C5 X7 Steering Rack - Again!

[GiveMeABreak]

Well, where to start - so I'll start from the beginning!

I was out in town yesterday when I got a warning on about the charging circuit and a message I couldn't remember - so made a beeline for home. A/C went off and cabin fan started going off - so that confirmed system was not charging - steering got lumpy towards the end of the 18 mile journey and it was really difficult to park as the power assistance was intermittent. popped the hood and sure enough the Alternator belt had torn across from where I noticed a nick sometime ago when the A/C compressor was changed!

Anyway took the car down the road the same afternoon to my local indy - and went to pick it up this afternoon. Whewn I got there he told me they left it on the ramp overnight and in the morning a pool of LDS was on the floor.

After they did the belt they parked it up and left it outside for a few hours - so having got there a and moved it - evidence of oil still leaking and they told me it is from the pinion area ot the rack!

So after having a new genuine Citroen rack fitted in Oct 2014 and only 20k miles later, I am to put it extremely mildly - angry.

At this rate that would be 7 racks by the time you reach 140k miles.

I am waiting for my local dealer who did the work to contact me later tonight to see where we stand - but I suspect nothing after 12 moths. But the way I am feeling now, I am now in 2 minds whether we part company.

[EDC5]

Heartbreaking news for any X7 owner

They really are the Achilles heel of this model!

[GiveMeABreak]

I'll see what comes of my conversation with my friendly dealer - but I suspect I will be having words in either case with Citroen UK about it regardless.

So although I can't add another entry (as I already added my original rack failure), that puts it to 18 C5 X7 rack failures at least.

[Paul-R]

Oh dear, my sympathies Marc. And this is with the supposedly improved rack? Doesn't inspire much confidence does it?

One wonders whether the rack was correctly installed and, maybe, the pinion had some excess sideways stress placed upon it.

[GiveMeABreak]

Yes, Paul, I shall have to see what the cause it once they have a look at it and see where to go, as I’m simply not going to carry on replacing them at this rate.

[old'uns]

that's a real s*****r !!!

precisely why i leaned towards a Facelift and not another X7. doing the gas rams is a whole lot easier in the greater scheme of things

[xantia_v6]

Marc, that is really disappointing. Was the replacement one of the "improved" versions?

[GiveMeABreak]

Yes Mike, that’s another reason why I wanted to post this, as the replacement rack was fitted by Citroen and of course was one of their ‘modified racks’. So these are currently now £1500 to buy excluding fitting and I feel it is important for people to know that regardless, there are no guarantees.

Mine has covered only 20k miles on the new ‘modified’ one. What quite they have modified is evidently not good enough.

[jgra1]

God marc.very sorry to hear ! 20k on the real deal with the fix is beyond shocking

[GiveMeABreak]

Incredible isn’t it John? Once the shock has subsided, (probably in a year or so), and the anger dissipated, I will have to make a decision as to whether I get it done at my dealer or my Indy - although at this point I think it is true to say there has been absolutely zero benefit at having the OEM ‘real deal rack’ done last time.

[wheeler]

It seems like at the moment that there is a new post every day about another X7 steering rack failure. Did you keep the pinion shaft coated in grease after it was replaced ?

I've not done anything with mines yet, i'm waiting on a LP pipe which is back order at the moment. Spoke to a guy at Glasgow power steering services who seemed very knowledgeable about this exact problem (pinion valves & pipes), apparently its the LP pipe that also corrodes & there's no point in doing the rack without also replacing the LP pipe, he has lost count of the amount he has done & never had to replace an HP pipe yet. He has 2 stuck in his workshop right now also waiting on back orderd LP pipes.

[GiveMeABreak]

Yes I told them to grease it specifically. So you are referring to the low pressure pipe as in part (2) of the diagram that needs replacing?

[bobins]

There is a slight chance it could be a misdiagnosis and the leak is coming from the pipe seals where they enter the rack. The distance between the pinion seal and pipe connections is only a few inches.

[GiveMeABreak]

Thanks for that info Robin, I was under the impression that the seals weren’t available separately though?....

[bobins]

Officially they're not available separately - they normally come packaged with the power steering pipes handily attached, but HNBR seals can be bought to fit at the cost of a few pence or the seals for earlier C5 apparently fit - as per this eBay advert:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PEUGEOT-CITR ... 3193195357

For info - the ones in the advert are silicon, whereas HNBR are usually green.