X7 steering rack damage prevention

[Bandit12]

Reading lots of posts about the weakness of the x7 steering rack. As the new owner of an x7 anything I can do to prevent the water ingress/rust damage n avoid a very expensive repair bill?
Bandit

[Stickyfinger]

My one has a large dollop of grease (marine grade) applied about every 6 months (or when I remember)

[GiveMeABreak]

♪♫ Grease is the ♪ word, is the word....♫

I'm sure the MK I and IIs actually had some heavy duty plastic wrap on or around the pinion as I discovered when hunting about there, but nothing on the X7 - so copious amounts of grease on the shaft and don't go driving in flooded roads I guess would help!

[Bandit12]

cool. My kind of easy fix. Now fr the daft question. Exactly which part of steering rack is at risk n how do I get to it? Put car on ramps n approach from underneath or strip out floor trim n go in via drivers footwell from above?

[GiveMeABreak]

Here's the rack - as you can see pinion is nearer the driver side on RHD - but viewing / access may be easier from the footwell:

[bobins]

If you delve into the footwell and familiarise yourself with the trim and fixings and reference Marc's footwell image above, you'll see you can remove the large rubber trim around the bottom of the steering column shaft (1) in the image above. Once you've got that out of the way, you'll be up close and personal to the bit that rusts out. Give it a quick clean / sob uncontrollably at the condition it's in (delete whichever isn't applicable), then apply grease / tar wrap / other water repelling material to the bottom of the shaft where it enters the alloy casting of the steering rack.

[Quackers]

Does this common issue effect all X7's or was this addressed at some point during production? Just curious if my July 2010 one is likely to get this problem.

[GiveMeABreak]

Give it a quick clean / sob uncontrollably at the condition it's in (delete whichever isn't applicable),

Oh yes, and have the defibrillator at the ready

[GiveMeABreak]

Does this common issue effect all X7's or was this addressed at some point during production? Just curious if my July 2010 one is likely to get this problem.

There was a replacement rack and all the old original ones have been pulled from Citroen's Parts database now.

They are massively expensive as only the complete new rack is supplied. There was a 'Blue Peter' special modification as far as the pinion seal went - what looked like the top of a Fairy Washing Up Liquid Cap placed on the top of the pinion shaft seal to prevent water sitting in the seal area and rotting the pinion. But I would hope that this in not the only modification they did to justify the additional £400 price increase!

[bobins]

I think it'd be accurate to say it has and/or will affect all C5 X7 that haven't had a modified rack fitted, and even then, we don't actually know how long the modified racks will last for. Some independent rack refurbishers will probably turn up a new pinion shaft and some of these might be made of a better quality steel than the original Citroen ones.... and some won't be.
The cynic might say that the rack was one of the components used in the manufacture of the cars that - when they fail - will financially write-off the car for a lot of people.

[EDC5]

Just been to investigate now as I'm curious about the condition of my '58' X7.

Please don't tell me you need to disconnect the steering linkage to see properly?

The rubber seal doesn't want to lift up any higher, more force required?

[bobins]

Yes, you need to undo the shaft, but it's only the 10mm(?) pinch bolt, slip off the catch, and the shaft should slide upwards. Don't turn the shaft unnecessarily so that you 'unwind' the steering wheel and its internal wiring.

[Bandit12]

Give it a quick clean / sob uncontrollably at the condition it's in (delete whichever isn't applicable),

Oh yes, and have the defibrillator at the ready

Thats handy as my job involves attending hospital cardiac arrests and using a defib!

thanks for the advice and tips, I'll wait for it to stop snowing and spend an hour or so getting up close and personal in my footwell. I presume that if there is a problem the whole rack needs changing and not just the pinion cos that looks like it might come out through the inspection hole in footwell.

[Stickyfinger]

Citroen does not make a repair kit so yes, the whole rack is toast if it leaks from the pinion seal due to a corroded seal cap/shaft.

[bobins]

If it's actually weeping / leaking then yes, either a new rack is required or you can remove your own rack and send it off to be reconditioned, but - realistically - that'd mean you're without a car for a week.
Very occasionally, the two power steering pipes can leak where they enter the rack, though this normally only happens rarely once the pipes have been refitted after the rack has been replaced. If they do leak, then it's a case of replacing the two rubber 'O' rings which appear to be made of HNBR rubber.
It's worth bearing in mind that as so many racks have failed, it's quite possible that 'early' cars have already had them replaced and the buyer of a second hand C5 X7 is unaware they've got a newer rack fitted - possibly one of the newer modified ones.