C5 X7 Steering fluid leak (again)

[wheeler]

Well yesterday my X7 just rolled over 100,000 miles & has given me a surprise steering fluid leak.
I removed the big grommet in the foot well & although the pinion shaft is very badly rusted it is completely dry.
The leak appears to be coming from the pipe seals on the rack (the ones the docs say to replace but not available separately).
Has any one manged to find good seals yet that have worked ?
I noticed these ones on ebay, has anyone tried them ?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PEUGEOT-CITR ... SwdGFY0R~7
I don't want to disturb them yet until I have replacements & don't fancy paying over £250 for 2 pipes just to get the seals

[GiveMeABreak]

Really sorry to hear that news - this really is a getting to be as common as changing brake pads now

But isn't the issue going to be the rust-deformed pinion (from looking at pictures of some bad examples) that will cause the same to happen again? If the pinion has rusted into the shaft, I would possibly expect there to be internal contamination too. Have you replaced any parts of / or the entire rack previously? If so, was it a reconditioned one?

[wheeler]

I've only had it a year so don't know the history prior to that.
I knew that the pinion shaft was rusted & was expecting to have to replace the rack at some point, it is too far gone for cleaning the rust off & to clean it properly would require the removal of the rack anyway. Trying to clean it in place would probably just push more rust into it. I would rather start with a freshly cleaned pinion shaft & keep it regularly greased.
Either way I would like to source pipe seals as I will need them anyway if the rack were to be replaced. I would like to try replacing the pipe seals first....... while I wait on the pinion shaft seal starting to leak
I love how the documentation tells you to replace the seals when they are disturbed but you cant buy them.
Does anyone have the pipe diameter's ?

[bobins]

I tested some HNBR 'O' rings in LDS fluid and they showed no sign of a reaction, so if I needed to replace the pipe seals then I'd probably go for them. If you're really desperate then I can go out in my shed and measure up the size of the rings on the pipes as I've got a spare set out there.... but I'm not venturing out there tonight When I measured them previously the two sizes of ring are approx 8mm int dia x 2mm thickness, and 9.1mm int dia x 2mm which isn't far off the ones in the eBay advert.

[KennyW]

Worth a try at that price.

The sizes quoted are about right I have 8mm x 2mm and 8.9mm x 1.8mm seals made from HNBR rubber HT, in case mine fail after replacing rack.

Kenny