressure output (not the vacuum) to the Gaiter. Took about 10 minutes and I was all done and cleaned up. YELODOG
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| Posted: 08-10-2008 03:58 pm |
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18th Post |
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pbahr Member
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Don't consider the grease vs oil issue lightly ! During some conversations on the subject of R/P lubrication, I happend to think about the use of grease. While it might lubricate the Rack and Pinion gears, it will NOT flow to the two Heim (inner tie rod) joints. Seems from lots of posts and the email list, this is where many problems occur. IMHO, do NOT use grease. Pete
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