2011 C5 with steering rack fail

[bighairybloke]

Hi, apparently this is not unheard of.. . But my elderly parents need someone to fix it that is honest and reasonable near Bridgenorth, or in the West Midlands anyway.

Any recommendations ?

Ta peeps

[GiveMeABreak]

That'll be almost impossible without sourcing a rack first! Second hand refurbished ones are becoming harder to get because of this very issue, but also is the added complication and possibility that the power steering pipes may be damaged when replacing it, leading to another issue as the pipes are not longer available.

[bighairybloke]

They are available new on AUTODOC from what I can see. The steering rack I mean. Surely people are not scraping their car over this?

[Hell Razor5543]

They are available new on AUTODOC from what I can see. The steering rack I mean. Surely people are not scraping their car over this?

Unfortunately, yes. Citroen had the racks built to a budget, and the grade of steel used was 'sub-optimal'. There are forum members who have had multiple steering rack failures, and companies who have had so much practise in replacing them that they can swap one out in half a day. Some companies will (if the failed rack is salvageable) chrome plate the pinion to extend the life of a refurbished rack.

[bighairybloke]

What garage does this chroming and replacement service? This car will see them out as they hardly use it.

[GiveMeABreak]

Unfortunately it's not that easy. Places like Autosteer are where I got my third rack from after the original failed and then also the second new Citroen rack at over £1800 was replaced under warranty by Citroen. So third time I opted (out of warranty) to get one from Autosteer back when these were just starting to go wrong and pipes were available.

The issue is the pinion gets water in the base where it enters the rack, it then gets underneath and rusts, starting to deform the seals and o rings. The rust then starts eating from the inside out and contaminates the other seals if left. The leak then gets progressively worse.

There are also 2 types of rack angle depending on your model and wheel size, so essential to get the right version. But as said, it's the power steering pipes that are no longer available that may be your issue as these are not designed to be removed and replaced - as the seal can deform when removed after the original tightening.

A whole thread on it here that I started, with many contributions from other C5 X7 owners, and some possible solutions.

viewtopic.php?t=60155&hilit=steering+rack+again

These are the pipes for my 2.0 HDi 138 model and both the High and low pressure steering pipes marked at (1) & (2) are not longer available from Citroen!

[GiveMeABreak]

On our Poll, there are at least 60 rack failures for the X7 that members here (and this is by no means every owner here that has recorded their fault) have reported - totally unheard of!

viewtopic.php?t=59630&start=105

[Estately]

Hi,
Having read remarks on the FCF about obtaining the correct rack, I decided to get my own refurbished. It was considerably cheaper.

ACS, Thame Valley Trading estate Tamworth were able to refurbish my rack in a day by arrangement to deliver first thing and collect the same afternoon. They

offered an 18 month guarantee, this was the summer of 2017 and they are still in business. Interestingly they had pallets of Ford and VW racks to be refurbished.

You have to make sure that they centre it ready for refitting and they presure test them, however they do not use LDS so the oil ideally needs to be blown out to

avoid contamination, if your parents' C5 has wet suspension.

So I would suggest a local garage remove the rack then arrange transport to ACS Tamworth. The connection pipes issue is covered on the forum.

Hope that helps.
Andy